Sorry, he was here illegally and therefore a criminal.
8
And in one fell swoop you strip him of any sort of humanity that even criminals have. He had American children and an American wife. He was trying to live as best he could by the imperfect rules of a broken system that politicians are not fixing. He was low hanging fruit for ICE and they swooped in and took it. Treating people like that is the policy of this administration and it is plain inhuman and morally wrong; even criminals are human beings. This man died trying to get back to his American family and people who ignore that fact are ignoring his humanity. Hiding behind the law is a cheap attempt to strip people of their humanity, and it ends up chipping away at ours in the process.
31
"As the spouse of a United States citizen, Mr. Luna could have been entitled to a green card, but complicating his case was the fact that he had been deported in 1992, and had illegally entered the country again. At what they had expected would be a routine appointment at ICE one day in August 2017, one of the officials told Mr. Luna that his time was up. Mr. Luna protested that he had been tricked years ago into signing the previous deportation order."......How many felonies is a man going to commit before he will comply with the law ? I'm sorry for his death but his death is not nt the fault of Trumps policy, it is in part of the decedents poor decision making & likely those who assisted him in illegally entering the U.S.A.
"The young man said it had been nearly three years since he and his family had heard from his father, who was presumably lost during a crossing similar to Mr. Luna’s. Since then, he said, they’d been trying to get on with their lives: working jobs, getting married, starting a family.".....Is this death also attributable to President Trump? I think not.
Bottom line.....Comply with the law. Knock, when answered announce who you are and why you should be allowed to enter. After a diligent background investigation & if you meet the qualifications, welcome. If you do not meet the qualifications then just that, thanks for inquiring but you are not wanted. Plain & simple.
10
So sad! I cannot help feeling that Mr. Luna has been treated somewhat unjustly. Hopefully, the widow will apply to the LDS church and the Pope to provide funds to help her raise these five children (including a disabled one) which those religious institutions have taught her to produce. If the churches do not step up to help, perhaps the teenaged daughter will take a lesson from that and be a bit more cautious in her reproductive choices, taking into account that we live in an unjust world.
7
If you're going to employ people in your country, you owe them legal status, especially if they've been working there for decades. Otherwise, you're just engaging in labor exploitation by paying the immigrants low wages that keep down wages for native-born Americans.
This policy was bad enough before Trump, but now the U.S. government has added cruel cynicism to the mix by acting savagely against good men like Adrian Luna for electoral gain even while maintaining the overall policy of benefiting from the exploitation of millions of foreign workers.
Another point: If it were me, I'd much rather have Adrian Luna as a fellow citizen than the Trumps or the Kushners. Unlike them, he paid taxes and made a positive contribution to his community. They don't pay taxes and have an atrocious history of harming the communities where they do business.
30
This is just plain wrong! He was doing everything he could - including regular visits to the bureaucracy - and it sounds as if that last appointment was made so he would be easy to grab and throw away. This is not the country we should be.
16
Once again I fail to understand the liberal love of deeply Catholic Conservative Mexicans. Or the refusal to hold their own government and people responsible for their plight of their own people. When Mexico is so bad that the very thought of living there makes Mexicans deeply unhappy then perhaps the problem is with their society rather than ours.
16
@Cat Here Everywhere: the first six words of your comment sum things up beautifully. How can one read this article and conclude that "the problem is with their society rather than ours"?
3
I'm an American of Mexican heritage, my deceased paternal grandfather was born in the same state that the young man of this story is from Jalisco. My maternal great-grandmother was just an infant when she left with her mother from Chihuahua back in 1918 when Mexico was in pieces and trying to recover from its own civil-war.
I love and am loyal to the United States ideals and thank GOD everyday that I was not born in Mexico. Even though my family has been in the state of Arizona for generations I find myself at a paradox because Mexico and other latin-american societies and culture continue to fail at providing fundamental necessities for its own citizens. Classicism and pure spite against others for no reason run's rampant in these countries, and a lack of value for human life.
These countries lack of empathy and responsibility has unfortunately reached a ceiling point within the U.S. as is obvious with the election of President Trump and heightened social tension here. I'm seeing it everyday in Arizona a red conservative state.
(A country's Government is only a reflection a mirror if you will of the people it governs), so when a Mexican national blames "Mi Gobierno" for their problems its an excuse that is no longer legitimate and perhaps Mexican society as a whole needs to reckon with-it -self and its own Character before blaming the United States which is merely within its right to protect and establish our boundaries with other countries.
GOD Bless U.S.A.
10
This man was a criminal and his death is of trivial concern in comparison to the millions of American lives that have been ruined - shoved into poverty, and many thousands of citizen lives lost due to our few percent business owner nobility's rigging the flooding of the US labor market with 10's of millions of desperate immigrants to kill wages. This man and all other illegal immigrants and fake refugee migrants invading developed nations need to become morally responsible, stop using children a shields and hostages, display some courage and stay home and work, protest and if necessary take up a gun and fight to make their countries decent places to live.
9
@winthrop staples
Comments like this one demonstrate how inhuman we humans can and have become over economic considerations. To call a man a "criminal" who wanted nothing more than to return to his family and give them the love and care they deserve truly shocks the conscience and sickens the stomach. There was a time when Americans would not dare to utter such vile, hateful things publicly, but in the Trump era, such comments are proudly posted in the pages of the New York Times. If this nation continues down the rat hole that Trump has taken us, we will have repudiated everything decent and civilized that America once stood for.
20
It's fascinating to see the comments that criticize Mr. Luna's actions, such as "All of these years here and he could have become legal" or "Why don't they apply for green cards before coming?" Are there any provisions for a undocumented worker at any age to walk into an office and ask for amnesty? Not that I can think of. Does an 18 year-old (or individual at any age, really) with few options for making money in his own country want to trust (or even understand) the byzantine consular policies that would allow them entry? Not in the slightest. What he came for in the first place, economic opportunity, and what he tried to return for as stated in the article, "wife, children, residence, job, friends, church" outweigh what so many Americans think individuals like Mr. Luna should do, such as doing the right thing, getting in line with everyone else, and following the letter of the law. Put yourself in exact Mr. Luna's position, and would you do the same thing?
5
@Zain Of course we'd do what Luna did. So what? That does not mean that it's our government's responsibility to provide for Luna and the millions of others in his country who have deliberately broken our laws. Mexicans have and enforce immigration laws. You hardly see them welcoming in millions of their fellow poor Latinos flee places like Honduras.
If millions of impoverished Americans were pouring into Mexico you can be darned sure Mexicans and their government would have no problem deporting them. We are we told to do otherwise? Perhaps Mexicans should admit that their decision to violate our laws is not a harm free act and in fact pushes down wages and pushes up taxes.
If there are few options in his country then perhaps blame should be on his country's leaders rather than the American public.
10
@Enough Already no one was asking the government to provide for this man. He was paying his way (including paying taxes, something the Trump/Kushner clan don’t do), and providing for his family. You’re awfully concerned about government resources... past administrations wouldn’t have wasted money rounding up and detaining this man. They would have instead focused on felons.
3
Where did it say in the article or in my comment it's our government's responsibility to provide for Mr. Luna? If anything, the reporting says he was working and providing for his family as well as paying taxes. That's a lot more than I can say for many Americans here in this country already who live off "the system." Also, your response seems to absolve U.S. economic policy and foreign policy, stances supported by the American public, and place the blame squarely on those who are unable to effect change. Shame on you.
6
There is no sob story that will convince me that the 120 billion a year that illegals cost this country along with taking jobs, housing, suppresssing wages, overcrowding schools, hospitals, highways, public transportation and bringing crime and drugs into our communities is good for America.
24
@Olivia no one else wants the jobs these people have. How can you be so cruel as to call this a “sob story?” This was a human being with loved ones, a family, a life.
38
@aec Many people have loved ones, a family and a life. That doesn’t make it okay for them to break the law, including entering this country illegally, three times no less.
1
@Olivia. This country’s wholesale anti immigrant policies are NOT guided by adherence to the law but rather this fear infused attitude that those of other races are not welcome. It’s embarassing and frightful. Nothing to do with “rule of law”. We’re led by a man who has deceived and cheated and doesn’t even understand this country’s history or legacy. Very sad indeed!
5
What do we do with all the illegal immigrants that continue to come to this country, get deported, and then re-enter again. Many have families, jobs, and work hard. Why don't they apply for, and get green cards before coming? It is always heartbreaking to read these stories in the NYTimes, but the fact is we MUST enforce our immigration laws. He was not married with kids when he re-entered. Why not apply for citizenship or a green card in Mexico? I'm done with the tearjerkers that the NYTimes continues to seek to publish, ignoring 20 million illegal immigrants. ILLEGAL. If our borders were at all under control, none of this would have happened. It's sad, but there must never be another amnesty - that is what caused this in the first place. It's sad, but we must turn people back at the borders while they get the paperwork that proves they are NOT economic immigrants. And lastly, we MUST end chain migration and 'birth tourists' from anywhere in the world.
14
@Ma Are you also “done with” current prices and ready to pay 3x your current cost for cuts of meat, vegetables, home improvement and lawn care? Because like it or not, you and everyone else in this country have been benefiting from immigrant exploitation for as long as this situation has been around.
3
Too bad. All these years here and he could have become legal.
4
@NYC Dweller did you miss the part of the article where it mentioned that they had been going to the immigration office for years, trying to do just that? What an ignorant comment. Do you even know what is involved in the process. It is complicated and very expensive.
10
@NYC Dweller Did you not read the article? He tried to become legal and spent $10K on lawyers. It didn't help him. They deported him anyway.
10
Americans wants cheap labor to clean their homes and hotels, work at meat packing plants and pick their fruit and vegetables. But when faced with questions of fairness and plain common decency they go back to the "illegal" argument to justify their clearly un-Christian behavior. The continued support of the "bigot in chief" by a large portion of our citizens demonstrates the hypocrisy of the so called "Christians".
21
Once in a while a story brings tears to my eyes and this is one of them. As an immigrant from Germany who lived in the U.S. most of her life, I identify with the plight of people who need to leave their own country.
As a resident in Mexico for over ten years where I have had ample opportunity to meet people who have been deported from the U.S., I can attest to the sad stories I often hear of people who have had to leave their families in the U.S. becasue they have been deported.
To leave the country of your birth is extremely difficult and people do it generally only if they have to. I left Germany to join my mother because I was a child. I had no choice. But the wound of leaving my grandmother who was raising me in the absence of my mother, never quite healed.
Separating families causes immense pain, not only for those deported but for those left behind. Why inflict this pain on people who are adapted, adjusted, contributing to the society and who are not harming anyone? What is the point? It strikes me as distinctly mean spirited.
19
@Manuela What is wrong with living in Mexico? Mexicans have immigration laws. Americans who want to live there must demonstrate many things including their ability to support themselves. Why are we not allowed the same right in the US? What was stopping this man from going back home and bringing his Spanish speaking spouse? Are really literally not allowed to refuse any Mexican their alleged right to move here?
11
@Manuela you think everything n America is free? tax payers are the ones paying for these illegals why didnt you just sneak into America illegally ?
4
@jeo
You mean tax payers like Mr. Luna?
1
Mr. Luna was deported three times. Some Illegals believe they have a right to remain in this country because they have been here for many years. So if I enter someone’s home and refuse to leave does that mean the house is mine because I’ve been there for years?
Every country has a right and a duty to put its citizens first, enforce its borders and decide who may legally become a citizen of their country.
31
@Olivia Awwww. Too bad it’s not the first “lady” who came here illegally who’s being sent back. I’m sure at least SHE would be thrilled to be separated from her husband.
I’m floored by your lack of compassion.
1
Let he/she who is without sin, cast the first stone. May each person who self-righteously says, ‘if he broke the law, he has to leave the country’ think about how many times he/she has broken the law, by speeding, or not stopping at a stop sign, or not wearing a seatbelt. Should you all be sent to jail for that, which is a far lesser ‘sentence’ than sending a man away who is law-abiding and pays his taxes and has an American family?
The country desperately needs immigration reform. Separating families, deporting breadwinning fathers (essentially leaving the family as potential wards of the state which costs more than allowing the man to stay and giving him a green card) are NOT the way forward. I don’t know how ICE agents sleep at night for all the harm they do. How low can our country go before we wake up and speak truth to power?
54
@Connie “...and speak truth to power.” Here’s the truth: Mr. Luna was deported three times. He chose to illegally enter this country. No one else is to blame.
13
@Olivia Please don’t blame the victim, that is heartless. Rich white people get away with far worse all the time because they are given all sorts of benefits of the doubts; this poor man of color wanted nothing more than to live his life with his family. What person wouldn’t want to be reunited even if it meant breaking the law!? These are real human beings. The laws can and should be amended and fixed, but in the meantime, why apply them with such harshness and heartlessness? Americans are responsible for that not him!
@Connie failing to buckle your seat belt os hardly comparable to violating federal law by entering the US illegally.
5
It is another divide we simply cannot seem to bridge, and which our leadership is frankly unwilling to bridge: whether illegal immigration is an issue set in stark black and white terms - you're here, you're wrong, you're gone - or if there are reasonable shades of gray.
Half of us see the need for gray - for judgement, for compassion, for mercy. And half of us see only the reality of broken law.
I don't know how to reconcile the two, but I do know that we are judged by our actions, eventually. Our leadership is failing us because there are certainly compromises we can and should make. They start with people who are productively here. We need not offer citizenship, but we can offer amnesty, on individual basis. That was the intent of DACA.
When someone dies in the desert, trying to get here, it is a personal tragedy, but not a national one. When someone dies in the desert trying to get back to his family, separated with no route for compassion, it is our national tragedy. WE are complicit.
84
@Cathy
Very well said. Thank you!
8
Our soft, spoiled, sheltered president has no idea of how other people struggle to get by in life. I hope Mr. Luna's family finds peace and goes on to live healthy and happy lives.
15
Thank you for this story, even though it is unbearably sad, and enraging. It is difficult to understand how people who work on the front lines cannot show a shred of understanding or mercy for people whose lives are being ripped apart. Do they enjoy the job? Do they take sadistic pleasure in deporting people who have lived here for decades and become cherished members of their communities? If so, they should be vastly ashamed. If not, they should find another line of work. This nightmare has to end.
13
Honest hard working people are deported.
This doesn't make us any stronger. Adhering to the letter of the law in this manner only makes us less understanding and weaker.
How is it we have become a such nation of followers?
9
I am sure that Mr. Luna's family will read this article, and perhaps the comments made by readers. I hope others will join me in extending condolences to this grieving family. When I reached the end of the article and read about 17 year old Emilie who was forced to endure hearing classmates' chants of "Build the wall" I was so ashamed and angered by the utter lack of compassion and decency that has become a routine way to treat human beings who are a part of our community (not to speak of those who are presently outside of our community, but who would like to become part of it!) that I knew I had to add at least one comment to let Emilie and her family know that there are also total strangers to her and her family who join in mourning her family's loss of this good, decent, hardworking, beloved man. Saying mean things to wound people who have suffered a catastrophic loss is abominable behavior. Emilie - a lot of us do care, and are working to change the laws that hurt families like yours. I am deeply sorry for your loss.
30
“He worked hard, paid taxes, raised a family.”
More than can be said about Donald Trump or Jared Kushner. Yet, their illegal activity is purely out of greed and is overlooked by those in power.
67
This is one of the saddest stories to date on the cruel and inhuman policies enacted by this Administration; it is a blot on our national character,& in a time of unprecedented prosperity in this country to think that this could happen renders us with much to be ashamed about, have we become this Godless?
I pray everyone who can will join in the vote to remove these people, meanwhile prayers and thoughts to this family
37
Unfortunately ,these few good examples will not stop them from crossing illegally.
6
@Alan Einstoss A man dying in the desert, leaving a grieving wife and children, is a "good example?"
31
@Alan Einstoss Respectfully - What wouldn’t you do, or give, or try, to be reunited with your family if you got separated? It breaks my heart.
8
@John A man broke our immigration laws, fathered a large family with a fellow Mexican, worked a menial job and then argued we had no right to enforce our laws. Why are Mexicans all so convinced in their inherent right to move here?
Indeed, it is a hear breaking story.
But laws are not just inconvenient facts.
Why have laws if all are allowed to break them.
For life of me, I do not understand how these Mexicans think America should reward a law breaker.
I live in Bogota, Colombia. I recently successfully applied for their version of a "green card" but more a "retiree visa" that does not allow me to work. And it is good only for 3 years and can then be extended for 2 years at a time.
Earlier, I had a scare at Bogota airport (but before this green card) when an immigration officer challenged me on my stay here. I was not breaking any laws as Americans are allowed a 180 day stay at a time. And one reason, I quickly applied for their green card.
I had to show my return ticket, produce other evidence that I was not indeed working here - and was admitted for 60 days. Of course, I had every intention of returning.
But with this new green card, it allows me longer stays and more importantly, in and out.
So, laws on immigration are everywhere.
And breaking immigration laws lands you in problems everywhere as well.
24
I too live abroad and like you have experienced immigration from the other side. But what Americans must never forget is that we have it relatively easy; for us, it’s easy to preach the virtues of following the rules because we get to skip to the front of the line, so to speak. We enjoy privileged status in many foreign countries—we can travel there visa-free and apply for residency in country rather than wait out the application process far from loved ones; we are not presumed to be unwanted economic migrants, drug dealers or rapists; our documents are not presumed to be forgeries, even if they must be legitimated. All this gives Americans an advantage that someone from Mexico—rightly or wrongly—won’t have.
5
Insert here..............." " the words Trump had the audacity to use on behalf of the American people over the "treatment" of Injustice Kavanaugh and apply to Ms Luna and her family.
Here they would at least be appropriately used.
10
Words fail me....Heartbreaking.....just heartbreaking. What has happened to my country that something like this is allowed to happen? Heartbreaking.
29
@KWalker It is heartbreaking, but you have to follow the law.
3
What has happened to loving kindness? Is this the America we have become? RIP Adrian Luna.
39
"As the spouse of a United States citizen, Mr. Luna could have been entitled to a green card, but complicating his case was the fact that he had been deported in 1992, and had illegally entered the country again. "
And there's the rub. This is why we need immigration reform. He made a life for himself and his family; paid his taxes and supported his community. He gave up his life to be with the ones that he loved. America is better than this.
56
@Phil Hurwitz
America NEEDS To be better than this. Or else we fail to be America
3
This is a very sad story and I am sorry for his family. Was there any way for them to rejoin him in Mexico? Instead of losing him to the desert, maybe they could have gone to his home with him and lived? Why is that so unthinkable? This American life must be so good people are willing to put themselves into a position of being deported one day just to get here and those who are here won't go back voluntarily for anything. I am sorry for them.
5
@Alex The mother and children are all US citizens here for a better life than in Mexico. They are certainly not going to live in Mexico to keep their father company.
1
I do believe that immigration reform is necessary, but there is something very wrong when a country boots out a person who works hard, pays taxes, and raises a family but finds no fault with a president who's a tax evader, cheats on his wife, and has no moral compass.
114
@Judith H. The US cannot and will not accept all the billions of the poor who want to come here. To do so would make us a third world country like the one they are leaving.
27
@Olivia You already are a third world country in the sense that you do not take care of the poor, the vets, the addicts, the sex workers, abused children and women. All of these people are not ilegal immigrants, but mostly Americans.
3
@Olivia I agree, but that is not what Judith H was saying, I also agree her