Thread: ILLEGAL ALIEN SUES RADIO STATION FOR FOLLOWING THE LAW

Illegal Immigrant Sues Radio Station For Following Law

January 26, 2007

An illegal immigrant is suing a radio station because it abided by U.S. federal law in requiring her to provide a valid Social Security or tax identification number before giving her a prize she won in a contest.

When the Mexican woman, living illegally in Chicago for 15 years, could not provide the proper documents, the station refused to giver her the prize. The woman had won a sports car previously owned by a popular Mexican singer and federal law requires the station to report the Social Security number of everyone who wins a prize worth more than $500.

Now the illegal alien, Maribel Nava Alvarez, is actually suing the Chicago Spanish-language station, WLEY, for breach of contract and emotional distress even though she is the one who for years has violated U.S. immigration law. Her attorney says that the station never informed his client that she had to be a legal U.S. resident to be eligible for the prize and that there wasn’t even any “fine print” requiring it.

The station is owned by the largest Hispanic radio broadcasting company in the United States, Miami Florida-based Spanish Broadcasting System. The company owns stations in the nation’s top Hispanic markets, including Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York and San Francisco and is considered a champion for Hispanic rights and the legalization of working immigrants.

Never the less, the company operates in the United States and must abide by the country’s federal laws. One Chicago newspaper editorial sums up the irony of this woman seeking legal rights in a country whose laws she has violated for most of her life. It reads, in part: For Alvarez to claim a breach of contract when she was unable to provide the legally required Social Security or tax ID number, let alone proof of legal residence, is to seek protection under laws of a country to which she has never sworn an oath.

http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/200 ... dio_s.html

Does anyone see the irony of a Hispanic Language Radio Station saying "NO TO ILLEGALS"?



I think this story was previously posted but I could not find it to add to it.

No green card, no free car


Raffle winner sues, says she faces threat of deportation


Maribel Nava Alvarez (inset) claims she was threatened after winning a contest for a car like this one, a 1999 Corvette.

January 25, 2007
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter
Winning a Chevrolet Corvette is the stuff of dreams.

In Maribel Nava Alvarez's case, it has been a nightmare.

The former Little Village resident said officials with local radio station La Ley 107.9 FM and its parent company, Spanish Broadcasting System, withheld the gray sports car she won in a La Ley raffle when they discovered she was an undocumented resident.
What's worse, she said, is that an SBS attorney allegedly threatened to alert authorities of her immigration status once he learned she intended to take her battle to court.

"I was very sad. I cried. ... My feelings were hurt because I was mocked," Alvarez, 22, said in her native Spanish on Wednesday. "It's unjust."

Despite La Ley's claims, Alvarez said she was never informed verbally or in print that she had to be U.S. citizen or legal resident to be eligible to win Mexican-American singer Juan Rivera's old car during the July 4, 2005, contest at the Plaza Garibaldi, 2600 S. California.

The only condition was that the potential winner had to be present at the drawing, said Alvarez, who recently sued both companies for breach of contract and emotional distress.

Came here at age 7
SBS lawyer James Cueva is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"I will caution you that if you insist on filing suit against SBS, I will in turn be forced to refer this matter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as I believe your client is in this country illegally. Please communicate that to your client for her consideration," Cueva wrote in a Dec. 19, 2005, letter to Alvarez's attorney, Federico Rodriguez.

Alvarez, who came to Chicago from Mexico when she was 7 and attended public schools, said she was so frightened she would be deported that she fled Illinois eight months ago with her two children to an undisclosed location. Only her mother knows where she currently resides.

Alvarez, a laundry worker, has not seen any relatives since, which makes it especially hard given she was just diagnosed with breast and cervical cancer, she said.

"I'm in hiding. I had to leave my family behind. It was like starting over," said Alvarez, with Rodriguez at her side.

'Charges ... without merit'
La Ley is required by law to get a valid Social Security number or tax identification number from all winners of prizes worth more than $500, according to a written statement from the Spanish language station. A station official said she did not want to comment because the matter is in litigation.
The station, which refers to itself as a champion for Latinos and the legalization of undocumented immigrants, tried giving Alvarez the hard-top car even though her tax reporting information could not be verified, the statement said.

The 1999 Corvette hasn't been awarded to any other contestants and is believed to be in SBS' possession.

As for Cueva's remarks about turning the matter over to immigration officials, they "have sometimes been presented without proper context," the statement said. ". . .La Ley will be responding to the allegations of the complaint and is confident that the evidence will demonstrate that the charges against La Ley are without merit."

In a separate incident earlier this month, Toys R Us agreed to award a Chinese-American infant born in New York a $25,000 prize in a New Year's baby contest after the company was criticized for disqualifying the girl because her mother was an illegal immigrant.

Although promotional materials recruited "all expectant New Year's mothers" to apply for the contest, eligibility rules required the babies' mothers to be legal residents.

rhussain@suntimes.com

http://www.suntimes.com/news/229148,CST ... 25.article

Shouldn't the same apply to the Toys-R-Us case?

One of these days soon, we will have to start up a new court system just for the illegals to use for all their in your face law suits they have against everyone here in the US, I can already see that our present stystem is close to being jammed with their stupid law suits!

It's amazing they actually think they can get everything for free. Heck, even when Oprah gave away all those cars it was taxes and insurance alone that many couldn't afford on their "free" car.

I'm glad the radio station isn't caving since it is a federal law whether they explained it totally or not. Nothing worth anything is "free" here. Wonder how many lottery winnings are being charged up on someone elses SS#?

Originally Posted by crazybird

It's amazing they actually think they can get everything for free. Heck, even when Oprah gave away all those cars it was taxes and insurance alone that many couldn't afford on their "free" car.

I'm glad the radio station isn't caving since it is a federal law whether they explained it totally or not. Nothing worth anything is "free" here. Wonder how many lottery winnings are being charged up on someone elses SS#?

. I find it amazing that this woman who claims to have grown up in America and attended American schools, could do not better in life then becoming an unmarried laundry worker with two kids. I noticed that she did her interview in Spanish. I wonder how much in Welfare she collects for her two kids. I bet she left a forwarding address for that.

It shouldn't be ironic. If I were a legal Latino-American i would be out of my tree pissed off at these people.

I remember when I was growing up and watching cartoons on Saturdays, that for every Contest or sweepstakes they always said the following disclaimer or something similar in English during the commercial.

These days I very rarely ever hear it anymore, but if you grew up here you would know it to be true.

1. ELIGIBILITY: This sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”) is sponsored by ABC Company, LLC (“Sponsor”).

Open only to legal residents of the continental U.S., and the District of Columbia (excluding Puerto Rico) who have reached the age of majority in their state of residence at the time of entry

gofer wrote:

Shouldn't the same apply to the Toys-R-Us case?

Unfortunately the anchor baby that received the prize from Toys 'R' Us is a legal citizen.