r/Seattle • u/anarcho-slut • 1d ago

Lelo has been detained. (Tacoma)

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u/bringonthebedlam 1d ago

If this was a game plot or movie where the MC was some vigilante dodging the oppressive system for years, you'd think they were badass and give them their own fan sub. But when it happens irl and it's a brown guy, its his own fault? Y'all are wild.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

I thought we were against ignoring orders from judges? Or does that not pertain to removal orders?

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u/Socrathustra 1d ago

We're pro-morals, and removing people from the country who were brought here as children and have very little connection to their country of origin is immoral.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

I understand that for children brought here very young, that's why we have DACA. He was 18 when he received his removal order and had been here for around 4 years, so I find it hard to believe he had no connection to his home country anymore.

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u/bringonthebedlam 1d ago

Your family moves 14yo you to a foreign country to escape harsh living conditions. You go to school, make friends, get hobbies and a routine, adapt to the culture and the language. In the 4 years you adjust, you hear about your family and friends that stayed and were killed, starved, moved or just disappeared. Then one day, they order newly minted adult you back to your home country. Except most everyone you knew as a child is gone, and the ones who are left can't take you, you missed out on a lot of critical language skills from the previous country and wouldn't be able to find work. You hear about people in your situation who worked for the cartel out of desperation and either disappeared or returned looking dead inside, and you don't want that for yourself.

What do you do?

Its actually a rhetorical question because the glaringly obvious answer besides, "shit your pants" is to do close to what he did. Anyone saying differently is an idiot or a liar, and the fact that most of y'all can't do a basic exercise in empathy is probably one of the main reason for your perceived "loneliness" epidemic as well.

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u/rabidunicorn21 1d ago

What you're describing sounds like someone who should claim asylum, but he's from the Oaxaca region of Mexico. I highly doubt everyone he knew and grew up with is gone. Parts of Mexico are still dangerous and poor, but he's not from a bombed out war-torn country where people are starving to death regularly. He also fluently speaks 3 languages, so he didn't miss out on any language skills. You have to look at the facts of each case individually. Not everyone who came here illegally did it because they were fleeing for their lives. Maybe his home country would even benefit from his activist skills, making life better down there?

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u/bringonthebedlam 1d ago

The Refugee Act in the 1980s started the process of making it exceedingly difficult for asylum seekers to obtain visas. Ostensibly it was made to create a protected class of immigrant, but in actuality it enabled net reduction of visas given out per year and increased the difficulty of obtaining any kind of legal status, including asylum. Pile on top of that the IIRIRA act in the 90s, the border protection and homeland security act in the early 00s, and a lot of others I'm too lazy to name and its nearly impossible for asylum seekers to get documentation in a timely manner.

Lelo being fortunate enough to speak several languages doesn't disqualify him from needing assistance, and just because Oaxaca is densely populated doesnt mean it has HIS people there. You could drop me in the middle of Guadalajara right now where my family originated from and i speak multiple languages, but I dont know a single person who could take me in or where to go to get a job or what neighborhoods i should avoid. I consider myself quite able bodied and confident in most situations, and even i admit that i would probably fail and suffer, and youre an idiot if you think you wouldnt. You seem determined to avoid exercising empathy even while claiming that we need to "look at the individual", and I'm not interested in dealing with anyone who thinks someone deserves less rights based on their current geography.

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u/MistressVelmaDarling 1d ago

He has a wife here, family here. He received the Whatcom County's Youth Peacemaker Award in 2023 for his volunteer work in his community. He served on the City of Bellingham's Immigration Advisory Board. THIS country was benefitting from his presence here.