Melodramatic bullshit?

The Daily Cal says:

The Daily Californian does not publish unsigned letters or op-eds, unless the author would feel threatened if his or her identity was revealed.

It then publishes this unsigned op-ed. There's nothing here to suggest that the author would be threatened if his or her identity were revealed. It's not like the existence of illegal immigrants is a secret, and it's not like illegal immigrants can't openly declare their status to newspapers. Nor, for that matter, is this person's identity hidden in any meaningful way, apparently:

My dream is to become an architect once I complete one last class at UC Berkeley, but since January the three architecture firms that offered me a job could not hire me due to my circumstances. It is heartbreaking to know that all my dreams and hopes in the past five years, after all the research papers, finals, design projects and sleepless nights in Wurster Hall I will have to settle down for data entry and clerical tasks despite receiving an education from one of the best universities in the nation.

If we're to understand this dude's "circumstances" to be that she's an illegal immigrant, then it looks like the secret is out. I'm a little curious, though, for those of you who know more about immigrant law than I do: Does that quote make sense? Can an illegal immigrant not be able to work at an architecture firm but still be allowed to do data entry and clerical tasks? And did these firms really tell the dude "we can't hire you because you're an illegal immigrant," or is she just guessing, and we're to just trust in the nonexistent credibility of a nameless op-ed?

Since the piece seems to be on behalf of an organization, anyway, what point is there to it being anonymous? For now, I can't help but think that the Daily Cal let itself be duped (perhaps willingly) in order to boost the melodramatic value of this op-ed.

posted by Beetle Aurora Drake 7/17/2007 05:23:00 PM #
Comments (3)

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Comments:

actually, its probably easier to work in architecture as an immigrant since i think it counts as skilled labor.

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:42 PM, July 18, 2007

 

those are good questions, but you can't just assume that the writer was lying or making assumptions about why the job was not offered. a follow-up piece would be good. anonymity rulez.

# posted by  Anonymous : 1:11 PM, July 29, 2007

 

You can't just assume the writer is not lying, either, which is what the Daily Cal did by publishing the piece. Since nobody knows who the piece is by, it's impossible for someone to rebut the personal claims. The reasons for anonymity don't add up, either, which is why it's especially suspect.

# posted by  Beetle Aurora Drake : 3:33 PM, July 29, 2007

 

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