Fermin Vasquez tells his immigration story.

[Antwanette0386]

Nice video and thank you for your courage. I pray him, his family and friends all the best. Keep God first. God's love and blessings!!!

[XDPika]

<3 you are great ^^

[PlatanoSuave129]

To all you who are anti-immigration, just know that we are all descendants of immigrants. Stop being hypocrites.

[bestwin1]

If you don't like this society..LEAVE!!

[ummitzavi]

i think you misunderstood, it is in actuality the society that AB540 students like, that is why they are fighting to stay here and have equal opportunity

[PatriotSue]

I wonder if he is ILLEGAL? You never know, when they call themselves IMMIGRANTS. ILLEGAL ALIENS have the advantage. They have our country to run to, when they run out of courage to stay home and make their countries better. They are allowed to break all of our laws and not be punished. They can get in-state tuition, when law-abiding U.S. citizen children, cannot. No. ILLEGAL ALIENS do not believe in equality. They do not believe they have to OBEY THE RULE OF LAW, like the rest of us.

[agentc73]

Over 44% of Hispanics, ages 16 and older, do not have BASIC English proficiency skills.

Unpaid costs for treating illegals has directly caused the closings of nearly 100 hospitals in California alone.

Illegals consume nearly $69 BILLION in social services annually.

Children of illegal immigrants cost public schools $28.6 Billion annually.

The cost of illegal immigration to the American taxpayer is $55,000 PER illegal.

The total cost annually is over is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.

[walkdiwalk]

i'm against illegals breeding like rabbits cuz our government has made it so easy for them to get free money. the more children they have the more money they get!!1

[contagioushippie]

@walkdiwalk

illegals do not receive any government aid despite paying taxes, it is the lazy AMERICAN CITIZENS that have caused the problems we are now facing.

[walkdiwalk]

@contagioushippie i know they don't but their children do. I'm not against them having children, but what I'm against is that they have children knowing that they cannot provide for them!! thus the gov't has to provide food stamps and other types of aid. It is true what u say that they r some lazy americans that also get aid, but they ARE entitled to that aid for being citizens. When an immigrant comes it usually means that they want a better future for their children and themselves

[walkdiwalk]

@contagioushippie and that is a great thing, no1 in their right mind will b against that. i know a immigration reform is necessary, but what I'm against is that some illegal immigrants feel entitled to a path of citizenship, while they try to get the most out of the gov't. I volunteered at a local hospital and i saw almost everyday a pregnant illegal immigrant( i used to help them with the paper work) deliver their 3rd or 4th child. This is the biggest issue that i have

[contagioushippie]

@agentc73

Where are you getting your numbers?

[ericknarea]

GO FERMIN!! man your not only a role model for many ab540 students to follow, but also for many American Citizens who don't take advantage of the many opportunities this country has to offer. GO SURGE as well, was a member there.

[asuperstar]

" Struggles of our people" ??? Lack of opportunities???

[PatriotSue]

The question is, Are you illegal?

[OTTEN2007]

The real question is do you belive in equality?

[OTTEN2007]

The question is do you belive in equality?

[edgarthefordguy]

VIVA MEXICO!!!!!!!!!

[jellybellyca]

lol he's salvedorian

[GeauxNOSaints]

This guy is NOT representative of most illegal aliens or children of illegal aliens from Latin America. They graduate from H.S. at a rate hovering around 50%. I notice you didn't feature the ones who wave Mexican flags in immigr. marches and holler that Calif. belongs to Mexico. This film is intentionally misleading.

[jimmyjustice]

"This film is intentionally misleading." as are you. Did you see Amy Goodman tear apart Lou Dobbs and his racist and misleading show?

You get to tell your twisted story of the immigrant and people likes us show you the truth about the ones making it happen and then you go and cry about it. Get real would ya. I know far more successful immigrants than the type you portray. Maybe you need to change the crowd or neighborhood you hang in!

[GeauxNOSaints]

Anecdotal stories aren't the truth ... in my neighborhood or others. Statistics do and they're not pretty: Children of current or former illegal aliens from Mex. and Cent. Amer. graduate from H.S. at a rate around 45%. Further, they are well overrepresented in prison statistics. This kid's story is nice, and as the numbers reveal, unusual.

[jimmyjustice]

The numbers are dismal for most students in our messed up education system. Prop 13 took care of funding for our schools and communities. I'm focusing on the successes and trying to make more successes. It is a sad state of affairs when we can't figure out a way to meet the demands of of our economic systems but have the time to focus on the small stuff that really doesn't matter in the bigger picture of issues.

[GeauxNOSaints]

Again, statistics are your enemy. Prop 13 is not the boogie man to education that you would have us believe. The Los Angeles Unified School District's budget is 8 billion. The rest of the City of Los Angeles has a budget of 7 billion. AND THAT INCLUDES EVERYTHING. Local education performance is bad b/c the students come from academically abysmal families ... many of whom have no legal right to be in the country.

[jimmyjustice]

Tell me why California is ranked down with and wedged between Kentucky and South Carolina and all the other po-dunk states. The richest state is in the land of mediocrity...ya gotta love that huh? And you guys want to build a fence and then turn around and go pick lettuce for your dinner plates? The Land of the Lost reruns I see! Legal rights, change the old outdated laws to serve the needs of the country, or you go pick lettuce. You want to cripple California's economy.

[GeauxNOSaints]

Because CA public schools are largely filled w/ the children of uneducated and impoverished persons who have illegally entered the country?

[jimmyjustice]

Besides Geaux:

You change statistics one person at a time, so individual stories are the ruth and they also lead to uncovering truths that show us why real immigration reform is needed. Lou Dobbs tried statistics and he got them all messed up.

Give me any set of statistics and I'll make them dance to tell any story I want. They are a tool for a fool. Real lives are the facts and tell a bigger story.

[GeauxNOSaints]

JJ, statistics are what make Social Science, Economy and most aspects of modern Western Hemisphere life possible. Because you don't like what they reveal doesn't make them invalid. Yes, Fermin's life tells a story ... a good one. And so do the lives of the tens of thousands of illegal aliens in the CA prison system.

[jimmyjustice]

Precisely, look at the state of economics and the economies of third world countries that drive migrants from their home. That is the point, statistics serve their master not the needs of the people. Undocumented, all undocumneted migrants in the prison system is only 6% of their population, one half of the percentage percentage compared to the general population.

[jimmyjustice]

Then lets consider why they are incarcerated, is it because of old arcane immigration laws. That is like talking about all blacks in prison in the south before the civil rights movement, it means nothing if they are in jail because of outdated laws.

[GeauxNOSaints]

Illegal immigrants are not occupying state prisons for immigration violations. They are there for various provisions of the state Penal Code. Or do you consider prohibitions against drunk driving, burglary, fraud, auto theft, rape and manslaughter to be "old arcane" laws as well?

[jimmyjustice]

And that is where all criminals that actually commit a crime belong. And that brings us back to the draconian outdated immigration laws. By actually working in a JOB WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED, and providing for their families through migrating and labor they need to be met with laws that serve both US economic interest and their interest so we don't revert to a slave enabling state. Migration is as old as human history. How do you think you came out of Africa?

[GeauxNOSaints]

Migration exists in the U.S. ... plenty of it. We have guest worker programs, investor programs, diversity lotteries, etc. The U.S. accepts more legal immigrants than the vast majority of other nations. The system is fine. It is the enforcement aspect that has been abandoned.

[jimmyjustice]

Obviously, if you have an estimated 12 - 16 million migrants working, and some working two jobs, our immigration system and laws are failing the country miserably.

Guest worker programs will further divide and drive down labor and is just another from of indentured slavery. Are we going back to people being registered as 3/5 OF A PERSON? Are we headed backwards to the slave and Jim Crow days? By the sounds of Lou Dobbs and others it seems so!

[GeauxNOSaints]

That 16 million trespassers are illegally working in the U.S. does not surprise me. Criminals will commonly seize opportunities when laws go unenforced. Boy, wouldn't it be horrible if there were no illegals? The employers might actually have to raise the wages offered to attract U.S. workers. However did we survive as a nation before our southern neighbor started mass exportation of its poverty across the border? I simply can't imagine.

[jimmyjustice]

I guess you don't like open markets and capitalism. Are you a socialist or communist? I find it strange that you speak of only workers and not corporations that cross borders, not to mention capital itself crossing borders. If you were a true American capitalist you would understand the concept of open market systems. Hell, if we can import tainted slave labor goods from China in the name of free trade, we can surely allow workers the same freedom of movement across borders.

[GeauxNOSaints]

Capitalism is great but I don't want it totally unfettered. We did that in this country. It resulted in 17 hour work days and child labor. Laws exist for a reason. They have utility and function that benefit our economy and way of life. Immigration statutes are no exception. By your reasoning, above, I should endorse slavery. After all, it was cost effective and maximized profit.

[jimmyjustice]

No, no. I am not saying endorse slavery. My point is that your so called Minutemen's anti socialists / communists / workers faux positions are in fact big supporters of government intervention and socialism as long as it serves there agenda. Unions and collective bargaining changed working conditions when government got out of the way. Do you support free trade? Let workers trade their labor and skills unfettered, like corporations trade across borders. Be a real American!

[GeauxNOSaints]

No, you did not endorse slavery.  You just championed the cause of law violators as being good for capitalism. Well so was forcing blacks to work in cotton fields for no compensation. Oh, and corporations are not "real Americans". Real Americans are hard working citizens who believe in the Rule of Law and don't automatically sacrifice it to pad profit margins.

[jimmyjustice]

No, I championed the American value of pure capitalism. I championed the removal of antiquated laws that prevent capitalism and free trade of labor and goods.

[GeauxNOSaints]

The U.S. is not and has not been a pure capitalist society. You don't seem to understand the country in which you live.

[jimmyjustice]

That is exactly the problem. It is bullshit capitalism designed to serve the elite wealthy class, and you are supporting that. Finally a Minuteman that understands our socialist system. The "regulations" are written by lobbyists to serve their employers. There employers are the socialist system, but you and I are locked our of the game plan. We cannot compete because of their rules. They depress wages, pollute all over the world and sell you crap. You want that world?

[jimmyjustice]

The problem is, I understand our country to well, and while you Minutemen make all these false claims about patriotism, and border security you miss the big picture of the elite walking all over you an manipulating you. They're making you feel like you are part of this big "AMERICAN" IDEOLOGY, but in fact you are not, you are a pawn in their game of greed.

[GeauxNOSaints]

A)  I'm not a Minuteman, and B) if America's version of capitalism only benefitted the wealthy, people would not flock here by the millions. There is a better chance to start w/ little and end up a millionaire in the U.S. than there is any other place in the world.

[jimmyjustice]

Well, first congratulations for not being a Minuteman, but again you are putting words in my mouth. I said American capitalism is designed to benefit the few with staggered degrees of success as long as you play by the big boy's (elites) rules. People are flocking here because the "Big Boys" have already devastated the economies of their countries through heavy handed trade deals and military interventions. I'm sure you know that history.

[GeauxNOSaints]

So from your perspective, America has hurt Mexico, Thailand and India by locating businesses in those countries, operating factories, and putting people to work? This is going to be one of those it's-NAFTA's-fault arguments, isn't it?

[jimmyjustice]

No, in fact it will be a reality check.

You tell me. Are US corn subsidies, which are possible because of your tax dollars, effecting the Mexican economy? Be honest now. And yes, factories are inflicting measurable damage to the people living near and working in the maquiladoras across the border in Mexico. Heavy metals entering their water supply and running through the streets are causing birth defects and serious health problems.

[jimmyjustice]

Any more questions. Do some research, this information about the affects of US foreign policies on Mexico and Central American countries is well documented. Then we can talk about the School of the Americas and the training of right wing regimes in these countries and how they kill, oppress and torture the people who resist the status quo.

[GeauxNOSaints]

I don't have any questions. You're an open borders type who wants the lowest possible cost for labor (doctors, lawyers, etc.) at almost any cost. I don't believe in unrestricted capitalism. I think we tried that in this country and it didn't work. As for Mexico and our military intervention in Cent. Amer., I don't feel guilty and I'm not willing to absorb all their unwanted excess population as pennance.

[jimmyjustice]

I understand, like a compassionate conservative without the compassion, but I expected that. If your not willing to accept the discarded human tragedies then at least work to change the foreign policies and military interventions that are the root causes of this migration, cause whether you accept guilt or not they are coming because of our policies, and without change they are gonna keep coming.

[Almutitlan]

Thank you Jimmyjustice...May God Bless you.

[jimmyjustice]

And, just so you are clear, I'm an open borders type. If circumstances permit corporations to cross borders then I believe people should be afforded the same opportunities. You can't have one without then other. As far as lowest possible costs for doctors and lawyers...yes, why should regulations limit the amount of practicing professionals? To protect wages? How un-American is that?

[jimmyjustice]

Let the market determine the outcome of ones wages, just like you want for Mexicans and others. It is the American way, if not you have socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. One way or the other, not both.

[jimmyjustice]

I champion the removal of subsidies and the removal professional worker limits set by groups like the BAR association and the AMA that limits the amount of lawyers and doctors by region. Their rules are preventing me from getting the best price. They are interfering with the market. Get rid of them and get rid of oppressive borders. Embrace true democracy, capitalism and competition. Be a true patriot!

[yessydolan]

You are a sample of a lot of young immigrants who want to succed in this country.