‘Immigrants can also do good,’ local hero says
Six summers ago, it was hard not to have heard about Antonio Diaz Chacon, husband, father of two daughters, mildmannered mechanic and superhero.
Diaz Chacon had ascended into the pantheon of do-gooders Aug. 15, 2011, when he leapt into action in pursuit of a man he saw pull a small neighbor girl into a blue van and speed away.
The van, carrying items that suggested this was no joy ride, crashed. The driver fled. Diaz Chacon grabbed the girl. And media from far and wide descended upon Albuquerque to write the story of a humble man who saved the day.
In those heady few weeks, Diaz Chacon’s face was splashed across newspapers and television sets from coast to coast. His family was feted with honors and presents, including appli-
ances, gift cards, plaques, a family portrait, box seats and throwing out the first pitch at an Isotopes baseball game.
Mayor Richard Berry proclaimed an Antonio Diaz Chacon Day.
Among the most prized gifts was a letter of thanks sent to him by Ashley, the little girl he saved.
But the story blew up beyond the heroic deed when during an interview with Univision he disclosed that he was an undocumented immigrant from Chihuahua, Mexico.
Even in the pre-Trump-build-a-wall era, Diaz Chacon’s status raised some eyebrows and the hackles of those on social media and right-wing radio who afford no leeway to those who cross the border illegally no matter the reason.
“Is New Mexico illegal immigrant a hero or a criminal?” a Los Angeles Times headline read.
Diaz Chacon took it in stride, saying he had not been afraid to chase after the man in the van and he was not afraid of what might happen to him by disclosing his illegal status in the country.
In both cases, he said, he had done what he had to do. In both cases, he had guardian angels to guide him.
“This is the proof that immigrants can also do good,” he told a Journal reporter then.
Much has changed in these past six years. Ashley, the little girl Diaz Chacon saved, is a bright and healthy tween who dreams of being president of the United States.
Phillip Garcia, the man in the blue van who nearly crushed those dreams, is in prison serving a 19-year sentence for convictions of kidnapping, child abuse and other charges.
Diaz Chacon and his wife, Martha, who is a U.S.-born citizen, both turn 29 this year. Daughter Brisseida is 13; Kassandra, just a baby when her dad became famous, is 6.
The family has since moved from the Vista del Sol Mobile Home Park in the South Valley, where the kidnapping took place, to a tidy mobile home in the Southeast Heights.
And Diaz Chacon is happy to say that he became a permanent resident of the United States in December 2012, his green card wrapped in a baggie and tucked in his wallet.
He had always planned to become a documented resident but could not afford it, he said. After the story of his heroism went viral, immigration attorney Sarah Reinhardt offered her services for free.
Someday, his wife said, he hopes to become a U.S. citizen, maybe next year.
These days, the reporters have gone away, but still, when he is asked, Diaz Chacon, ever humble, ever hard-working, is willing to remind people that immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, are largely law-abiding and productive citizens. Occasionally, they can also be heroes.
“Google my name and they will see,” he said.
His message is all the more poignant in an era when the president calls Mexican immigrants drug smugglers, criminals, gang members, rapist and bad hombres. When U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions proclaims the borderlands a “beachhead against the cartels.” When not even nonviolent Dreamers, once protected under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, are safe from deportation.
The rhetoric has inspired pro-immigrant groups to organize, including one of the latest, the New Mexico Immigrant
Supporting immigrants meeting
New Mexico Immigrant Support Network, town hall meeting 6 p.m. May 4, Albuquerque Convention Center east side. Speakers include Attorney General Hector Balderas; Maxaira Baltazar, deputy consul with Consulado de Mexico en Albuquerque; Rachel LaZar, executive director of El Centro Igualdad y Derecho; civil rights attorney David Urias; Larry Kronen, Pegasus Legal Services; Justin Remer-Thamert, executive director of Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice; Rafael Martinez, UNM Sanctuary; Kay Bounkeua, executive director of NM Asian Family Center; moderated by Telemundo anchor Alejandro Contreras.
Volunteer opportunities: NM Immigration Law Center, El Centro, Somos un Pueblos Unidos, Catholic Charities, Faith Coalition for Immigrant Justice, Enlace Communitario, Defending Our Neighbors, NM Asian Family Center.
Find New Mexico Immigrant Support Network on Facebook. Support Network, which holds its first town hall May 4 at the Albuquerque Convention Center. (See the accompanying box for details.)
“The president is calling immigrants criminals,” Diaz Chacon said. “I am the proof that we are not criminals. People who say those bad things say that without knowing who we are. Most of us just come here to find a better living for our families.”
That was true in his case. He was 19 and alone, his mother dead five years, his father struggling, his job prospects slim, when he crossed over the border at Santa Teresa. No one stopped him. Today, not much does. “We just try to live a good life,” he said. “We just try to show people we’re not awful as they think we are.”
Being a hero, he said, was something he never expected.
“That’s not a hobby, being a hero,” he said, laughing.
To many, he still is.