Looking for a better life.(THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE)

Many of us have heard the often-repeated phrase, "They are just looking for a better life," referring to the illegal aliens flooding into the United States. That may be true for some--we don't know--but for some it is absolutely false. Case in point--our family's experience with an illegal alien.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The date: October 7, 2007. Place: Marshalltown, Iowa. Event: An illegal alien with a fake driver's license ran two stop signs, crossed three lanes, and broadsided us at a high rate of speed and rolled our van over. My mother: dead. My husband: broken back, broken hand, four broken ribs, many lacerations including glass still embedded in his face. My dad: eight crushed ribs, abdominal injuries and surgery, dead spouse. Myself: dead mother, lacerations, broken ribs. Another passenger with us: lacerations.

There is no explanation for why the illegal immigrant was going so fast through the stop signs or why the vehicle crossed the lanes of traffic and hit us. The supposed driver of the vehicle, an illegal-immigrant woman, was not inebriated or on drugs (though her spouse who was with her was drunk). Police ruled out that the husband was driving and then switched seats with the driver. We do know that the woman immediately lied to the police. She said she hit the brakes before the accident. Police know she lied because, among several proofs, when brake lights are lit when they break, they break in a unique fashion. Police also checked her brakes' hydraulics. They were fine. The woman and her husband, whom police could not confirm was an illegal immigrant (it is assumed he is a resident alien), had four children in the car, and none of them were belted in. Fortunately, they were not hurt.

When I was at the Department of Motor Vehicles getting my husband a disability parking permit, I asked a worker how the woman had managed to get a fake driver's license, as I wouldn't have any idea how to procure one. I was told that illegal immigrants commonly order fakes over the Internet for states like California, states that don't give driver information to other states. Then the immigrants simply use the "California license" to obtain one in another state.

The woman and her husband were frequent lawbreakers. We accessed the Iowa Court online public information. What a list of charges we found for the driver and the owner of the vehicle that hit us! There was a long list including but not limited to methamphetamine possession, OWI twice, assault causing bodily injury for each of them, child endangerment, passing a stopped school bus, disorderly conduct, multiple charges of failure to have a valid driver's license (to solve her problem in this area, the driver got a fake license; to solve his, the vehicle owner paid fines), no insurance, failure to have vehicle registration, etc. For her crimes, the driver received various jail sentences and $835 in fines, but she served no time and paid no fines. In 2006, the woman was given a two-year sentence for methamphetamine possession and child endangerment for using the drugs in front of her kids. The woman also received a 364-day sentence for "assault causing bodily injury." Her sentence and her fine were suspended. If she had served her jail time or had been deported, my mother might still be alive. Police gave no explanation as to why the woman was not deported when she was arrested, but insinuated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) wouldn't pick up illegals one or two at a time--only in mass raids. When illegal aliens break the law to get into the United States, why should anyone be surprised when they continue to break laws? I wonder how many citizens would receive such leniency, and I become a bit angry.

People try to "relieve" my anger and grief by telling me that my mother was 90 years old, and parents all die someday, implying that my mother was due to go. Let me tell you a bit about my mother. She was vivacious and alert. She still traveled, quilted extensively, canned produce from the garden, and still drove herself to card club and church. This past summer she hosted a party for 200 people as part of a celebration of her family living on the same farm in Iowa for over 100 years, and went to the Iowa State Fair on the hottest day of the summer to pick up her award for being a Century Farmer. Should I be "relieved" by the fact that she made it to 90 years old, or feel cheated out of more good years?