Posted on 09/29/2005 6:27:20 AM PDT by devane617
TRINITY - The class schedule for 17-year-old Josue Oswaldo Ramirez-Mejia looked a lot like those of his classmates at Mitchell High School:
American history, language arts, economics and government, personal fitness.
Since Aug. 26, he had been just another student in this bustling, overcrowded Pasco County school.
But on Tuesday, Ramirez-Mejia's lost wallet betrayed his secret.
He was 27, not 17. The woman who registered him was his sister and not, as school officials were told, his mother. His school transcript was a forgery. So was his birth certificate. He was a Guatemala-born illegal immigrant who authorities say broke the law to get into Mitchell.
His motive?
Ramirez-Mejia wanted a good education.
"He came here for his education," Josue's brother, Maximo Ramirez-Mejia, said outside the Pasco County jail, where his brother was being held Wednesday on $5,000 bail on a charge of uttering a forged instrument.
His plan, Maximo Ramirez-Mejia said, was to finish high school, learn English, work a few years in the United States and then return to Guatemala, where he might get into real estate.
"America, everything is beautiful," Maximo Ramirez-Mejia, 34, said in English before switching to Spanish: " "En Guatemala, la gente se muere . (People are dying)."
The 27-year-old's strategy unraveled Tuesday after another student found Ramirez-Mejia's wallet in the physical education area of the school's campus, assistant superintendent Jim Davis said.
The billfold was given to a teacher, who gave it to a school resource officer, who in turn began an investigation that was still under way late Wednesday.
School officials said Ramirez-Mejia raised no red flags during his month on campus. He was taking reading and English as a second language, in addition to the other classes. The principal knew him only when she was shown a photo, Davis said.
"Of all the things to do wrong out there, I think we have to sympathize. For most of us, education is so important" said Melissa Lazarin, education policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, a nonprofit organization involved in Hispanic issues.
What stumped school officials was that Ramirez-Mejia could have obtained his education legally through the same school district without altering any documents. He could have enrolled in Pasco's adult education courses, taken English classes and eventually enrolled in a high school equivalency program.
"It's a shame he thought that was the only way he could get an education," said Anne Johnson, director of community, career and technical education. "There are just all kinds of things that could have been available."
Maximo Ramirez-Mejia said he didn't think his brother knew he had such an option.
Now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has begun deportment proceedings.
If Ramirez-Mejia is released from Pasco County jail on bail, the federal agency will pick him up and detain him at Bradenton Detention Center in Manatee County until he posts a second bail, said immigration spokeswoman Pam McCullough.
"I got the $5,000," Maximo Ramirez-Mejia said in both English and Spanish before leaving the jail Wednesday. "But I need to work a long time for $5,000. Maybe is better si el se va para Guatemala (if he goes to Guatemala)."
Ramirez-Mejia was not allowed to see his brother in jail Wednesday. Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said proper visitation paperwork and procedures had not been processed.
Josue Ramirez-Mejia came to the United States three years ago, but lived in West Palm Beach until a few months ago, his brother said.
Corporate filing records show the brothers run a tiling business together, Torre Fuerte Flooring Inc. of Lake Worth. Maximo Ramirez-Mejia said his brother would attend classes in the day and then work in the afternoons and evenings.
"The work we have, you have to know English," Maximo said, adding that if his brother goes back to Guatemala he might have to join him because he doesn't know if he can run the business on his own.
Neighbors in their west Pasco neighborhood of Holiday described the brothers as kind, friendly people. They play accordion, sing a lot, read the Bible and work hard, said a neighbor who only gave her name as Gayle.
Three times a week, Josue and his brother attended La Luz del Mundo, a Spanish-speaking church in Holiday, their pastor said when he stopped by the house Wednesday afternoon.
Neighbor Omartin Martinez, 19, said Josue lent him a bike after Martinez was hit by a car and forced to begin collecting disability payments from Social Security.
The Pasco Sheriff's Office said it found only traffic tickets in Josue Ramirez-Mejia's history. A St. Petersburg Times review of public records found two felony charges to a Josue Ramirez Majia with the same birth date and similar physical description.
On Jan. 23, 2004, in Lake Clarke Shores, someone by that name was arrested for auto theft and possessing a false identification card. A photo on the Palm Beach County Web site appears to match that issued by the Pasco Sheriff's Office.
The disposition of that arrest was not clear from public records late Wednesday, but he was found guilty of possessing a fictitious identification.
Maximo Ramirez-Mejia said the matter had been dropped by the courts. He said his brother's arrest was the result of a mix-up in which he bought a Mitsubishi Eclipse for $500 and the man he bought it from reported it stolen. Then, his brother was picked up while driving it.
Asked what he thinks will happen to his brother now, Maximo said he was remaining positive.
"He's going to be okay," he said, "because he's got much faith and he's smart."
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TRINITY - The class schedule for 17-year-old Josue Oswaldo Ramirez-Mejia looked a lot like those of his classmates at Mitchell High School: American history, language arts, economics and government, personal fitness. Since Aug. 26, he had been just another student in this bustling, overcrowded Pasco County school.But on Tuesday, Ramirez-Mejia's lost wallet betrayed his secret.
He was 27, not 17.
The woman who registered him was his sister and not, as school officials were told, his mother. His school transcript was a forgery.
So was his birth certificate. He was a Guatemala-born illegal immigrant who authorities say broke the law to get into Mitchell.
"Three times a week, Josue and his brother attended La Luz del Mundo, a Spanish-speaking church in Holiday, their pastor said when he stopped by the house Wednesday afternoon."
La Luz del Mundo is a cult!
http://cultinfobooks.com/pub_affnb/affnbsubscribers/Conference_2002_Reportb.htm
La Luz del Mundo
Paul Cardin, Executive Director of the Centers for Apologetics Research in San Juan Capistrano, CA, chaired a session that opened with a presentation by Jorge Erdele, Ph.D., Director of the Research Center of the Mexican Christian Institute and Editor of the Latin American Journal for the Academic Study of Religions) on La Luz Del Mundo, a “transnational” group based in Mexico, with many members in the United States. Dr. Erdele indicated the ways in which La Luz, which has significant political influence and therefore protection in Mexico, exemplifies cultic processes, and detailed how sexual abuse is theologically justified and institutionalized among the leadership cadre. Ph.D. candidate Marcos Marin, formerly Professor of Anthropology of Religion and Ethnicity at the Unversidad La Habana, in Cuba, discussed his research, including cultic aspects of the Palo Monte religion, which has migrated to Florida.
Maybe he was a Jump Street detective.
I once asked one of our asst. principals how illegal aliens could be entered in our school since I had to produce so much documentation every time we moved and had to get our kids in a new school.
He just smiled and said something like, "We can't turn them away."
I think legal American citizens should just start refusing to provide any documentation.
BTW I also had a student who told me she had already graduated from HS in Mehico and she was going to school in the US while living with a relative, to improve her English because she wanted to go to college in Mehico and get a business degree. She spoke fair English, but she was in several programs at taxpayers expense to help her keep up with her school work. I don't know for certain if she was here legally or not, but I suspect not.
susie
Many schools in California are now occupied by a majority of non-English speakers. Anyone who says this is not an invasion is crazy.
There are alot of crazy people out there! :(
susie
From your paragraph on La Luz del Mundo.
I think that the rationale for a 27 year old hanging around a bunch of 16 year olds might just, just might, have some roots in this statement.
" I think that the rationale for a 27 year old hanging around a bunch of 16 year olds might just, just might, have some roots in this statement."
Made me wonder too when I saw he was involved with them.
Reminds me of the old redneck joke..."My dad walked me to school every day...we were both in the fourth grade".
SEND HIM BACK IMMEDIATELY!.OR JAIL HIM!
"There are just all kinds of things that could have been available."
Such as deportation?
America has been tied, screwed, and sold out in the the name of the seven cardinal sins. But who gives a good damn.
Our once God fearing politicians who now only acknowledge Him as part and parcel of their cover-up diversions, are rapidly tearing down any and all reference to He who gave Americans their precious liberties.
Little wonder America is going to hell in a hand-basket.
Little wonder Congress is the enemy within.
Well said!
I couldn't agree more.
Our ForeFathers never intended for these CongressCritters to all be (a) lawyers and (b) in lifetime positions.
At the far end of the county from me is Trinity, an entity that is called a "CDP", census designated place. CDP's are communities that lack separate municipal government, but otherwise resemble incorporated places such as villages and cities. Trinity is not legally incorporated in Florida. Population is approx 4000 with approx 1500 families. Ninety-six per cent white, under one per cent black, a sprinkling of Asians and 2.83 % Hispanic or Latino. Hardly any percentage at all of people living below the poverty line.
The founder of the quite lovely community is Dr. James Gills, who established a world-renowned eye clinic near where I live. He did my cataract surgery.
Dr. Gills is a self-described born-again, a former marathon runner, a philanthropist and an author of inspirational books.
He is also a major landowner in west central Florida.
The founding of Trinity was a vision of Dr. Gills. It's a community where most of the streets have biblical names. The residents are not necessarily "biblical" or "non-biblical" as far as I know. I don't live that close.
I think I'll become an FR field correspondent reporting live from Pasco county where anything weird can happen and usually does.
Great beaches, here, though.
Leni
Yes, I agree the beaches are the BEST in the world. A little known beach "Howard Park" can't be beat as a family beach. However, being a Texan, I had a real problem dealing with all the New Yorkers. So, here I amback in Texas.
Leni
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