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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
At what point did Amadou break our laws?
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The second his Visa ran out.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
He was left here by his mother when he was a minor. That was not his choice, that was not his action.
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First, you do not need to be of age to request a Green card. They are given out to students all the time
Second, His violation of the law was an
inaction since he failed to attempt to get a green card when his visa ran out.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
By the time he was 18 his only choice was to surrender himself to the immigration department and be deported, or to find a way to go back to Africa himself (self deportation). There never was a way for him to say here legally.
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He never attempted (in the article) to get his green card. Only after he got caught and procedings against him start did he try to gain a legitimate status within the US.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
He had no do-the-right-thing option.
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He could have attempted to let the system work. Instead he chose to hide.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
Back in the 19th century when a slave escaped from his owner he was breaking the law. If someone helped him escape he was breaking the law. Anyone who was a part of the Underground Railroad taking slaves across the border into Canada was breaking the law. Now we consider those people heros of American history.
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Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur
We need to either obey the laws/system, or work to to change the laws/system. We need to avoid breaking the laws because they are currently inconvienient.
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So we should break the law anytime we see an injustice?
No, we need to work within the system to bring justice to the people. Our civilization requires people to follow a set of laws. If the laws are injust, then we need to work to change the laws, not break them.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
It is absurd that, at this point in human history, if a person stands, or is born on one side of a line painted across a road, that he is treated differently, has different rights, has different opportunites.
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Absurd as it may be, it is a fact of life in this world.
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Originally Posted by KenWittlief
I am not advocating that anyone should break the law to help or harbor Amadou, or anyone else. I recognize that he was left in a no-win situation, and I believe that we (the FIRST community) should do everything in our power to help him.
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and here we find common ground. By all accounts in the article, Amadou is a good kid who showed some poor judgement. His fear of the system led him to a poor decision.
While this decision should weigh against him (responsibility), those who know him as a community should stand by his side writeing letters stating the good that he has done and that should speak volumes about his character.