Dan Sewell published a report on Bernard Pastor today, he is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who has been in the United States since the age of three. Recently, he got into a minor car accident which is how police discovered that he was not a United States citizen. He attends high school in Cincinnati, Ohio and is in the top of his class. His attorney, David Leopold is arguing that "there is no urgency to remove 18-year-old Bernard Pastor from the country where he has lived since the age 3" (Sewell, 2010).
Leopold is the head of the Immigration Lawyers Association and was contacted by supporters of Pastor as well as immigration reform advocates a week ago regarding this case. He has undertaken this case without fee and has already "a formal request that his deportation be deferred" (Sewell, 2010).
Although I posted recently regarding this case, I think it is worth describing the situation again. Pastor and his family fled Guatemala as his father faced persecution, he was denied citizenship a few years ago. According to Pastor, "he considers himself an American, speaks little Spanish and hardly knows anyone in Guatemala" (Sewell, 2010).
Pastor is now being referred to as a poster child for the proposed DREAM Act that is currently being debated in Congress. If the bill were to pass, Pastor could gain citizenship and attend college in the United States, or join the military. "Opponents say passing the legislation would encourage more illegal immigration at a time when many Americans are looking for jobs" (Sewell, 2010), but this seems a bit ridiculous as the act is only applicable to children that have been here since they were very young, so even if someone were to come here illegally with their child, it would be quite a while until they were of age to gain citizenship.
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