This One Goes Out To Those Who Hate Immigrants

Filed in archive Latin Culture on November 29, 2007

Illegal immigrant Jesús Manuel Córdova had been walking on the desert for almost two days, and he was less than eight hours on foot from Tucson, when he found 9 years old Christopher Buztheitner, who was traveling on Thanksgiving with his mother, when the woman lost control of the car and fell off a cliff.

The boy, who was wearing shorts despite the cold temperature, seemed to have blood in his legs; he doesn't know a single word in Spanish. Córdova, who doesn't speak English, decided to help the little boy.

"I only did what came from my heart, someday, if my children are in that situation, I would hope somebody would try to help them", explained the illegal immigrant. "Many people say I'm a 'hero' but I don't feel like a hero, although I do ask myself: how many people would have done the same thing? ", he wonders.

The man made a bonfire to keep the boy warm and stayed with Christopher, knowing he was risking to be arrested by the border patrol and to be deported, as it finally happened.

A group of hunters came by about 8 a.m. Friday, and Córdova and the boy told them what had happened. The hunters called for help and the Border Patrol was the first to arrive, followed by Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies.

Córdova lives in Sonora, Mexico, and he's father of four children. He has said he felt sad when he was arrested by the Border Patrol, because he was very close to his destination; but also that he doesn't regret anything. "God does things for a reason, He put me in the way of that boy, what would have happened to him if I wasn't illegally crossing the border? ", he asked.

From The Arizona Republic:

It was around dusk on Thanksgiving Day when a lone man, trudging through the rugged Arizona desert, reached a crossroads.

Help a child or help himself.

The decision he made that night says a lot about Jesus Manuel Cordova and where he came from and who he is. He made a choice that I'd like to think most of us would make.

Which, at a time when illegal-alien bashing has become a national sport, is precisely the point.

Think about it. And read more:

An immigrant's hard but unsurprising choice
Readers laud entrant who aided boy