I was reading a news story today which I’m sure has repeated itself throughout the United States over the years. The difference is that in this case, the young man left explicative letters behind. Joaquin Luna committed suicide out of frustration and desperation because of his legal status in the United States.

Luna was brought here at a very young age and was fully integrated into what we consider the fabric of America. He did all the right things. He kept his nose clean, studied hard, and had dreams of becoming an engineer. The typical American kid with the typical American dream. However, that’s exactly what it was, a dream. Joaquin Luna was a Dreamer in a multifaceted sense of the word.

Young undocumented students are commonly referred to as Dreamers based on the proposed “Dream Act” legislation that would allow these kids to come out of the shadows and either enlist in the military or attend a post secondary school. They’re your teenagers friends, your neighbors, perhaps the kid who on weekends mows your lawn as he helps his dad out in his landscaping business. They are all around you! They speak perfect English. They’re bright and articulate, and for the most part, well informed. They are up on political issues. Well, for them, political awareness is survival.

Maybe that’s exactly what frustrated Joaquin so. Having the knowledge that last year the Dream Act failed by a handful of votes. Knowing he was about to graduate from high school and facing that very real fear that he wouldn’t be able to afford to attend a university because of the prohibitive costs for non residents, and knowing that he couldn’t work based on his social security number deficiency. If he worked, he would have had to use a false identification which as he well knew, is a crime. Imagine the frustration, loving the United States with all your heart, feeling like a patriotic American, yet living with the open secret that you are undocumented. I also want you to imagine feeling like an American, yet having to hear yourself described by extremists as an illegal, a leach, a dirty wetback who came here to live off welfare and become an Obama Democrat.

It’s no wonder that a young fragile mind facing such a haunting future would have felt that the only solution was to end his life. There are very few resources available for these young people. Without a social security number they can’t seek psychological assistance or even counseling from the normal channels that many of us Americans would traverse.

They’re caught in the middle, and they’re hearing the hype from both sides. Many pro Immigrant groups and “leaders” give them very little hope. Claiming instead that their President abandoned them and that they doubt Obama will do anything to help them or other undocumented Immigrants in their struggle to adjust their Immigration status. While at the same time they watch the anti-Immigrant groups aggressively lobby to shut not only the borders, but any door that may lend itself as a viable option for relief for these Dreamers. The politicians often refer to these Dreamers in their debates and in speeches on the campaign trail. They have masterfully polished the Immigration issue to get elected and reelected using all “illegals” as scapegoats for the nation’s problems.

As the years grind on and more doors are shut to these Dreamers, will we see a growing trend of frustration and acts of desperation on behalf of these Dreamers that for all practical purposes are great Americans, well, except for one slight problem, they were brought here unlawfully as toddlers by their parents from a country they don’t remember and have never returned to?

So many Dreamers feel they’re facing a dead end, at least that’s Joaquin Luna thought when he dressed up in a suit and tie, kissed his family goodbye and took a small caliber handgun into the bathroom of his family’s home and shot himself in the head, ending his life as a Dreamer.

The only thing young Joaquin left behind was his frustrations and shattered dreams as an “illegal”, all penned on paper for the world to see.

Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and W60 AM Radio, Los Angeles, San Diego and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana and the Tucson Citizen. Arizona.

Listen to our live radio broadcast every Friday from 5-7 PM on The JOLT Tucson 1330 AM or via the web on http://www.carlosgalindo.com

When Esther called my “Straight Talk Tucson” show this past Friday, I quickly understood that her and I didn’t see eye to eye on the subject of the 14th amendment and Arizona’s attempt to create legislation that will ultimately be challenged all the bloody way to the the U.S. Supreme Court. I’m okay with people not agreeing with me, honest! I know, I know, as a radio talk show host I tend to be loudmouthed and opinionated, but that in no way demerits my arguments. I have always told my radio listeners and my critics, you may not like my delivery method, but you can’t argue with reason.

Let’s get something straight here, I don’t jump on board an issue defined solely by its left or right slant. I take up an issue based on whether it’s the right thing to do, in other words, whether it’s morally correct and whether it’s good for my state and for my country. Arizona’s attempt to supersede our Federal laws has been evident for a long time. You and I know that. It has increased exponentially since a merry band of misfits took office. It appears the Republicans in Arizona were not happy with just operating as a dictatorship for the last 43 years here in our great state. At one point they became so cocky that whether by design or just following each others lead, they started a concerted effort to repudiate Federal laws and the nation’s civil rights provisions. It didn’t matter if the law said you couldn’t do that, as far as Arizona was and is concerned, they are the law. That was evident when Russell Pearce was interviewed regarding the posted A.R.S. statute that prohibits weapons in the senate chambers at our state capitol. He quickly invoked his right to supersede Arizona’s criminal code while sitting as the Supreme leader of Arizona’s senate. Russell Pearce stated, “The Senate President, just like the Speaker of the House, by constitution, controls, through rule, this chamber,” “and, uh, so uh, again, and I recognize that. It supersedes the law.” If you don’t find that attitude scary and disturbing, then perhaps you might consider moving to North Korea they have a guy a lot like Pearce.

So Pearce, Brewer, Montenegro, Kavanagh, Harper, Gould, and every other Republican that wants to jump on the anti-Immigrant bandwagon throw out words like anchor baby, and illegals and talk about an invasion. It’s no wonder Esther my caller gets hyped up and finds the use of offensive terminology like “anchor baby” acceptable. I would like to know at what time in history it become okay to call Immigrants “wetbacks”, “cockroaches, “illegals” and their U.S. born children “anchor babies”. If you can’t use the “N” word for blacks, the “K” word for Jews, the “S” word for Italians. Well you get the drift. Why would it be acceptable to demean Immigrants, primarily Mexicans in 2011 Arizona? Has Arizona sunk so low that Esther and Arizonans like her, toss offensive words around as part of their normal dialog? I can just imagine what kind of word bantering occurs behind the closed doors of these like minded terror induced brainwashed Arizonans. I would love to be a fly on their wall, with a tiny recorder of course.

One can only wonder what type of violence all this hateful language could invoke. I mean you could end up with a white neighbor coming over to a Latino neighbor’s front yard and start an argument over one of Arizona’s laws like SB1070 and it could escalate to the point where the white neighbor could start using foul words like “wetback” and “go back to Mexico” and eventually he could pull out a gun and kill the Latino neighbor. After all, the use of these type of words desensitizes people. These type of words make you hate and want to kill. Oh wait, that already happened on May 6, 2010 when Gary Thomas Kelley killed Juan Varela. How many more arguments leading to violence can we expect because of irresponsible rhetoric and panic inducing misinformation coupled with misdirected legislation that targets a certain sector of Arizona? The Latinos!

This hateful rhetoric has got to stop and it’s got to stop now! As far as I’m concerned anytime I hear someone use this type of language I’m going to call them out on it, or in the case of Esther the “anchor baby” lady, I’m going to dump the call and flush it. What will you do the next time you hear that kind of rhetoric?

Carlos E. Galindo is a radio talk show host & political analyst conducting radio shows in both English and Spanish on four radio stations in Arizona. Mr. Galindo is a weekly contributor to KPFK 98.7 FM Los Angeles and has appeared on CNN, Univision and Telemundo as a political analyst. Mr. Galindo is also an Op-Ed columnist on Prensa Hispana Arizona. www.nospinonair.com/www.carlosgalindo.com