THE GOOD MAN BEHIND THE BADGE

Officer Rafeal Espinoza was a good cop. His fellow officers admired the dedication he exhibited in carrying out his duties, and nobody on the Anchorage, Alaska police force had an unkind word to say about him. Officer Espinoza earned the respect of the citizens he served by kindly and fairly performing his job, and those who came in contact with him, came to appreciate his tireless work ethic and commitment to keeping the City of Anchorage a safe place for them to live.

But Officer Rafeal Espinoza had a secret. He was not Rafeal Espinoza. In reality, he was Rafeal Mora-Lopez, a Mexican national who did not have a valid immigration visa to be in the United States. Rafeal Mora-Lopez was using another man's identity, a U.S. citizen who did not live in Alaska, to work and live in Alaska as a well-regarded, law-enforcing U.S. citizen. Rafeal Mora-Lopez even had a U.S. passport under his assumed name, but when he tried to renew his passport, the government discovered Mora-Lopez's true identity. He's now under house arrest awaiting trial on federal immigration charges. Though he's lived and worked in America for over twenty years, after what appears to be a sure conviction on immigration charges, that status will change and deportation will follow any served sentence.

It's easy for a lot of people to write off a man like Rafeal Mora-Lopez, because it's clear he broke a number of federal statutes in order to set himself up as a law-abiding, upstanding member of the Anchorage community. For many, Rafeal's deception (fraud if you will) automatically cancels any good he achieved in his life or service in Anchorage, and Rafeal will no longer be thought of as a "good cop", but rather, an illegal immigrant - a common criminal.

In my book, that's a shame. Millions of naturalized American citizens have not done as much for their community as Officer Rafeal Espinoza has done for his. Millions more have not gained the respect of their fellow citizens, exhibited the work ethic, or showed the kind of good moral character that Officer Rafeal Espinoza demonstrated in his community. And yet, it is Officer Rafeal Espinoza who will forever bear the stigma of a common criminal here in America and be forever barred from walking free within its borders. That's too bad! America is a far better nation with Officer Rafeal Espinoza, or whatever you want to call him, living in it. It's too bad this nation doesn't realize it.