Last Friday (July 14th) my Hard of Hearing student went to the DMV, took his permit test and passed! Yay – good for you! He was so proud of himself and his father standing beside him with a smile saying, “That’s my boy! I am proud of you.” The DMV guy behind the counter scored his test and told him he had passed. He then asked to see the usual birth certificate and social securty card. The DMV guy said he needed to go in the back and check something (taking the birth certificate and social securty card with him), and that he’d be right back. Meanwhile, my student and his father filled out the necessary paperwork. The DMV guy came back and told my student and his father that he needed to keep his birth certificate and his social securty card and get more information from Reno. My student and his father sat there looking confused, “What?!” was the look screaming from their faces. “It’s something we do. Every fifteen customers we do this – it’s routine.” My student and his father didn’t know what to say, but, “Okay…” The DMV man excused himself and returned to the back room. My student’s father turned to him and jokingly said, “Get ready to run!”

My student was sent home empty-handed – not even the permit he was promised for passing the test. The DMV guy told his father that he needed to call Reno and get information, after he gets the information needed the birth cerificate and social security card will be mailed back to him and he’ll be able to come in and get his permit. On Monday when my student told me this I couldn’t believe it! I thought he was telling me an outrageous story and the truth lay in his wallet in the form of a permit. After a few minutes of interrogating him I realized he was telling me the truth. I just could not imagine why they would keep his personal belongings like that – I mean there must be some law against that. I could see if they had taken copies of it, but keeping the real McCoys just seemed wrong. I told him I was going to call the DMV and find out what the heck was going on. I asked him if his parents understood why the DMV kept his personal information – he said they did not. Of course they did not, no one took the time to explain it to them. Nor did they want them to know the reasons – thinking they might just run.

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I stopped to chat with the summer school teacher after school and I asked her if she might know of any reason this might have happened. The first thing she said was, “He’s hispanic, right?” I said he was and she nodded with total understanding. “I had just heard on the news… oh, maybe last week….that there is a huge problem with forged documents in Northern Nevada. People are making and selling fake birth cerificates and social security cards. The DMV probably saw them walk in and figured they needed to be checked out.” The reason they kept the originals was because if they were forged documents they could confiscate them and turn the illegal aliens in to the immigration police. I told her they told my student and his father that they do this to every fifteen customers. She doubted that – so do I. I know the color of their skin is what threw up a red flag. I told the teacher that I had taken my Deaf student in to do the test, and they never questioned him. She said, “Of course not, he was with you.” I realized exactly what she meant right away – I am white. They never questioned him because why would an American bring in an illegal alien to get his permit? I mean, it must be legit – right?

Today my Hard of Hearing student asked if I had called the DMV, he was hungry for the information. I took a deep breath, knowing the problems he has had in the past with American and immirgrant issues, and I said, “I didn’t have to.” I told him what I figured happened and he would just have to wait. He has nothing to worry about, he was born here and it’ll be proven by some computer program somewhere. I told him they type in your social securty number and they match the name with the place of birth – whatever. I really have no clue how they do it, but it was an answer and he just needed an answer. I told him I thought it was wrong that it happened to him, but there is really nothing we can do to prove they picked him out only because he has brown skin. The look in his eyes made me want to cry – pure sadness. He has had such a hard time with things lately and this just put a big fat cherry on top of a mountain-high sundae. All he wanted was his permit, a dream (most) every teenager has. He went into the DMV and he passed on his first try! Not many people pass that damn test on their frist try – but he did. He studied the book and remembered things I had talked to him about and POW! He did it. Then in a blink of an eye it was taken away. Kids who pass would probably have the prize of driving their parents home from the DMV, my student had to sit in the passenger seat with his head lowered and tears welling up. He’s such a good boy! He is kind and gentile and a little naughty at times, but he’s a teenager! He was sent away without the one thing he came for, the one thing that was owed to him outright. He worked hard and did his best for what? Some middle-aged white DMV employee snatching away his prize and forcing him to wait while they figure out if he was born in the United States!

I am sad because there are people out there who have made this happen for my student and his family. Bad, bad, stupid assholes out there smearing the good name this family tries to uphold. It was really funny when my student’s father said, “Get ready to run.” unknowing it was exactily what the DMV man thought they would do…

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