NoisyRoom.net

By: Carolyn Cooke
Family Security Matters

Many elected officials in the United States government are proponents of amnesty for illegal immigrants. They would like American citizens to believe that the foreign nationals crossing our borders are “poor dears” simply trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Americans must remember: the individuals crossing our sovereign borders in violation of United States law are fully aware of their actions. It is more likely the case that these individuals, whose first action is an affront to American civil society, may engage in criminal activity once in the country. Americans have no way of knowing. Our government refuses to secure the border and enforce the immigration laws of the United States that would prevent and reverse the invasion of unidentified foreign nationals into America.

Let us look at the murder of innocents at the hands of illegal alien Olga Marina Franco Del Cid, a.k.a. Alianiss Nunez-Morales, from Guatemala.

On a cold winter afternoon in southwestern Minnesota, a school bus full of children from the small town of Cottonwood were chatting, teasing one another, laughing, enjoying the ride home at the end of the day. The school they attended was Lakeview, with 585 students, K-12. Without warning, a van driven by illegal alien Olga Franco ran a stop sign and broadsided the bus. The bus driver said “he did not have time to hit the brakes or accelerate.” The force of the collision toppled the school bus onto a pickup truck.

The driver of the pick up truck would later describe how he saw “a maroon van run a stop sign, it blew over the railroad tracks and hit the bus, sending it into me…”

On the afternoon of February 19, 2008, the parents of the 28 students gathered at Lakeview School to learn the fate of their children. Three students were killed instantly and one died at 8 p.m. that night. Two of the dead were brothers, 13-year-old Jesse and 9-year-old Hunter Javens. One was the daughter of a physical education teacher at Lakeview, 9-year-old Emilee Olson. Another was the son of a former Lakeview teacher, Reed Stevens, 12 years old. At least 14 other students along with the driver of the pick up truck were injured. Two children were in critical condition. Many of the children were treated for back and neck injuries, lacerations, bumps and bruises, a spokesman from Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center told the public.

A witness at the scene, Karen Mahlum, recounted the chaos. She witnessed the tragic accident and stopped to help. The bus driver handed children down to her from the vehicle’s escape hatch in the roof. Talking to Mark Steil of Minnesota Public Radio, she said, “Some of them had blood on them. A lot of them were crying that their head hurt, their arms; they were crying they wanted their mommies and daddies. They had a sister or brother on the bus that they wanted to get off the bus. A lot of real emotional stuff.” Another motorist who stopped to help remembers the “screaming and screaming” of the terrified children on the bus.

Emergency responders to the scene were helping children they knew and some were rescuing their own children.

It was unimaginable heartache for the children, their families and the small community. A life-long resident of Cottonwood summed up the feelings of many: “It will take a long time to recover from this. Oh heavens, there’s no time limit on that. It’ll be forever. It’ll never be the same.”

Emilee Olsen

Emilee Olsen was adopted from China by Charles and Traci Olsen when she was 10 months old. Emilee’s aunt, Terri Hutchinson, said it was love at first sight for the Olsen’s. Traci Olsen said she now relives the tragedy of her loss every day. “We say good night and good morning to an empty bed,” she said at the sentencing hearing of Franco. The talented little girl with a constant smile on her face who “lit up a room” was memorialized at a funeral gathering of more than one thousand mourners.

Emilee’s brothers were on the bus that cold, blustery day. Riley, six years old, was sore but fine. Sidnee, 11 years old, heard his brother crying and scrambled to find him despite having a lacerated cornea from glass embedded in his head and a broken hand, reported Ms. Hutchinson. Sidnee could not find his sister.

Hunter Javens

Jesse Javens

The Javens brothers were remembered at a joint funeral held at Lakewood School on the Monday after the accident. Hunter’s casket followed his brother Jesse’s into the school gymnasium, packed with some 1,400 mourners. Hunter had a twin sister, Sasha, who turned 10 years old on the day of his memorial service. The crowd sang Happy Birthday to Sasha and she received a gift for Hunter.

The Rev. Gloria Anderson spoke of the lives the boys. Jesse loved sports, playing baseball, football and basketball. Hunter loved animals He had a horse named Toby.

Rev. Anderson said, “…the boys wanted us to remember them with a smile. They wanted us to remember the happy memories.”

Sobs broke through prayers.

Reed Stevens

Reed Stevens’ mother Kandi issued a statement describing Reed as “a young man who loved God, his country and his family. And he also loved his football family. We know he is with the Lord.” Reed’s two siblings were on the bus as well. His brother was injured and remained hospitalized in Sioux Falls with his family at his bedside. His sister had minor injuries.

Olga Franco was found guilty of driving the van that killed the four students. She told officers that she stopped at the stop sign and then the bus hit her. She maintained that her boyfriend was driving the van but she was extricated from behind the steering wheel. “There really in my mind is no explanation for how a person would get pinned in there, other than the fact she was driving,” said prosecutor Rick Maes. Because of the press and the closeness of the community, the defense was granted a change of venue for Franco’s trial.

Franco, a.k.a. Morales, was ticketed for driving without a license in 2006 and paid a fine of $182. Sandra Keding described what happened. “I stood up from the couch and looked out my window and this car was coming right toward my house,” she said. “The car hit the curb, came right up in my yard and stopped about 12 feet from the front of my house.” The story ended with Franco going free on the streets of Minnesota, instead of being deported, to kill four children.

Jurors found her guilty of four counts of vehicular manslaughter and twenty other charges related to the collision. Franco also faces a federal charge of identity theft. She presented the police at the scene of the crime with a false name, saying she was from Mexico, and a stolen social security card from Puerto Rico.

At the sentencing hearing, Kandi Stevens told the court, “Essentially, our entire family was killed that day.”

Olga Franco was sentenced to 12 and a half years in the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Shakopee.

Americans should not have to live in fear in their own neighborhoods.
Enforcement legislation, passed by a few states, has led illegal aliens to leave because the magnets of jobs and taxpayer benefits have been removed. This is a dirty little secret that elected officials in Washington on both sides of the aisle do not want you to know.

Are you concerned about this epidemic of death at the hands of illegal aliens? Tell your elected officials what you think.

Contact the White House
Comments: 202.456.111
Switchboard: 202.456.1414
FAX: 202.456.2461
Webmail: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

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