{"id":11518,"date":"2012-06-29T16:54:26","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T20:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=11518"},"modified":"2012-07-03T11:59:25","modified_gmt":"2012-07-03T15:59:25","slug":"why-has-president-obama-awarded-amnesty-to-young-illegal-aliens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2012\/06\/why-has-president-obama-awarded-amnesty-to-young-illegal-aliens","title":{"rendered":"Why has President Obama awarded amnesty to young illegal aliens?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waving her diploma over her head, Guadelupe\u00a0Rojas walked across the stage, shook various university officials\u2019 hands, and laughing took a bow as her family and friends in the bleachers cheered, whistled and applauded.<\/p>\n

Her brother, Kiko, who will earn his teaching degree next year, blew a horn that noisily played the first notes of \u201cLa Cucaracha.\u201d \u201cGo, Lupe!\u201d yelled her high school history teacher, a retired judge who had recognized her potential when she was a ninth grader \u2013 and tried to get her to pursue law as a career. Her\u00a0grade school\u2019s\u00a0cafeteria manager\u00a0stood on a chair, applauding loudly. Her longtime soccer coach blew a referee\u2019s whistle and whooped. His wife blasted a boat air horn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Excited graduates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the microphone, a\u00a0dean in cap, gown and academic sashes smiled. \u201cCongratulations, Lupe,\u201d he said. \u201cBest of luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knew all too well that the young Mexican native will need it. Although Guadelupe graduated from the Honors\u00a0Program with honors and a double major in physics and math,\u00a0she faces a grim future. The job market is dismal enough for ordinary college grads; it\u2019s far, far worse for kids here illegally.<\/p>\n

Lupe was born near Reynosa, Mexico.<\/p>\n

Arriving in America\u00a0as a six-year-old, she showed up at\u00a0a youth\u00a0soccer practice where\u00a0her coach asked where she was from.<\/p>\n

\u201cMexico,\u201d the first grader told him in amazingly good English. \u201cBut we live here now. My Mommy and Daddy had to wait until nighttime and they waded across the river. But my uncle and my aunt have papers, so they met us at Burger King in Matamoros\u00a0and drove me and Kiko across. We pretended to be asleep. When the border guards tried to wake us up, we acted like we were sleepy. In English, I kept saying, \u2018Are we there yet? Are we there yet?\u2019 like I was dreaming. We fooled him!\u201d<\/p>\n

Solemnly,\u00a0her coach\u00a0listened. \u201cLupe,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cThat is a great story. Now, you have to promise me that you will never tell it to another Anglo. That story has to be a secret. Do you understand me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Soberly, she nodded, her eyes enormous. She never told the story again \u2013 to anybody. By the time she was a fifth grader, she and the coach\u2019s daughter, also a fifth grader, were assistant coaches for the local soccer league\u2019s kindergartners. As seventh graders, the two became referees. In eighth grade, Lupe started coaching her own team of third graders.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe did great as a coach and player<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although she was a starter on the high school varsity girls’ soccer squad, she earned a full scholarship because of her grades, her SAT and ACT scores, her class standing and her years of community service. She had a 4.3 grade point average \u2013 the extra .3 Continued on Page 2<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waving her diploma over her head, Guadelupe\u00a0Rojas walked across the stage, shook various university officials\u2019 hands, and laughing took a bow as her family and friends in the bleachers cheered, whistled and applauded. 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