See, "Education is missing key for some young immigrants":
MADERA, Calif. — While kids his age were reading Shakespeare and dissecting frogs, Benito Vasquez was picking grapes and almonds in the Central Valley.Well, he's not grappling all the much, it turns out. He can't find the time to break away from the 10-hour days he puts in working the fields:
He was 14 when he crossed the border from Mexico and has worked in the fields ever since. He has never gone to school and cannot read or write in any language.
Vasquez, now 28, is one of thousands potentially shut out of a landmark federal program that grants work permits and a two-year reprieve from deportation to people who came to this country illegally as children.
He and others like him are missing a key requirement — a high school diploma. They can make up the educational deficiency by enrolling in a class. But that is a daunting prospect for someone who works long hours, lives in a remote area and has little formal schooling.
"The cream of the crop in terms of educational achievement, all those people applied already, or most of them," said Jesus Martinez, a Fresno-based consultant for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. "A number of those who haven't applied have educational issues."
Vasquez is still grappling with whether to apply.
Benito's path is more uncertain. He has yet to register at the adult school. It is hard to find the time for classes after a 10-hour workday.Yeah, better to take your chances in the U.S., especially with the open-borders derps touting illiterate aliens as models for immigration reform.
At their Madera home, the Vasquezes speak mostly Spanish, with some Zapotec and some English. Benito's daughter, Lydia, is 4. His son, Jose, is 7 and speaks English most of the time. Benito would like to understand what the boy is saying. English would also help him at work.
Benito Vasquez has been working since he was Jose's age, harvesting corn and beans on the family farm in Oaxaca. His younger sisters enrolled in school, but the family needed the income from his farm labor.
To get to his job in the grape fields, where he operates tractors and other heavy machinery, he drives without a license. He fears being pulled over by the police. Still, he prefers to take his chances in the United States.
"It's better here than in Mexico," he said in Spanish. "Every week, I get a paycheck. There's more food. Everything's a little easier. If you need something, you just work. In Mexico, when you need something, there are no jobs."
Democrat values. You can't make this stuff up.
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