My friend was an illegal immigrant. I miss him: Voices

My friend Allan Arana died of cancer late last month. He was 47.

Allan worked as the maintenance man at Old Main Apartments, where I live near Drake University.

He worked hard, sweated a lot and laughed from deep within his round belly.

His full name was Allan Henry Arana Mateo. His nickname was "El Gato," Spanish for "the cat."

When I would call for a problem in my apartment, he would knock on the door and holler, "What did you break now, Mr. Finney?"

He always called me "Mr. Finney," even though I told him many times that Daniel was fine.

I've lived in these apartments for about 10 years. We've had other maintenance people.

Some were better than others. Allan was about the best we've had.

He verbally sparred with our property manager, Kathryn Gentry. She is prim, proper and scrupulously organized. I think he just liked to say things to irritate her to get them both laughing.

He responded quickly to problems, often at lousy hours.

My air conditioner broke down on a sultry summer night. He came in after midnight and replaced the machine and got my place cool. It took two hours, but I was exceptionally grateful.

I chose to be an American: Rekha Basu

Trump can do better on terrorism: Allen and O'Hanlon

I enjoyed talking to Allan, especially in the summertime, when he worked on projects inside the maintenance shed by the pool.

Sometimes, we marveled at the furniture and other items that the students who live in the complex would leave behind when they moved out in the summer or at the change of semester.

He would tip me off to a discarded lamp or chair he thought was nice that was just sitting by the trash bins. There are a few pieces of fine furniture in my apartment now that would otherwise be in the landfill, had Allan not mentioned them to me.

Allan loved music. He often said the best part of owning a house was being able to play his music as loud as he wanted.

Allan also loved soccer. I'm ashamed to admit I cannot remember which European pro team was his favorite. I know he had their decal on his SUV and often wore their jerseys as he worked.

He bemoaned the woefulness of the Guatemalan national team. Allan was originally from Guatemala. He often visited family on vacation.

During one of our chats, Allan told me he came to this country illegally.

Eventually, he married Trinity Bruan-Arana, an attorney who is assistant director of boards and commission for the Iowa Judicial Branch. His residency became legal.

I only note that Allan was once an undocumented immigrant because I worry about the way we talk about people who come to our country illegally.

It reminds me of the way we talk about lung cancer victims. When someone dies of lung cancer, we often ask: "Did they smoke?"

Apparently, if they were smokers, then they deserved to die.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media 

Trump's refugee order delivers on Obama's broken promise: James Robbins

Many of us talk about undocumented immigrants and smokers as if they are not people at all. Or, if we do, we talk about them as the worst kind of people.

President Trump, while he was a candidate, famously said, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. … They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with (them). They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

This statement is ugly, cruel, racist and a gross over-generalization of both the kind of people who come to this country and the myriad reasons they do.

But Trump is now president, and a lot of Americans apparently agree with what he said about undocumented immigrants.

I don't know why my friend Allan left Guatemala for the United States, or how he found his way to Des Moines.

I do know this: He was a person. He was always kind, funny and he made my home feel safe, secure and well-tended. He was good at his job and worked hard.

And he was my friend. I will miss him.

Daniel P. Finney is a metro columnist for The Des Moines Register, where this piece was first published. Follow him at @newsmanone.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines.