Son of Undoucumented Immigrants Wins Gold

BEIJING — The American flag landed on the scorer’s table, launched by a family member with exceptional aim. Henry Cejudo grabbed it from his coach and draped it around his body. He stood there for the longest time, fighting back tears, the son of illegal immigrants wrapped in stars and stripes.

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Lopez Lomong

The post underneath this one talked about how all 3 U.S. Olympians running the metric mile are immigrants. All three have very compelling stories and make this immigration blogger very proud of them and this country. This is Lopez Lomong's story.

"At age 6, he was abducted from a Sudanese church by a militia faction that wanted to turn young boys into child soldiers. He eventually escaped the militia camp through a hole in a fence with three older boys who carried them on their backs as they walked for three days until they reached Kenya, where police arrested them and sent them to a refugee camp. He spent 10 years in the camp, living on one meal a day." click here for his whole bio

He probably doesn't take anything for granted or wastes an opportunity like so many of us do everyday.

He hasn't forgotten where he came from and if you look on his site, he doesn't link to running sites but rather to www.teamdarfur.org and www.savedarfur.org.

So let's all watch the mile at Beijing and hope some nativists are watching as well and they learn what this country truly stands for and maybe next time they'll think before calling refugees and immigrants the scum of the U.S.

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Third World Invasion of Our Olympic Team

Just in case you have any doubts, I'm being sarcastic. The anti-immigration crowd loves to complain about non-European immigration to the U.S. and what you're about to read must kill them.

The three people representing the U.S. for the 1500 meter run all have one thing in common. As the nativists put it, they're all part of the "importation of the third world". Those third worlders are doing pretty well for themselves and dare I say even better than some native born Americans. GASP, how dare they!

— Bernard Lagat came to America to attend college at Washington State from Kenya.

— Leo Manzano was driven across the Mexican border by friends already living in the U.S. and posing as his parents when he was 4.

— Lopez Lomong was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan," the name given to young refugees of the grisly civil war in Sudan who made it to the U.S.

A Kenyan, a former DREAMer, and a refugee are the top milers in the country - can't get more American than that. I love it!

Oh yeah and that former DREAMer Manzano, hasn't forgotten where he came from, I found this.

What are your hobbies outside the sport of running?
"Yeah, I've been in a couple of organizations on campus. Last semester I was in this Longhorn program. I advocated for the Dream Act. It's for immigrants that are raised in the U.S, went through the public school systems, who have completed their degrees and have a good moral character. Really it's a pathway for these kids to gain their citizenship, to having their education, and having good moral standards. At the same time there is another way which you can gain your citizenship, it was a bill that never became a law. It was actually denied. I really try to advocate for that and it was going on last semester. I was with that organization and trying to advocate for the Dream Act."

Good luck to you all and we'll see you in Beijing!

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