From the NY Times:In 13 years in and around New York, Augusto Noguera built an impressive life. From humble beginnings in Paraguay, he became a mainstay of his nation’s expatriate population, running a division of a construction company, working for charitable and political causes, and entertaining visiting dignitaries at his house in Flushing, Queens.
The crowning moment came in September, when President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay appointed him to an administrative post in the government’s New York consulate. It was a job Mr. Noguera had eagerly sought, friends said, as payback for supporting Mr. Lugo and other candidates in last year’s elections.
There was just one problem: Mr. Noguera was an illegal immigrant.
Today, he is locked in an immigration detention center in Arizona, awaiting deportation. His botched appointment has deeply embarrassed the Paraguayan government. And it has stirred a mix of shame, anger and dismay among his countrymen in New York, who have been agitating for a more robust consulate to help them build organizations and raise their community’s profile.
Only Mr. Noguera’s closest friends knew he was in the United States illegally, the men said. Representative Elvis Balbuena, a Paraguayan legislator who was a major supporter of his bid for the job, said Mr. Noguera had sneaked into the United States in the mid-1990s.
Shortly after dawn on Nov. 26, Mr. Noguera was detained by American immigration officials at the border crossing in San Ysidro, Calif., said Rubén Benítez Palma, Paraguay’s consul general in Los Angeles. Mr. Noguera was carrying someone else’s passport, Mr. Benítez said.
“It was legal,” he added. “But it wasn’t his.”
13 comments:
Sad. He made a good life here. Unfortunately it was based on an underlying lie. He would have been well-advised to stay out of the limelight.
Hey, its Queens, a world unto itself, with its own Alice in Wonderland yardstick by which it judges the world and itself.
Its own unique set of values, its own view of the world, its own little universe.
The way to cope is to ignore it and go about your business as a citizen of the real world.
(oh, and every chance you get, poke fun of it and stomp on the nearest glassy eyed doormat when no one else is looking just for fun)
I know (knew) this guy... He lives near Union Street.
I wonder what will happen if police and the Immigration Offices team up to have a division where they allow the the police to check whether the person is an illegal immigrant or not randomly or at their will. If they find they are illegal, then deport them. That means 8th avenue chinatown in brooklyn will be gone. LOL.
I mean, I don't get it. In Hong Kong, the cops patrol around the streets and will and allow to randomly check any one to see if they have a 'white card' which prove they are legally allow to stay. If the person say they didn't bring it with them, then they bring them into the police station nearby, hold them in, until they verify indeed that the person is a citizen or legally allowed to be in Hong Kong via computer record or a relative to bring in that person's card.
If they did that here, wonder what will happen to the population in NY and how it will change the landscape and diversity of queens. LOL.
Ok, being illegally in the US is one thing, using a fake passport is taking to another level.
I wonder how many illegals have bogus ID and passports. This guy used a passport that didn't belong to him. It must have been stolen from someone, but how many illegals have fake SS cards, driver's licenses, etc? Maybe it's time to crack down on all of this. It would probably curb identity theft too. Oh, Mayor Bloomburg, are you listening?
I wonder what the liberal pussies patrolling this blog have to say about using stolen/fake ID cards, licenses, and passports. That clearly is a crime regardless of your immigration status.
Seems like a common tactic, to use other people's Social Security numbers, student id cards, passports, what ever the illegal can get their hands on.
Another reason to get rid of non-profits. The non-profit world loves people like him. He was one of their stars.
Tells you a lot about the organizations that hired him.
No one bothered to check his status.
Why not have immigration police on the 7 train, as people are getting off and getting on the train?
I could finally get a seat if the illegal aliens are rounded up and sent away. maybe even get a job
if the politicians were serious about illegal entrants,all they have to do is enforce the already existing laws.
http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecentersbcdd
has to do with employERS,landlords
very strange (LOL) that these same laws were enforced until the late 80s,and that 99% of those entering were legal.
stopping the medicaid to ALL and the welfare,WIC and foodstamps to their kids wouldn't hurt either.
and to the clown stating 'it's queens..."
Jackson Heights,Corona,etc USED to be clean and decent areas,all free from street peddlers/tables/carts/garbage and the crime rate lower....and astoria as well as jacksonhts,corona free of males loitering and harassing others.
That day without messicans was one beautiful day and a sad reminder of what our lives usd to be like.
Thanks for the insightful post. Is there a chance that in the future the existing laws against illegal immigration will be enforced? Is there a chance that Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Corona will be "cleansed"?
There is a whole network of trafficing in identity papers.
we cannot say these things.
they will use it to suggest to sensative minds (read the young hipsters that are supposed to 'save' our communities) not to come here to read this and sully their precious minds (or cast a disharmonious note as they sing praises of developers and the mayor from their towers and bikes).
Why not have immigration police on the 7 train ?
To many future Democrat voters. Bloomberg and Obama bunch wont have that ?
Beside The cost of deporting they will set out city's a fire.
It must be done or this nation's gonna go bankrupt and fall anyway.
People need to remember what happened to the Romans when they let the crap in.
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