The day my family was almost murdered

Politicians have stories that they share at campaign events to try to show that they can relate to the people in the crowd. Far be it from me to operate like a politician but I have a story to share. This is the story of the man who almost murdered my family.

The afternoon of November 17, 2005 was busy. I had to get my eleven-month old daughter ready to go to her very first NHL hockey game. Since it was an almost three hour trip to the game, I was a typical mom making sure that I had everything that I could possibly need for the ride. We had a great day. My husband, daughter and I went to see the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the New York Rangers. And even though my husband was a little sad that his favorite team had lost, he was still beaming ear to ear from the experience of sharing his love of hockey and the Rangers with his little girl.

The game ended around 10pm and we began the long trip home. About an hour into the trip, with our little girl asleep in her car seat snug in her Rangers jersey, my husband had to swerve the car to miss a chair that had obviously fallen of someone's vehicle. We looked at each other and laughed - that kind of nervous laugh that you have when you don't know how else to react. An hour and a half later we exited onto the stretch of interstate that held the last 20 miles of our trip. My husband and I again exchanged a glance as if to say, "20 minutes and then we'll be home." As we crested over a hill near Idewild Rd on I-485 in Charlotte, I saw some lights in the distance. I asked my husband, "Do you see that?" My husband answered, "Yeah what is that?" Before I could answer we both saw that the lights were headlights and they were headed straight at us. Speeding toward us at over 100mph was an SUV traveling the wrong way on the highway in the middle lane. Neither of us spoke for what felt like minutes but was in reality just mere seconds as we braced to see which way the SUV would move and thankfully at the exact right moment, my husband swerved the car to the left avoiding a collision by inches.

As the SUV raced behind us, I scrambled for my cell phone and dialed 911. As calmly, as possible, I told the operator where we were and what had happened and finished with, "Please please hurry." I hung up and started shaking and crying uncontrollably. My husband and I made it home about 10 minutes later and after about an hour of clinging to my sleeping daughter I placed her securely into her crib for the night. I think it was about 4am when my husband finally succumbed to his exhaustion while I continued to shake, unable to sleep. At 5am, I turned on the television and the local station brought me the news I was afraid to see and hear.

They police were too late. A few miles after narrowly missing us, the speeding SUV crested over another hill and crashed head-on into a 19-year college student who had no time to react. Min Soon Chang was killed instantly. This innocent young man had failed to get into a sold out midnight showing of the new Harry Potter movie and was on his way home when he was murdered. Witnesses caught the aftermath on cell phones and local news showed the video and photos over and over for the next few days.

Jorge Humberto Hernandez Soto (a drunk driver who was barely injured in the crash) was charged with second-degree murder. Upon his arrest a frightening history was revealed. This man was here illegally yes but that was not all. Not only was he driving drunk while here illegally, he was doing so after having been charged for doing so twice already in Tennessee and Colorado. As if that were not enough, it was also shown that Jorge Humberto Hernandez Soto had been deported from the United States seventeen times. SEVENTEEN TIMES!!!!!!!

This murderer was deported from Tucson, Ariz., twice and from El Paso, Texas, once and he voluntarily returned to Mexico 14 times after being caught within miles of the border, immigration officials said. Jeff Jordan, assistant special agent in charge of North Carolina for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was quoted as saying, "We have no idea how he's getting back in [the country]". Really Mr. Jordan? You have no idea? I bet its as easy as walking across one of the many gaps in the "fence" or one of the many areas with no such fence along our border with Mexico. This monster was charged with the murder of Min Chang but I contend he should have also been charged with the attempted murder of everyone he passed that night. This man wouldn't know me to see me but I will never forget the face of the man who almost murdered my family.

Unlike the healthcare debate with the anecdotes and tales of people dying because they have no insurance, there are countless actual cases where illegal immigrants have killed people. Real stories like mine are going to feed the firestorm of opposition to the amnesty plans for the millions of illegal immigrants currently residing on our soil.

I do not claim to be an expert and I don't claim to know the right answer. I know that there are reasons that illegals come here to work - namely to take jobs that Americans won't or choose not to take. I know that there is no way to either all of a sudden deport or admit all of the illegals who are already here. The one thing that I do know is that if significant improvements to the border fences are not made to stop the steady influx of people then we do not have a prayer of changing anything.

Why not use the "jobs bill" to give American workers jobs building fences along both our Northern and Southern borders and begin to make a change that we can all hope won't cost another life.