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On January 31, New Fairfield's Joel Colindres kissed his wife and two children goodbye as he boarded a plane back to Guatemala, as ordered by ICE. The final verdict was delivered on Tuesday, Jan. 30 when Joel Colindres learned that immigration officials had denied his emergency request to stay in this country.

I understand that many of you believe that deporting Colindres was the right thing to do, and many also believe, such as I do, that it was the wrong thing to do. I am not going to jump on my high horse and tell you that you're a moron if you don't believe what I believe, and I hope you choose not to leave a rude comment about what I do believe. I would like to offer a reason for why I think he should have been allowed to stay. I found the following quote on ancestry.com. inside an article titled, "Overview of Immigration Research."

At some point in history, every person who lives in the United States had ancestors who came from somewhere else.

For decades, the United States welcomed millions of immigrants through Ellis Island so they could search for hope and a better life in America. From days passed through the 21st Century, here's a partial rundown on how many of certain ancestries now reside in our country:

  • Germans - 50 million
  • African American - 42 million
  • Irish - 36 million
  • Mexicans - 33 million
  • English - 28 million
  • Italians - 18.5 million
  • Polish - 10.5 million
  • French - 10 million

Put simply, I think Mr. Colindres was one of the good ones and didn't deserve to be deported. What say you?

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