A customer came to the store today.
He knew my dad's name, so I knew he was a regular.
My dad came out from his corner of the store to greet him.
"Hey, long time no see! How you doin' que pasa."
"I'm going to jail my friend," he said in a thick Spanish accent.
My dad didn't understand him the first time, so he asked again in his Korean accent.
"I'm going to a fucking jail, my friend," he repeated.
He stayed for about an hour, a few customers came in and out, and he told his story.
He was in OC, MD when the police stopped his car for broken tail light,
and also found that the car had expired registration.
He got charged with misdemeanor, later went to court, and the judge gave him
a $1000 fine and 60 days in jail.
Also, since he had been charged with misdemeanor from DUI when he was 21 -
he seemed about 35 now - he was going to be deported.
He said he had lived here for 19 years, and had legal status with work permit.
Yet traffic violation was about to send him back to his country.
"Traffic violation. I didn't kill nobody, lived here 19 years, and they gonna deport me"
His lawyer was trying to lower his crime to traffic violation from a misdemeanor.
I hope he succeeds, because I feel bad for this guy, even though he broke the law.
Broken tail light. What a stupid reason to be deported after 19 years.