Three students from New York learned the hard way last week that when you break the law, you get arrested!
The students, Rosario Quiroz, Sarah Martinez and Janet Perez, were featured on Melissa Harris-Perry’s new MSNBC show last weekend as “Foot Soldiers” who “are fighting the good fight” by demanding a New York version of the DREAM Act.
The students are part of a campaign by the New York State Leadership Council (NYSLC), “the first undocumented youth led, membership led, organization that empowers immigrant youth to drop the fear and challenge the broken immigration system through leadership development, grassroots organizing, educational advancement, and a safe space for self-expression.”
The group is affiliated with left-wing think tank Think Progress’ student organization, Campus Progress, and its goal is to pass a New York DREAM Act.
What did the students do to get arrested?
Last week during a protest against Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget (which purposely did not include funding for the DREAM Act) the students illegally blocked traffic in the busy streets of New York City and, in line with their actions, they were arrested for breaking the law. Once arrested, it was discovered that the three students were illegal immigrants because they were not carrying any legal form of ID. Now, the three women are facing deportation.
Boo hoo.
As “unapologetic” as the three young women say they are for their actions, I am equally unapologetic for not feeling sorry for them. Actions have consequences. These young women knew they were breaking the law and that they would probably get arrested when they blocked traffic. They also knew they would probably get deported if they got arrested, and they did it anyway.
I would be more sympathetic for these young women, who were brought to the United States as children, if they had been minding their own business, attending class and the police raided their school. But that’s not what happened. They went looking for trouble, and that’s what they got.
It comes as no surprise these students thought they’d get off the hook after former Washington Post reporter Juan Antonio Vargas revealed last June via a story in New York Times Magazine that he was living in the United States illegally. The government’s failure to deport Vargas after his very revealing account set a bad example for young illegals, as did Vargas’ account.
Likewise, Melissa Harris-Perry’s glamorization of the NY students arrest should also be condemned.
Newsflash, Melissa, they are here illegally. That’s a fact. Do you know what facts are?
Harris-Perry, whose bio claims she is “a regular commentator on Keeping it Real Radio with Reverend Al Sharpton,” also claimed that “blameless” students were just seeking to gain support from their community when they were arrested for their “non-violent protest.”
The protest may not yet have turned violent when the students were arrested, but I doubt “the community” would have supported the students’ decision to block traffic for very much longer without things turning violent had the protesters not been forcibly removed.
In her blog, Harris-Perry has an extended interview with the first student, Rosario Quiroz, where Quiroz claims in her first answer that, “I knew I wouldn’t be eligible for any financial aid and even for many scholarships,” but in the follow up question admits that she recently graduated from ivy league school Columbia University via a “needs-blind admissions” that allowed North American students, regardless of what country they’re from, to attend school there.
Guess what, Rosario, I live here legally, and I also had to work my butt off to be able to afford to pay for college like most other Americans. I was awarded a scholarship for my hard work, but it didn’t pay for my rent and other incidentals. Also, I certainly didn’t go to an ivy league school because neither my parents nor myself could afford it. So sorry you had to settle for Columbia!
As infuriating as the previous passage from the blog was, my favorite part of Harris-Perry’s interview with Quiroz is when Harris-Perry asks, “Why do you feel Governor Cuomo has been so reticent about adding the New York DREAM Act to the state budget?”
To which Quiroz replies, “I wish that I could ask Governor Cuomo this question: why haven’t you included this? To me, it’s shameful. What his inaction is saying is that we youth are worthless.”
No, Rosario, his actions are saying that he values law and order and importance that this country’s laws play in maintaining order. You don’t deserve a free education in a country whose laws you so obviously do not respect.
Lesson of the day: If you break the law, expect to go to jail. If you block traffic in the streets, expect to go to jail. And if you block traffic in the streets and you are an illegal immigrant, expect to get deported.
