How often has bureaucratic bungling cost the innocent everything? How often has Congress meddled in an issue without regard for unintended consequences? OK. Should I narrow that down to the last month?

With such porous borders and talk of immigration amnesty, it seems just a tad ridiculous to put a man in prison and possibly deport him for not having the right papers at a court hearing. And this guy is technically a US citizen.

New law creates glitch in Sparks man’s pursuit to prove his citizenship – Rene Herrera was handcuffed in court and detained by immigration agents on Sept. 1.

“I went in hoping to come out an American and I came out wearing handcuffs and filled with hopelessness and friends and family crying,” he said. “Yeah, it was pretty ugly.”

That action came after U.S. District Judge Edward C. Reed said Congress “clipped my wings” by passing the Real ID Act in May.

[Herrera’s sister] said, “Their whole goal is for us to lose hope, throw in the towel. We haven’t lost hope.”



  1. Daver Lee Lewis says:

    Uh, what are you talking about – Absolutely you should have the right papers when you go to court. Maybe he didn’t have enough time to buy then on the street. Look, enough free rides. I say deport him and let him go through the right channels if he wants to come back.

    Enough is enough.

  2. Floyd says:

    Daver, you missed the point. He was apparently an American citizen trying to prove his citizenship, but one of his proofs didn’t pass muster because of the new law.

    For instance, maybe his original US birth certficate (or naturalization papers) didn’t have a raised seal, but he wan’t given the chance to get the revised certificate.

  3. Dave says:

    You might want to reread the article. It clearly says the INS made a mistake in not issuing the right papers to his mother and the DNS is using that department’s mistake as an excuse to kick him out. Even a die hard right winger should be offened by such govenmental abuse.


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