Where is Dennis now?
Still being held in a Texas Detention Center.
But he's not forgotten!
From the Houston Chronicle:
By Angie Junck and Cortez Downey February 23, 2018 Updated: February 25, 2018 8:11pm
Like lots of good kids in Houston, 19 year-old Dennis Rivera-Sarmiento ought to have a bright future ahead of him. His teachers know him as kind and respectful, and as the serious-faced kid with a mop of curly hair that they look forward to having in class.
A senior and soccer player at Stephen F. Austin High School, Dennis should be off to college this fall to study computer science; he has only to decide whether to accept attendance at Texas A&M at Corpus Christi or Lamar University.
Yet Dennis might not graduate this May. For almost three weeks now, he's been locked up in a detention camp in Livingston, Texas, under threat of deportation - a consequence out of all proportion to his infraction: knocking down and hitting a fellow student who had been bullying him for being an immigrant . . .read full article:
Make Houston Schools safe from ICE agents
While doing a general overview of current USA/Mexico border events, we found one that really is more worthy of being just one in a list of links, that being the case of Dennis Rivera Sarmiento, age 19, of Houston, Texas.
It involves, as most of these stories do, a bewildering mix of people, sometimes celebrity people, agencies, politicians, bureaucracies, and God knows what else.
Dennis, originally from Honduras, crossed into the United States illegally in 2013. It would be interesting to know why a 14 year old would do this, apparently by himself. But we don't. We do know, as will become obvious as events unfold, that Dennis is one fine kid.
Wait-- he's over 18 now. He's one fine young man.
Anyway, he was picked up by law enforcement within a short time. He then seems to have been shuttled and handed off from one agency to another, eventually ending up being enrolled in Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston.
There Dennis made many friends, maintained a high GPA, as well as excelling as a member of the soccer team.
Unfortunately, Dennis had a problem that plagues most K-12 schools. There was this bully. A girl, 15 years old. It was bad. Very bad . . .
The following quotes and excerpts come via this excellent, detailed coverage of the Dennis backstory.
In Houston, outrage over a school arrest that landed a student in immigration detention
It was one day in late January of this year when things finally boiled over.
"You fucking wetback, come here!" taunted the girl while Dennis was talking on his phone.
Dennis tried to walk away, but the girl kept following him, getting closer and closer, finally throwing a full bottle of Gatorade at him.
At that point, yes-- he retaliated. He pushed her away, but after that, the accounts of both parties differ, as you would expect.
However, when Dennis reported the altercation to school officials, (as per their "bullying" policy), instead of getting help, he was turned over to the Harris County Sheriff, where he was handcuffed, arrested and taken to a detention center. Then there began for him another agency to agency shuttling process. This time it put him on the deportation express train.
Well, isn't that a pisser. And Dennis's friends as well as teachers weren't just going let that happen. This is why the NBC News Latino story exists.
This is also where a celebrity becomes part of the mix. Alyssa Milano helped kick the story up a notch, which we're sure Dennis's friends, teachers and supporters appreciate very much.
Immigration policy has always been complicated.
Republicans and Democrats, back and forth, year after year. But now it's different.
Now we can expect these scenarios to skyrocket-- again because of the monster at the top:
Some jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with ICE, which has angered the Trump administration and led it to threaten retaliation against the communities, often referred to as sanctuary cities.
What is wrong with you Trump people? Oh, yeah. You're a Trump person.
Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jason Spencer told NBC News that Texas' new immigration law, known as SB4, requires cooperation with immigration officials, so if they ask for access to the jail "we feel we are obligated."
Right. There are Trump People in the Texas State Legislature, too.
We were much amused, and also angered by this comment from a spokesperson for the Houston Independent School District:
In a statement last week, HISD said it's officer 'responded' to a reported assault of a female student. Asked by NBC News about the bullying and who had reported the fight, district spokesman Tracy Clemons said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Their bullshit is such bullshit. It's pretty clear who they blamed. And it wasn't the girl who called Dennis a fucking wetback and threw the bottle of Gatorade at him.
The Trump People. They are out there.
But, hopefully not for too much longer.
While doing a general overview of current USA/Mexico border events, we found one that really is more worthy of being just one in a list of links, that being the case of Dennis Rivera Sarmiento, age 19, of Houston, Texas.
It involves, as most of these stories do, a bewildering mix of people, sometimes celebrity people, agencies, politicians, bureaucracies, and God knows what else.
Dennis, originally from Honduras, crossed into the United States illegally in 2013. It would be interesting to know why a 14 year old would do this, apparently by himself. But we don't. We do know, as will become obvious as events unfold, that Dennis is one fine kid.
Wait-- he's over 18 now. He's one fine young man.
Anyway, he was picked up by law enforcement within a short time. He then seems to have been shuttled and handed off from one agency to another, eventually ending up being enrolled in Stephen F. Austin High School in Houston.
There Dennis made many friends, maintained a high GPA, as well as excelling as a member of the soccer team.
Unfortunately, Dennis had a problem that plagues most K-12 schools. There was this bully. A girl, 15 years old. It was bad. Very bad . . .
The following quotes and excerpts come via this excellent, detailed coverage of the Dennis backstory.
In Houston, outrage over a school arrest that landed a student in immigration detention
It was one day in late January of this year when things finally boiled over.
"You fucking wetback, come here!" taunted the girl while Dennis was talking on his phone.
Dennis tried to walk away, but the girl kept following him, getting closer and closer, finally throwing a full bottle of Gatorade at him.
At that point, yes-- he retaliated. He pushed her away, but after that, the accounts of both parties differ, as you would expect.
However, when Dennis reported the altercation to school officials, (as per their "bullying" policy), instead of getting help, he was turned over to the Harris County Sheriff, where he was handcuffed, arrested and taken to a detention center. Then there began for him another agency to agency shuttling process. This time it put him on the deportation express train.
Well, isn't that a pisser. And Dennis's friends as well as teachers weren't just going let that happen. This is why the NBC News Latino story exists.
This is also where a celebrity becomes part of the mix. Alyssa Milano helped kick the story up a notch, which we're sure Dennis's friends, teachers and supporters appreciate very much.
Immigration policy has always been complicated.
Republicans and Democrats, back and forth, year after year. But now it's different.
Now we can expect these scenarios to skyrocket-- again because of the monster at the top:
Some jurisdictions refuse to cooperate with ICE, which has angered the Trump administration and led it to threaten retaliation against the communities, often referred to as sanctuary cities.
What is wrong with you Trump people? Oh, yeah. You're a Trump person.
Harris County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jason Spencer told NBC News that Texas' new immigration law, known as SB4, requires cooperation with immigration officials, so if they ask for access to the jail "we feel we are obligated."
Right. There are Trump People in the Texas State Legislature, too.
We were much amused, and also angered by this comment from a spokesperson for the Houston Independent School District:
In a statement last week, HISD said it's officer 'responded' to a reported assault of a female student. Asked by NBC News about the bullying and who had reported the fight, district spokesman Tracy Clemons said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Their bullshit is such bullshit. It's pretty clear who they blamed. And it wasn't the girl who called Dennis a fucking wetback and threw the bottle of Gatorade at him.
The Trump People. They are out there.
But, hopefully not for too much longer.
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