My father had to get in the back of the line; so should everyone else

By Jim Spiri • 10/10/11, 8:45 pm


Immigration! It is the hot-topic buzzword at the moment that no one really wants to talk honestly about. That is exactly why I must speak about it now. I have found in all my life experiences that dodging an issue only results in more complications down the road.

For the record, I am the son of an immigrant. I am first-generation. My father first came to America working on a boat. At one point, he was deported back to his native land because of improper documentation procedures. It took him another eight years to become a legal, naturalized citizen of the United States of America.

In 1963, eight years after I was born, my father became an American citizen. I explained this situation to my New Mexico House representative, Mr. Moe Maestas, in September one afternoon on my lunch hour at a rally in support of people without legal status at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.

I asked Representative Maestas a simple question. I inquired, “Mr. Maestas, I am the son of an immigrant who came here to this country improperly the first time and was forced to go back to his native land and return properly and go through the procedures, which took him another eight years. Why, sir, should these folks here be given special treatment and not be required to do the same thing?â€