Deaf Immigrant's American Dream on Ellis Island

In case you had any doubts, America is still the land of opportunity. CBS News correspondent Seth Doane has the story of one young man who's living proof.

He's so quick, so quiet that one could easily overlook Jose Gutierrez. But his story is as inspiring as the exhibits he polishes at the museum on Ellis Island.

As a kid in Mexico, he'd seen pictures of the Statue of Liberty and dreamed of a better life in the U.S. At just 15, Jose crossed the border without his parents, a journey made more difficult by the fact that he's deaf.

"Friends told me I'd be able to work" in the U.S., Gutierrez said through a sign language interpreter. "But when I got here everything fell apart."

By 17, Jose was living like a slave, forced to sell trinkets on the subways and streets of New York City and turn over the money he made to the bosses of a smuggling ring in exchange for shelter.

Then, in July of 1997, New York City police raided the smuggling ring.

Jose was allowed to stay in the U.S. and learned of a non-profit group, Fedcap,which helps people with disabilities find work.

"He set out to work every day, support his family, and he did what he needed to do to get the job," a spokeswoman for Fedcap said.

He found a job Ellis Island, the entry point for 12 million immigrants to the U.S.

"I think about all the different places that they came from," Gutierrez said, "and all the things that they went through - just like I did - coming to America."

He works in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.

"I saw it and I had goose bumps," Gutierrez said. "I couldn't stop looking at it."

Now he has a daughter - and a green card.

"It was a dream to be able to come here and to get a job and to succeed," he said. "I love it and I love America and I love working."

[pussbump]

Only CBS would air a story so in line with Obama's agenda! It is sickening and not fair to all the people trying to come to this country the right way. This was not a human intrest story, it was a human enrageing story designed to anger all people of this land wanting justice for all. Pinheads!

[patpacer]

Last year one of the first things Pa. governor (a racist towards Americans), what Fast Eddie Rendell tried to do was close the Scranton School for the Deaf for all the deaf legal citizens there (2009). So screw legal citizens and help illegal aliens. Since this administration is so sure there are only 12 million illegal aliens in the US, and Ellis Island is being remodeled sent them all there and process them just as our ancestors were! Once the twelve million numbers of illegals is reached DEPORT the other 16 million parasites left over. The unemployment number of new young already trained war veterans is over 11%, hire them to work with their local law serving the people of their own hometowns and surrounding communities. There are more than enough already trained unemployed new veterans to help deport all 28 million illegal parasites!

[sillystarlight]

I like the fact that you all are paying attention to his ethnicity, but did anyone of you understand what he was saying. HE was forced to panhandle(that means he sold those cards that teach the alphabet in hand sign to hearing ppl) and that money was turned over to Boss of the supposed ring. This happens to alot of deaf people all over the U.S. and if everyone would stop buying the cards or assuaging your guilt over another deaf person not having a job because of their lack of hearing, this wouldn't even be an issue.

Think about this how many deaf people does CBS employ? The deaf interpreter they selected did not translate what Jose said completely.

[twinkie1cat]

He is not illegal. He was a HANDICAPPED CHILD who was taken advantage of by smugglers who enslaved him and given amnesty.

America. Love it or Leave it. Especially you Republicans trying to send us to hell with your bigotted selves. I hope your Teapartiers suck your regime's guts out like a lamprey sucking a fish and you never elect another official until after Malia Obama serves her second term as President. Why don't yall just GO SOMEWHERE ELSE! Leave America to the real patriotic Americans.

[jgg000101]

I'm more interested in what happened to the smuggling ring he worked for, how he got this Ellis Island job, and whether he ever became a citizen, or is in the process of becoming one. The way this story is presented and written is pure propaganda.

[Fedcap]

Thanks for your comment. Jose is employed by Fedcap -- a NYC based nonprofit that provides job training and employment for people with disabilities and other barriers. Fedcap (www.fedcap.org) has a contract to do the custodial work at Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty through the National Parks Service through the federal AbilityOne Program (www.abilityone.org)-- the largest employer of people with significant disabilities in the US. All Fedcap employees must be able to work legally in the US. Jose has his Green Card. The smugglers are still in jail.

[psmithtx32]

Although I am pleased that the United States Government actually helped this man by allowing him to stay stateside I also expected that the man would have been granted citizenship and he should have applied for the same, I was dismayed to find, after listening to your entire reported story - nowhere was it mentioned as to whether this gentleman ever became a US Citizen.
Reporting one-sided and not completely neutral facts of any story serves as an insult to those of us who expect the WHOLE STORY. Increasingly - the media has become biased one way or the other. Reporting used to be neutral and stuck to the facts - now the media attempts to either sway the public, or to denigrate the "other side" You guys should be ON THE FENCE, keeping your balance - not falling off all the time.

[twinkie1cat]

I am so sick of these anti-immigration nuts who are likely the same racists or their children who persecuted blacks in the 1960s. They take a sweet human interest story and twist it do something bad with their satan saturated hearts.

Being a non-oral deaf person it might be hard for him to pass the citizenship test. But what is the problem? He is a productive person not living off of welfare as conservatives like to pretend immigrants do, raising his family, going to work every day, and probably more patriotic than most born Americans.

Its the lying conservatives who need to get out of America, go to a country like Saudi Arabia so they will be on the receiving end of persecution and not be allowed to practice their fake, God hating version of Christianity.

Jesus said to welcome immigrants (strangers as the Bible says) and I will continue to do so. Go on to your conservative churches, yall. Serve the straw god of the invention of your own hate filled heart. Judgement will come and you will be judged by how you treat others. Meanwhile, I will worship the Lord.

[44wonder]

With over 17 Million Americans out of work is this a job one of them could have done.

[m0u5y]

I'm pretty sure most people would still be homeless before they went to work at a napkin factory, or cleaned toilets, or worked at a fast food joint. Who would blame them? You spend your whole life getting somewhere to be then forced to start lower than where you started whether it be a college educated professor or some guy who worked his ass off from the bottom to make it to the top? Go ahead, I'd love to see where the Republicans will be if all illegals are deported. Then we will just be outsourcing those jobs to Mexico, because who wants to pay a napkin folder minimum wage when you can pay a Mexican 2.50?

[Cvile]

Blatant propaganda to gain sympathy for the illegals.
Comparing himself to those who came legally seeking citizenship is particularly offensive.
Cronkite would hold you to a higher standard!