You probably looked at the title of this post and thought “Alonso who?” Unlike many of my R.I.P. tributes, he wasn’t a well known celebrity, yet I think his story needs to be shared all the same. 31-year-old Alonso left his job as a radio D.J. early on August 29th with a group of friends and made a 120-mile trip by car from Lufkin, Texas to the Houston area to help rescue victims stranded by Hurricane Harvey. Once they arrived in Spring, a Houston suburb, they set out in five boats, and with the assistance of a walkie-talkie app, identified people who needed rescuing. Late that evening, Alonso’s group were on their way to help survivors stranded in an apartment building. Their boat collided with an Interstate 45 bridge, flinging Alonso and his friend, Tomas Carreon, 25, into the rushing floodwaters. A third person who was in the boat, Luis Ortega, 22, was later found clinging to a tree. Sadly, last Friday, searchers found Carreon’s body. And on Sunday, Alonso’s body was discovered. So who was Alonso Guillen?
Alonso was born in Mexico and moved to Lufken when he was 14-years-old. He graduated from Lufkin High School, was a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, and worked in construction before becoming a local disc jockey at Rodeo Disko, and radio station, SuperMix 101.9 FM. And Alonso was also a “Dreamer”, one of almost 800,000 people enrolled in President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or as it’s more commonly known as, DACA.
Popularly known as DJ Ocho (Ocho being the name he called himself as a young child when he was unable to pronounce Alonso), this Dreamer was a Texas football fan and loved the Houston Astros. He played soccer and softball, and was fond of wearing cowboy hats and red, white, and blue sunglasses. He used the radio station to organize fundraisers for those in need. The trip to the Houston area was put together quickly with the help of his friends.
Like many others in Texas, Alonso’s family has mixed immigration status. His mother and a brother still live in Piedras Negras, Mexico. His father is a legal resident and his brother Jesus is a U.S. citizen.
According to his brother, Alonso applied for DACA because so many of his friends and family were in this country, and that’s where he saw his future. “His dream was to open a restaurant, something the whole family could enjoy and where they could come together,” his brother said. He also wanted to be able to legally visit his hometown in Mexico. Instead, Alonso will be laid to rest sometime this week in Lufkin. He is survived by his 8-year-old daughter, Mariana, who resides in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Who was Alonso Guillen? He was a young man who was loved by his family and friends. He was a hero in every sense of the word and made the ultimate sacrifice. And finally, he was a Dreamer who loved this country and everything it stands for. Ironically, if he had lived, Alonso Guillen would also have been most likely deported after March 2018, when DACA is due to be officially scrapped, and this is just so terribly, terribly wrong.
If you think that six months is plenty of time for Congress to do the right thing, remember the healthcare debacle. I implore you, if you feel as I do, that Dreamers should not be kicked out of the only country they have ever known, please call, write, or email your Representatives and Senators. We cannot, no, we MUST not let hundreds of thousands of young people, including teenagers, college students, teachers, doctors, police officers, and military personnel, be punished for something they had no control over! This is heartless. This is immoral. This is reprehensible! We all descend from immigrants and it is up to us to give Dreamers the chance to truly live the American Dream. If we fail at this, not only will history judge us, but it will show how morally bankrupt we’ve become.
Thank you for sharing this.
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Thank you for reading! I think that this is one of those times that it’s important to see the faces and stories instead of just numbers.
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Exactly, I couldn’t agree more.
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It is true what they say, that great minds think alike! I just finished my afternoon post for tomorrow on Alonso Guillén and Tomas Carreon. Good post, Kim! Sad, but …
This story broke my heart. Alonso Guillén and Tomas Carreon were both such good men, doing the right thing to help their fellow mankind. To think what would happen to all those good people if Congress does not do the right thing and legislate, or even expand DACA protections for the nearly 800,000 currently covered, then they are even worse than I thought. Will they? I think it’s possible, but wouldn’t bet money on it.
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Oh wow! This story really called out to the two of us.
I haven’t given up hope, but they’ve been trying to pass legislation through three administrations now. Six months is really not very much time. And this evening Trump comes out with that idiotic tweet that if Congress fails to pass a bill, he’ll “revisit” the issue. Please. After slamming President Obama for doing a unconstitutional end run around Congress, I don’t think he’s going to do the same. Plus, he has to satisfy his rabid base who think that Dreamers are taking away from “real Americans”.
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I agree with all you say, but there is one thing that gives me hope. A strange thing, if you think about it. Trump has been publicly criticizing and mocking his own party’s members of Congress for issues real or imagined for months now. That is not sitting well with them. And then came Charlottesville, where Trump made a horrible faux pas by not immediately denouncing the white supremacists and neo-Nazis, but blamed everyone under the sun. Then he did denounce the racists, but then went back to blaming mostly the protesters. He vacillated so much that even the GOP members of Congress were disgusted and sickened by him. My hope is they stay that way, and that while they were home last month, their constituents gave them an earful. It seems quite possible that they will come back just a little defiant and less willing to be Trump’s whipping boy. We shall see. As you say, there is that inane base of his that wants Trump and Congress to keep “promises” that they are too uneducated or uninformed to realize will only hurt them in the long run. But … we shall see. I will personally be writing to a number of members of Congress to let them know how I feel. Let us keep our fingers crossed that they do the right thing … for a change.
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I hope you’re right Jill. And I’ll be writing and calling as well.
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All we can do is try! 🤞 🤞 🤞
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Thank you for sharing this Kim! This has been on my mind all day and I’m very concerned about the Dreamer issue. I’m concerned with everything Trump does! This is another issue that I will be signing petitions, calling my Congressmen, etc like with the Healthcare reform bill to have my voice heard. This young adults and children should not be deported!! They did nothing wrong at all. It makes me so angry. We are all Americans…every one of us is an immigrant unless we’re Native, and I find it so laughable how they try to ignore that unless your white, Anglo Saxon, and Protestant.
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I’ve been obsessing about this since Sunday Stephanie, and when I read about Alonso, I knew his story might strike a chord with people.
Out of all the abhorrent things Trump has already done, this is the worst. And then he comes out with that bizarre tweet that he’ll “revisit” the issue if Congress fails to act. What is he going to do? Rescind the rescission? I seriously doubt it. So much for him having “heart”.
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It did strike a chord! I’m saddened by it all. And angry by rescission.
Trump’s been after immigrants since he took office with the wall and not allowing them to fly into the country, so this is just one more way he’s showing what a nativist he is. This is exactly what he meant by making America Great Again…he really does want to get rid of anyone in the country who doesn’t fit his description of “American”.
He’s an abhorrent man. Unless Congress is forced to do something, no, I don’t see Trump rescinding this. He’ll lie and say the tweet was fake or some absurdity.
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And how cowardly was it that instead of taking responsibility for it, he sends that little weasel, Jeff Sessions, out to defend his decision with protestations that it’s all about the constitutionality of the program?
He constantly said on the campaign trail that one of the first things he’d get rid of was DACA. But then, once he became #45, he realized how badly he’d look in the majority of Americans eyes. So now, after treating the Dreamers’ plight like it was a bad reality show, he kicks them to the curb. I really try not to hate people. I like to think that most have some modicum of good in them. But Trump? He’s as black-hearted as they come, and I thoroughly despise him.
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He is very cowardly, no doubt. He hides behind tweets and his little yes men. He’s also a liar. He lied on the campaign trail and hasn’t stopped since he took office. I don’t hate people either, but I thoroughly can’t stand the man. He’s an embarrassment to our country.
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What a sad story and a sad state of affairs.
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I keep wondering how much more good he would have done, and how many more lives he would have touched. I never thought I would see this country fall into such a morass.😖
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This man is a brave hero, thanks for sharing his story. Idiot Trump would probably call him a “loser” for dying, yet i don’t see him going out to help the ppl, only in it for the publicity.
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Oh wow. That was so touching and heartbreaking. I’m going to reblog this. Let me know if its not cool and will take down. This is definitely a story that needs to be told. Wow Kim, you really have a way with words and reaching so many people! Its beautiful!!!
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I meant let me know if I can reblog this ma’am want your approval first but no rush hope you and your hubby have a great night!
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I hope you and yours are doing okay Dani.😊😙
#hugs
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We are hanging in there! Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts!
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Always!😙
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Of course you can reblog it Dani. I don’t think Alonso’s story can be shared enough.
And thank you for your kind words. They mean the world to me. Because of my health, I can’t participate in protests, but I can use my blog as a call to action. I simply can’t sit back and be silent.
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I think that’s great! There are many ways to protest and stick up for whats right!!! You get through to many people. I know you help keep me active in what’s going on because I’m usually horrible at keeping up in our nation’s events. You’re voice is so strong even though it’s just over the internet! That story had me in tears!
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Now you have me getting teary!
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Oh no! Lots of hugs!!!!🤗
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thank you for making his story known – such a loss
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I think it’s important to get Dreamers’ stories out, so they’re not just nameless numbers.
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A fitting tribute, Kim, and timely too, in every way imaginable.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks Pete. Tribute posts are never easy to write, but this was an especially tough one.😞
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it’s all so blumming sad 😦
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That it is.😖
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What a sad story, so very tragic. Such a young person with their life ahead of them.
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It really makes you wonder how many lives he would have touched in a positive way if he had lived. And equally as sad, if Alonso had lived, he would have been at risk of being deported.😔
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It’s so sad, genuinely heartbreaking.
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😞
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Thank you for paying tribute to Alonso. What a wonderful young man.
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As soon as I heard about him I new it was important to share his story.
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Pingback: R.I.P. Alonso Guillen 1986 – 2017 – Touch My Spine Book Reviews
Thank you my Book Sister!
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Wow Kim. Thank you for sharing this. I’d never have known all this otherwise.. I have to admit that I asked myself “Alonso Who?” too.. Thank you!
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I believe it’s important to put faces to to the Dreamers.
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