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This immigrant lured by free services

An Aug. 18 article regarding an immigration rule change has made me angry enough to write my first letter to Your Views.

Federico Mason emigrated from Mexico over 20 - yes, 20 - years ago and has refused to learn the language of the country to which he chose to come. He has chosen not to better himself with the free education we offer. He did, however, choose to stay low income in order to take advantage of all of the free services the U.S. has to offer. He made the decision to have his sons, 15 and 8 years old, on Medicaid since the day they were born.

The article states that Mason is scared about the new rules for applying for a green card, should he one-day choose to change his status. Up to now, he has never shown any interest in assimilating to his chosen country. Suddenly, after all these years, maybe he'll want to? Why would he, when everything is free?

Mason and others like him are a drain on our society. He is a great salesman to other potential illegal immigrants, telling others to come to America because they get to live here for free. I have no issues with those who decide to immigrate here, learn the English language, become a contributing member of society and earn benefits. I take issue with immigrants expecting the free public services all hardworking U.S. citizens are funding for them.

Why has Mason made the choice not to follow the example of Dr. Jasmine Saavedra's parents that were mentioned in the article? They received services and worked hard to get off of them and live the real American dream.

Tonya Dunning

Lake Zurich

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