Bad things can happen to good people, and sometimes, even heroes get punished for their good deeds. 31-year-old Luis Alvarez, a Nicaraguan man living in Florida, saved a girl from a nasty shark attack during which she almost lost her hand. “We’re very, very thankful to them for being there at that moment to help us,” the girl’s mother said, according to WTSP. Unfortunately, his heroic deeds have not spared him from being arrested and being put on hold to be detained by ICE. Now, he might face possible deportation.
“Only the worst of the worst, right?” jokes a Reddit user reacted to Alvarez’s unfortunate fate. Recently, The Department of Homeland Security has publicly stated that 75% of the immigrants arrested have or are accused of prior convictions. However, many Americans have their doubts. “ICE: No good deed will go unpunished,” quips another Redditor. “I’d much rather deport every ICE employee than actual heroes,” grumbled a third. “🤦These are the type of people you want in your society….” sighed a fourth. And they’re right; we don’t have enough people in today’s day and age willing to risk their own well-being to rescue, let alone help another person.
Though, for clarification, the incident involving Alvarez saving the girl from a shark is unrelated to his arrest and handing-over to ICE. Days later, after the rescue, he was caught driving with a suspended license. The reason was that he was driving without proper tail lights but didn’t pay the fine. He has other charges due to driving-related incidents as well, but that’s beside the point. As one Reddit user puts it:
“The moral of the story is that brown people are criminals in the eyes of most conservative middle-America people. There’s nothing they can do, even risking their lives to save others, or serving this nation, that will not remove them from the “evil” category. The whole thing is shockingly racist and quite destructive to the fabric of our society. And this is just the beginning.”
Alvarez is said to be here in the US legally; he’s not an illegal immigrant. However, driving without a license is a crime, but that doesn’t mean he deserves to be turned over to ICE to be deported. It goes without saying that the main reason for him facing deportation is the fact he wasn’t born an American citizen but is a Hispanic from Nicaragua. That much is obvious. I think we can all agree: the justice system needs to be better — not just for minorities, unjustly prosecuted individuals, or immigrants, but for everyone who has the right to live on American soil, especially heroes.
