This story makes me sick.  Pedro Zapeta came to the U.S. illegally from Guatemala and worked as a dishwasher at $5.50 to $5.75 an hour.  He lived frugally and amassed $59,000. Then he made his tragic mistake–he tried to fly home with $59,000 in his duffel bag. The problem is that the law requires people to report when they try to leave the country with more than $10,000. Moronic customs officials then charged him with being a courier in the drug trade.  I guess their argument was that any latino with money is a drug runner.

Zapeta is still trying to get his money back, but it has been two years and the government still has his money. He didn’t pay taxes when he earned the money, so he should pay some taxes and then the government should give this hard working man his money back.

What is wrong with America?  I like people like Pedro Zapeta. He moved to the U.S. worked hard, lived the American dream, and then wanted to take his nest egg home to Guatemala. This is the best form of foreign aid there is. And yet the government punishes people like Zapeta. It makes me sick.