As President Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney court Latino voters, CNN takes an In Depth look at what matters most to this diverse group, and how that will influence elections.
By Rafael Romo, Senior Latin American Affairs Editor
(CNN) - Joaquin Luna was only 18. The senior at Juarez Lincoln High School in Mission, Texas, dreamed of going to college. But since he was in the country illegally, that was nearly impossible.
Luna was quickly losing hope of ever going to college, his family says. The Friday after Thanksgiving, Luna put on a suit, kissed his family members, went into the bathroom and shot himself in the head, according to family members.
"He didn't see no other way or no other option," his brother Diyra Mendoza told CNN affiliate KGBT.
Mendoza found the body after hearing the gunshot.
"As soon as I pulled him out to the kitchen, I could see the bullet hole and there was no movement, no signs of anything," Mendoza said. "He was gone."
Mendoza says the letters his brother left behind reveal his fears about being in the country illegally. He also was frustrated because the DREAM Act - an initiative that would legalize young immigrants who have been in the country for more than five years if they attend college or serve in the military - never passed.
It's estimated that the DREAM Act would benefit about 2 million young people. It failed by five votes in the Senate last December. A new push by Democrats in Congress this year also didn't go far.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, who has been pushing for the measure for a decade, testified at a congressional hearing in June. "The Dream Act would make America a stronger country by giving these talented immigrants the chance to fulfill their potential." Durbin said.
But Republican lawmakers call the bill "blanket amnesty" and have strongly opposed it. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, calls it "a band-aid and maybe worse, it would provide an incentive for future illegal immigration."
The DREAM Act was also a hot-potato issue in the November 22 CNN debate of Republican presidential candidates. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke in favor of the DREAM Act. "I don't see any reason to punish somebody who came here at 3 years of age, but who wants to serve the United States of America," Gingrich said.
Mitt Romney agreed with Gingrich saying the he "would staple a green card to the diploma of anybody who's got a degree of math, science, master's degree, Ph.D. We want those brains in our country."
But Michele Bachmann denounced it, warning the measure would "offer taxpayer-subsidized benefits to illegal aliens. We need to move away from magnets not offer more."
Back in Texas, Mendoza is thinking of other young immigrants like his brother. "It's like all these kids that are here. They're all dependent on that DREAM Act to keep on studying," Mendoza said.
But with a Congress unable to reach a compromise to reduce the deficit and presidential elections less than a year away, the chances of any immigration bill being passed seem unlikely.
What defines you? Maybe it’s the shade of your skin, the place you grew up, the accent in your words, the make up of your family, the gender you were born with, the intimate relationships you chose to have or your generation? As the American identity changes we will be there to report it. In America is a venue for creative and timely sharing of news that explores who we are. Reach us at inamerica@cnn.com.
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Awesome things here. I'm very glad to peer your post. Thanks so much and I am taking a look forward to touch you. Will you please drop me a mail?
The saddest thing of all about this problem is that the United States has become the welfare provider to the world. Poor and dispossed people everywhere are coming here because they have been told that the resources they need to survive are here. Some governments, such as Mexico, actually teach their people how to illegally enter and how to illegally get resources http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002143941_comic07.htm. It is easier for governments such as Mexico's to send their problems "el Norte," rather than clean up their own corruption and provide for their own people. Once here, however, suchlike ones become a burden on the resources of this country, especially the so-called "anchor babies," for whom all the welfare services are claimed. But the current law says that no one entering the country, not even someone entering legally, is allowed to become a "public charge" by applying for any social benefits. Many people entering illegally are also uneducated and unable to even read and write in their native tongue. Some have communicable diseases and wind up costing our healthcare system multi-millions of dollars. I am not mean spirited and I am not anti immigration; my husband immigrated from Canada, but we did everything legally. It is not in the best interests of Mexicans or other illegals to come here. They are often exploited by wealthy people and corporations who only want a workforce that is docile and too frightened to report any form of abuse. They are near slaves or actuall slaves. They are often cheated out of their pay, and abused by poor working conditions. The willingness to work for practically nothing also undermines the American workforce, who must then compete with Third World standards. I am of the opinion that the answer is in following the current letter of the law and arresting, jailing and fining anyone who hires or provides shelter to anyone who has not entered the country legally. If we saw the men who drive the pickup trucks to pick up the cheap labor arrested and taken to jail and their businesses shuttered, or the "Lady of the Manor" doing the perp walk, it would only have to happen a couple times to send the chilling message. People need to do what my husband did. Enter LEGALLY. it is for their safety and for ours.
"He didn't see no other way or no other option," his brother Diyra Mendoza [said]...
With that gramar, I do not think Diyra is going to college...
I also like the different last name of the brother...
Here was his other option: University of Mexico- Mexico City campus
May want to check your GRAMMAR.
When did this happen ?
As an illegal he may have been able to attend West Valley-Mission Community College District – It does ask for citizenship status on the application but I can imagine there would have been a way of dodging it
a corpes can only attend one class in college, anatomie, and only once.
I feel sorry for the kid, he made a bad decision. But the fact is that he could have gone to college even as an illegal. The DREAM act and all such pandering garbage merely allows illegals' tuition to be reduced from out-of-state to in-state. It's just dollars and cents.
So now that they've been identified, are they getting deported? Hope so. Never would have happened if you stayed home.
fakeedit: Holy crap, CNN. There was no mention of the DREAM act in his selfkill note. Just making stuff up eh? Nice to see you holding up those journalistic standards. He offed himself because he just failed some test he needed for college.
CNN: The most trusted name in liberal fiction.
As a mother of two young men, I feel terribly for this boy and his family. It is awfully tragic and painful. However, suicide is complex. One's decision to end his/her own life is typcially not for one particular reason. Wrestling with the decision is a result of culminating, external factors coupled with deep seated internal factors like mental health and stability. One cannot blame one external circumstance; clearly this young man had some other things going on that brewed inside him.
Don't the parents share (probably all) the responsibility. They knew the risks of bringing a child here illegally. They knew the law.
nice wording. wanted to say the same thing myself.
Well this ought to bring a smile to many of your racist faces.
It will make everything much easier if we all remember a very simple definition of what is "racist": Racist means anything that any minority person dislikes for any reason. Once we all accept that reality, we can get past it.
Mexican is NOT a race
What, are you saying it's a smell or something? How rude.
IF HIS IDIOT PARENTS AND ALL OTHER POOR ,DUMB AS= STOP HAVING KIDS THAT THEY CAN'T AFFORD, THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN
Jen, I hope you don't have children because typing in all caps and grammatically wrong, must mean you don't have an education. If you don't have an education, how can anyone expect that you will be able to raise your children and provide them with an adequate education? Birds of a feather flock together....
It's sad that this young man felt so bad about his future that he decided to kill himself. It looks like he had, perhaps, everything else going for him. My empathy goes out to the family of this young man. My anger goes out to the trolls posting on this forum!
It is sad that idiots like you actually believe that Joaquin killed himself over not going to college.
amazing how this article suggests that the government is responsible for this young mans death. People are responsible for their own lives and well being. We are a nation of laws. His parents did not obey those laws. Having said that, I do not see why this young man could not go to college, either here or his home country. That a student would not qualify for financial aid does not mean that he cannot attend college. It merely means that more student loans will have to be taken out instead of government aid. Millions of modest incmoe Americans do not qualify for direct aid, yet pursue their dreams of higher education.
You can't get a bank loan without a social security number. If his family had the cash to pay for him to go to college out of pocket they would have immigrated legally here.
boo hoo hoo What are we, the dumping ground for the world?
Unfortunately, there was something really wrong with this kid well above and well beyond anything to do with immigration and college. He must have had some sort of major emotional/psychological issues or even mental illness. His worrying about his immigration status and college status was just the "flavor" the issues took on.
Can't keep blaming this country for all their problems. Blame the parents.
Why this kid had a gun? why ? send all those illegals home .....he probably had bad grades and now is blaming the system and how come the parents are legal and not him? they should started his Citizenship papers.....I think all this is just a excuse from him and from his family! the kid had mental illness!