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Las Vegas resident Alan Aleman, 20, watches as President Barack Obama mentions him during a speech about immigration reform at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. Aleman, who was brought illegally to the United States by his parents when he was 11, was one of the first Las Vegas residents to get his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) work permit.
By Karoun Demirjian (contact) 
Published Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 11:44 a.m.
Updated Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 | 12:26 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Every year, a hand-picked set of special guests sits with the first lady as the president delivers the State of the Union address.
This year, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have selected a young, undocumented immigrant from Las Vegas to be in one of their seats of honor.
Alan Aleman, 20, was one of the first young, undocumented immigrants from Nevada to receive work authorization under Obama’s direction to defer deportation proceedings against so-called “Dreamers” and allow them to find jobs.
Dreamers are young people brought to the United States illegally as children under the age of 16 who are enrolled in college or enlisted in the military and who, under the proposed Dream Act, would eventually be eligible for citizenship.
Aleman was born in Mexico City and came to the United States with his parents when he was 11. He went to high school, graduated from Southeast Career Technical Academy with a major in business and information technology and is enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, where he is in his second year of studying biological science. He wants to become a doctor and serve in the Air Force.
“I never saw my immigration status as being a barrier,” Aleman told the Las Vegas Sun in a recent interview.
But it came hurdles that having a Social Security number and status — even temporary status — has now erased.
“The most important thing is living with no fear. You don’t fear being deported or being stopped by the police,” he said. “I have my driver’s license now. I have my Social Security number now. I can apply for scholarships. So, I have more opportunities, and that’s the thing I was waiting on for a long time.”
Aleman also has a little bit of celebrity among undocumented immigrants. When Obama came to Las Vegas last month to announce his plans to push for immigration reform, he recognized Aleman in the speech.
“[Immigrants] all came here knowing that what makes somebody an American is not just blood or birth, but allegiance to our founding principles and the faith in the idea that anyone from anywhere can write the next great chapter of our story,” Obama said. “And that’s still true today. Just ask Alan Aleman.”
Aleman briefly met the president that day. But the first lady’s box in the House promises much closer proximity to the first family.
Aleman is still working to help change the fortunes of others in situations similar to his. He works at Hermandad Mexicana, where he reviews applications for the deferred action and work status that changed his life.
He's not undocumented. He's illegal and should be deported.
so now obama - heartily endorsed by the communist party usa - wants to turn all these millions of illegal aliens into voting naturalized anchor babies.
that's the subversive communist democrat plan - facilitated by harry reid and his cohorts illnois dick durbin and new york hillary clinton - to harverst the 15-17 year olds who will turn 18 just in time for 2014 elections
everyone's caught on to obamas pro communist musings.
obama will claim spending another $1 trillion or so of tax debt on government jobs for these people in his upcoming SOU propaganda speech. obama will roll out this ridiculous position exactly 17 minutes into his bombastic pro communist rantings
however, here's what he should say:
'he's going to round up and deport all of the illegal aliens and their anchor baby offspring and ship them back to their home countries,
and that he's going to tax at 100% all of the money sent back by wire transfers to their home countries - all $100 billion of it - and raise taxes on western union/first data corporation or any other bank that wire transfers us dollars overseas.'
so this guy in the article is now "not afraid of being caught by the police" - which means he knew he was here illegally and by default everyone who helped him stay in the usa was aiding and abetting criminal activity - that includes the tenured edu-crats who collect tax supported paychecks
deport them all and in chains
Agreed Dave, AND his parents should go too
I trust the House Sergeant-At-Arms will take Mr. Aleman into custody and put him on the next bus.
This makes me sick. Glad I left Nevada years ago.
Just curious but say a child prostitution ring was busted, would you also charge the 11 year old with soliciting prostitution? Or just he adults for forcing them into that work?
If a mother teaches her 7 year old to steal with her from a store, would you charge the 7 year old with larceny too? Or just mom and get the kid help?
Because I don't think infants and minor children had any control over what their parents did with them. So as far as the parents, absolutely. Fine them, deport them. The kids? Completely different. They were victims. Anyone who can't see that is a bit irrational. We don't want to reward breaking the law, that's why deport the parents, sorry if it breaks up the family. But These kids that had no choice in coming here, wouldn't survive going back to their country.
Just funny how some people work.
@tuasdad:
Glad to see that someone gets it. Adults who came here illegally made a conscious choice to do so, and they should suffer the consequences. Their minor children had no choice in the matter. They were simply caught up in their parents' actions. Apples and oranges as far as I'm concerned. If they are productive, law abiding residents, I have no problem with giving them a path to citizenship if they choose to stay. Beats some of the people who were born here who deliberately choose to do nothing productive.
Sounds like a good kid and the type of person we as citizens like to see progress and become legal in the US.
His parents on the other hand should be deported immediately for breaking our laws.
I'm glad to see Mr. Aleman was able to take advantage of the taxpayer funded education while he was here illegally.
WHAT IS INSANITY?
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Congress has passed 7 amnesties for illegal aliens, starting in 1986.
1. Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA), 1986: A blanket amnesty for some 2.7 million illegal aliens
2. Section 245(i) Amnesty, 1994: A temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens
3. Section 245(i) Extension Amnesty, 1997: An extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994
4. Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty, 1997: An amnesty for close to one million illegal aliens from Central America
5. Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA), 1998: An amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti
6. Late Amnesty, 2000: An amnesty for some illegal aliens who claim they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty, an estimated 400,000 illegal aliens
7. LIFE Act Amnesty, 2000: A reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty, an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens.
E-mail your Congressman and tell him or her NO to ANY legalization or pathway to citizenship of illegal aliens (Both are Amnesty). That's all you have to say. Don't wait for somebody else to do it. YOU can make a difference!
Here's how to find out who your reps are and their e-mail addresses: http://www.contactingthecongress.org
He is an illegal alien in this country and so are his parents and the government has a constitutional obligation to arrest them and deport them to their home country. The fact that this has not happened is evidence that this government no longer has the desire to enforce the rule of law or the Constitution of this country.
I am shocked someone without status as a legal resident could get so far. Nobody in all those years ever asked to see proof of residency? If he was asked for it when he was 11 the first time he tried to go to school maybe the parents would have taken him back to Mexico. He sounds like he has done just fine, but maybe at the expense of a US citizens' child.
How about Obama inviting a documented person that has waited years to get in the US legally.
>>He went to high school, graduated from Southeast Career Technical Academy with a major in business and information technology and is enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, where he is in his second year of studying biological science. He wants to become a doctor and serve in the Air Force.<<
Undocumented sounds so much better than Illegal...
If I steal your car , I guess I'm just an unregistered owner.
I break into your house,I'm an uninvited guest.
Steal something from you, I'm just taking preemptive ownership ( I'll pay you later).
Political correct terms make things sound so much more legal, and less hurtful.
Henryojohnson: He's "undocumented" because he didn't do anything illegal. He didn't break any laws and has done what we ask children in this country to do...go to school, get a good education, and make something of yourself.
@francesco:
You make several references to the Constitution regarding this issue. There is absoluety ZERO in the Constitution about immigration or immigration rules.
amazing how people from mexico can just come across the border but i have friends i work with in vegas who are trying to get there families here from the philippines and other asian countries with no luck even after they filed all the right paperwork
The balls of these folks. No fear from the US government. He sits there grinning. Our borders are a joke. Our government is a joke. Might as well save the money for some other worthless project. It certainly won't be one that American citizens can benefit from. Might as well extend a current war or start a new one.
AH yes, quickly send this guy to jail for the horrible pre-meditaed crime he committed at 11 years old.
I'm just as pissed as most of you about illegal immigration. I was lucky enough to have come to this country, legally and become a citizen by choice. It took my parents many years, a lot of money and an incredible amount of resolve to go through this process LEGALLY. So there's nobody more pissed about that than folks like me who did it legally, and the many many others who continue to try to come here legally and cannot while they watch others get amnesty. Again, the kid had no say and no choice, you people wouldn't charge an 11 with soliciting prostitution but you want him deported for something he did at 11 but had no choice or say in.
Deport the parents, no amnesty. The kids who have no criminal record, no child support, no government hand outs can stay.
But the taxpayers who work hard and are legal... are NOT invited.
So how do y'all know that he or his parents have not paid any taxes? When I taught in LV in a school with many Hispanic kids it was pretty common for the seniors to work in the distribution warehouse of a giant multinational retailer known for cheap prices and shoddy goods. Their working conditions were so poor that they routinely hired undocumented workers with a wink and a nod.
this is in keeping with the "CRIMINALS first" policies of the Current regime.
Earth to racists and bigots ... come in racists and bigots ...
The political landscape has shifted since the GOP was shellacked in the November elections. Since then republicans have begun to adopt GW Bush's compassionate conservatism toward undocumented aliens.
As W once said, "Message: I care."
One after another -- Cantor, McCain, Rubio, and others -- have come forward to say they care -- really care -- about being shellacked by the Democrats and have no choice but to find a sensible policy regarding immigration.
Votes have no racial bias in a free democracy. Either get used to it or find another country.
Sorry, LT, but these days the race card is only played by racists. Whether you like it or not, everything is NOT about race.
We are not only a forced to pay for the invaders fancy education, but also their expensive dental braces.
Shameful.
The person who said, "But These kids that had no choice in coming here, wouldn't survive going back to their country." is being ridiculous.
Why wouldn't they survive in their own country? Aren't there millions of other children there who are surviving?
No one said that those children should be prosecuted for being brought here by their parents. We realize that the true lawbreakers are the parents who deliberately brought them here illegally. What we are saying is that they should never have been here in the first place, and it it time for them to return to their own country. Period!
As for the person who said, "Deport the parents, no amnesty. The kids who have no criminal record, no child support, no government hand outs can stay." Why on earth would any intelligent, rational person propose such a stupid idea?
Children belong with their parents, don't they? Those kids were brought here by their parents and they need to return to their country with their parents. What would be the justification or the logic in deporting only the parents? Why would you separate a child from his/her parents? Why would the U.S. want to be straddled with the added burden of millions of orphans?
The solution is to deport their parents and the children.
Of course, jazzy13 (Mick Davis) is right. Everything is not about race.
Eleven million illegal immigrants in the U.S. is not a racial issue. Most are from Mexico, but many others are from other parts of the world. American citizens and taxpayers are saying enough is enough. Those people are here illegally and they need to be forced to leave, now. Americans are tired of being abused and taken advantage of by illegal immigrants and their children. We have 11 million U.S. citizens who can't find jobs, American children who go to bed hungry every night and are receiving dismal educations, and we have a crippled economy. Illegal immigrants and their children are here at the expense of taxpayers and their children. They shouldn't be here at all. Let's fix the problem and send them home.
"I have my driver's license now. I have my Social Security number now. I can apply for scholarships."
In other words, "everyone who plays by the rules and waits for years/decades are a bunch of suckers, and I'm glad I have politicians pandering to me to the delightful squeals of approving liberals everywhere."
"Oh, and blame my parents, it's not my fault. But they'll be rewarded too."
I am so happy for these kids. And, a believe the American government is doing the right thing. You cant continue to ignore them. And, it is not right to deport the kids after the corporations used the parents for cheap labor.
Obama the dictactor changed the law via endict without Congress.
This proves that he and his adminstration can't be trusted.
So Republicans should not agree to any deal if it is dependent on the Obama adminstration acting in good faith.
There is no good faith there.
It is gone.
shannonk says:He's "undocumented" because he didn't do anything illegal.
Is this kid in this country illegally? Is he a citizen? If the answer to these questions are yes he's in the country illegally and no he is not a citizen then he's "Illegal". I thought you were a teacher? If so get a dictionary.
This entire SOTU is getting so stupid and predictable, why bother to even have it? And to top it off Obama will parade someone like Alan for political purposes and everyone will clap and the media will just go ga-ga and just think what a great thing. It's actually getting quite sickening to watch these Democrats oo and ah and at the end of the day nothing changes. I think anyone with any intelligence, tonight, unless you have to watch it, will just turn it off.
I am now surer than I have ever been that the "Dreamers" and the people about to be welcomed to America via the immigration measures outlined by the Obama administration are needed to replace the cynical, mean spirited Americans that are represented by the hostile "Deport 'em all" posts added to this thread.
I am sure they will make better neighbors, better employees, and better citizens than we have seen displayed here.
Then they will get woven into America's fabric and I will have nicer people to converse with.
This young man is 20 years old and now well educated, thanks to the generosity of US Citizens who work hard to make an honest living and pay their taxes.
Now if he is an HONEST young man, his conscience would tell him that remaining in this country on his own will,is wrong. And rather than continue the dishonest life that his parents taught him, he will voluntarily return to his native country where he IS a legal citizen by birth rite. Granted, he did not know better at age 11, but now at age 20, he DOES know better and CAN return on his own will. Now Alan Aleman, please EARN some respect from the good citizens of the United States. Go do the right thing; provide a good example for others in the same situation. All eyes are on you, and you CAN do it. You can be an honest man and make it in your OWN country and also get line to return here LEGALLY. Thank You!
Think about it Alan. You are an adult so the choice is now yours! I'm sure you are bi-lingual. Think about how you can use the quality education you have right now to help the people of your own native country. Your parents must have left many relatives and friends. Help them fight for THEIR human rights. Make their workplaces more humane.
And if you don't like it there, you can always apply to return to this country legally.
Traveling at taxpayer expense--invited by you know who. Wasted money again. No priorities for American long-term unemployed. Just trying to buy votes for Hillary.
Illegals who don't even want to live as Americans--they expect us to change into Mexican "citizens" for their convenience. And they expect us to pay for everything 24/7, cradle to grave. NOT GONNA happen.
Player: You're onto something. Many to most of the illegals won't make the effort to support their country of origin by working and paying taxes. The geography south of here is absolutely beautiful but so many of the peoples are unwilling to invest in making the countries (economies, governments, safety) into the way they want to live. So they force their ways here and/or stay when illegal all the time taking from hard-working Americans.
Really makes your day plus rainbows to meet or to see the president in person.
Player58,
Does it feel good to write malicious things about a young man who has done NOTHING to earn your contempt?
By attempting to portray him as dishonest you reveal your dishonesty.
Mr. Aleman has already earned the respect of the GOOD citizens of the United States .