FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio

ESSENCE OF WISDOM


Whenever we speak of wisdom, we usually refer to the wisdom of King Solomon in the Old Testament who is regarded as the wisest king who ever lived.

Solomon' s wisdom is well described in the Book of Kings where two mothers asked him to judge as to who is the true mother of a child. One of the mothers accidentally killed her child during sleep and wanted to covet the other mother's child. The Wise King suggested to have the child be cut into two by a sword and let the two mothers get one half each. One mother cried and agreed to give up her claim to spare the child's life. So King Solomon made his final decision to give the child to her as being the true mother.

The wisdom showed by King Solomon clearly was not predicated by any legal citation or precedent decision. His judgment was based on pure wisdom derived from God and not from some presumably legalistic man-made decision.

Now let me cite two of my immigration cases about two bright graduating college students who came to the United States illegally at a very young age of 10. They were sent away by their parents definitely because of the brutal and inhuman treatment they received from the Chinese government. The young students told me of their frustration with the passage of the Dream Act that somehow would give them some form of legalization in order to use their American education to get a good paying job.

The Act has so far remained just a dream with the failure of the previous Congress to pass the Kennedy-McCain Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill with the Dream Act as a rider.

I could understand the students' predicament about their uncertain future in the United States without any legal immigration documents. One of them is even expecting to graduate with honors. So what? Shall we say, if she cannot work legally. Their American education that effectively turned them into freedom-loving individuals would definitely be wasted. Worse still, they would be possible victims of unscupulous and exploiting employers in the underground economy.

With my legal counsel, Atty. Gabriel de la Merced, I advised them to file for asylum, withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture. Accompanied by my lawyer, they passed the asylum interview at the Rosedale Asylum Office in Queens.

Wise "Uncle Sam" through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services finally granted asylum to my two student clients that would now enable them to find suitable jobs after their graduation this year.

This coming July they are coming back to my office for assistance in applying for their priceless "Green Cards."

Note that these two college students who were smuggled to the United States when they were minors thought that were already against the wall upon the failed passage of the Dream Act. With their full American education from elementary to college, they have already become virtual Americans without legal documents. They truly love America and really scared to go back to China that has become a strange and dangerous place for them.

The two Chinese college students came to me as a last resort having been told to keep waiting for the Dream Act that has remained to be just a dream for now perhaps due to the persisting bias or lack of wisdom by most members of Congress. Being true to what they feel and believe and what happened to their loved ones back home under the repressive and ungodly Chinese regime, they finally realized their dream last year due the wise decision of a certain asylum officer in Rosedale, Queens.

I think the Asylum Officer never had the idea of the hope and bright future he offered to the desperate Chinese students. He just applied plain wisdom in arriving at his decision.

The essence of wisdom, therefore, is always the triumph of what is right and just.

End