Front Page NYT Article

[KenWittlief]

Originally Posted by Daniel_LaFleur

*sigh*
Ken, as a mentor I teach the students to follow the rules. .

yes, absolutely.

At what point did Amadou break our laws? He was left here by his mother when he was a minor. That was not his choice, that was not his action.

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.

He had no do-the-right-thing option.

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.

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.

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.