September 22, 2006

Lax Immigration Law—The Real Villain In Nyce Tragedy

Imagine my delight when I recently turned on my favorite television show, Forensic Files, and learned that the evening’s episode, "Naughty or Nyce," revolved around two topics near, but not very dear, to my heart: Illegal aliens and scheming foreign-born women out to lure delusional, semi-fossilized American men into marriage.

Before we get to the meat of the matter, let me provide you with some personal background.

I’m addicted to Forensic Files and crime shows like them. I attribute my fascination for the tawdry to growing up in Hollywood in a house full of Motion Picture and Silver Screen magazines.

But now, I no longer have to feel guilt about watching Forensic Files.

I can correctly state that my time spent viewing the show is work-related. Forensic Files is an excellent source for those of us who chart immigrant crime…a hot topic around VDARE.COM in light of the Edwin S. Rubenstein | Peter Brimelow vs. Linda Chavez debates.

Now let’s get back to "Naughty or Nyce."

When Michelle Rivera was a teenager in a Filipino fishing village, she advertised for an American "pen pal." A friend of Jonathan Nyce, a North Carolina college professor and entrepreneur, directed him to the ad.

Rivera and Nyce exchanged letters for about a year. Then Nyce flew to the Philippines to meet Michelle who despite being an attractive, very young woman less than half the geeky Jonathan’s age, instantly declared her love for him. They married within two weeks. [The Lonely Wife, the Controlling Husband, By Cristina DC Pastor, Philippine News Online, September 20, 2006]

Did I mention that Dr. Nyce, the C.E.O. of the start-up firm Epigenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc, had just raised $65 million in venture capital?

The couple returned to the U.S., relocated from North Carolina to central New Jersey, bought a 20-room, 5,000 sq. foot neo-colonial home in a gated community and had three children. [ Sex, Lies, Videotape…and Murder, By Jonathan Miller, New York Times, February 29, 2004]

Shortly after moving into their mansion, where, according to friends, Michelle and her children had the best of everything, Nyce’s business went sour.

Nyce’s partners sized him up as a brilliant academic and researcher but an ineffective administrator. In a post-9/11 world of tight money, Nyce was let go.

Although now unemployed, Nyce had a monthly stipend that allowed him to keep up appearances.

Enter the illegal alien gardener, a limited-English-speaking Guatemalan known to Michelle as Alexander Castenada but to others as—take your pick— Sergio Martinez, Manuel Castanera, Manuel Nosequen and Miguel De Jesus.

De Jesus, as most now believe his name to be, had multiple social security numbers, many girlfriends and wives and children from those unions. [ Slain Fil-Am Lover Takes Stand, The Filipino Reporter, July 1-7,2005]

An employee of the local Ostrich Nursery, De Jesus headed a landscaping crew to plant $50,000 worth of trees at the Nyce home.

Soon thereafter, Michelle asked De Jesus for his cell phone number. First, the wealthy suburbanite and the alien gardener had lunch. They quickly moved on to cocktails and dinner before hooking up at the closest "no questions asked" motel.

In the meantime, Nyce remained at home taking care of their three kids and coping with extreme financial distress.

Eventually, Nyce found out that Michelle was cheating. He waited for her one night after she had been out with De Jesus.

The Nyces argued violently before he smashed her head onto the cement garage floor. Nyce’s crude effort to cover up his murder did not fool the police.

A jury convicted Nyce of passion/provocation manslaughter and sentenced him to eight years.

Nyce got what he deserved—maybe less. Murder is not the proper punishment for infidelity.

But I will make the case that Nyce, who took Michelle from poverty to riches, allowed his father-in-law to move in with them, built homes and gave money to her family in the Philippines deserved better than a shameless wife—De Jesus testified that she kept her wedding rings on during sex—in cheap Route 1 motels.

(On the night of her death, Michelle followed De Jesus to a Wawa convenience store, got into his car and proceeded with him to Mount’s Motel where rooms rent for $20.00 an hour) [Lord Slams Nyce’s In-Laws, Lisa Meyer, The Trentonian, April 22, 2004]

Michelle was decidedly lacking in the immigrant "family values" we are forever lectured about.

With Nyce behind bars, the MSM has dropped his story by generalizing that the case is a personal tragedy for everyone involved.

Ignored, as always, is the immigration angle.

VDARE.COM chooses to dig deeper.

Look at the aftermath—much of it made possible by lax immigration laws and non-existent enforcement.

Rivera, a greedy young woman who, one suspects, could have lived a reasonably happy life in the Philippines, is instead enticed to America by the prospect of a big score. The notoriously absurd family-based visa paves Michelle’s path. Along the way, Michelle marries a man she hates, becomes a terrible wife and, by extension, a horrible mother. She winds up dead.

Nyce, once a productive member of society working on a cure for asthma, deceives himself that a romance between two people of starkly different backgrounds is possible. He ends up doing a stretch. Instead of Nyce making generous income tax payments to the state and federal governments, our tax dollars now support him. Apparently, Nyce spent too much time surfing sites like FilipinaHeart.Com and not enough time researching the important background material on foreign brides at VDARE.COM

Three young children, Alex, Trevor and Samantha, are parentless. Their mother is dead and their father, locked up. Maybe years of intensive therapy can enable them eventually to live something approaching normal lives.

De Jesus, one of hundreds of thousands of criminally minded illegal aliens is at large...free to roam whenever and wherever he pleases without fear of deportation. Other women and unsuspecting citizens should beware of De Jesus since, during his testimony, it was revealed that he had an unusually keen interest in the value of objects around the Nyce household including Michelle’s watch.

Most of the crimes written about on VDARE.COM involve alien perpetrators. The Nyce case, however, centers on a legal immigrant killed by her American husband. The alien, De Jesus, acted as the lighting rod.

The tragedy is that getting into the U.S. is so easy and immigration enforcement so slack that an incident like this, with all of its consequences, can occur.

Joe Guzzardi [email him], an instructor in English at the Lodi Adult School, has been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1988. This column is exclusive to VDARE.COM.