‘Dear Ungrateful Foreigner . . . ‘

From the case files of the San Bernardino city attorney:

Violator’s name, Valente Duran. Native of Mexico, it’s assumed. Father of five children, four born in the United States. Occupation: construction worker.

Address: The EZ-8 Motel.

History: In early December, Duran and his family were evacuated from the Cypress Inn Trailer Park, with about 90 other residents of 26 uninhabitable mobile homes. Authorities responding to a medical emergency found allegedly life-threatening conditions at the Mount Vernon Avenue location, including gas leaks, exposed electrical wires and raw sewage. The Durans now get food and temporary lodging at city expense.

Offense: Unbelievable lack of gratitude!

Duran had the nerve to complain to a local reporter about the evacuation. “In Mexico,” he was quoted as saying, “they treat us better than here.”

That rattled City Atty. James Penman, who has more than a decade of experience shutting down slumlords and relocating residents in his town. Never had anyone criticized his office in this way.

Penman told me last week that he felt a little angry when he first read Duran’s remarks, translated into English for publication. The next day, he drafted a response that elected officials later condemned as an embarrassment. It was written on city letterhead, translated into Spanish and hand-delivered--by the city attorney himself. He gave it to Duran at the motel during a Christmas party for children of the relocated families.

Although “I understand and respect your feelings for what I assume is your native country,” he wrote, the comment “was perceived as a criticism” of the city.

“The people of this city have no desire to deprive you or your family of what you may believe may be better treatment by the government of Mexico.”

Penman then offered an option: Instead of food and shelter, the city “will arrange and pay for transportation for you and your family, one way, to Mexico.”

The letter, carefully crafted with a veil of magnanimity, has the ring of a TV game show. Behind Door No. 1, an all-expense paid stay at a motel along Route 66. Or Door No. 2: a free ride back where you came from.

Penman denies any animosity, but he may as well have addressed his letter, “Dear Ungrateful Foreigner.” We, the people and the city, are the generous hosts. You, the immigrant and your children, thankless intruders.

What are Penman’s presumptions, perhaps unintended? That Duran doesn’t pay taxes. That he isn’t a legitimate resident, but a rude guest. That he’s a freeloader who bites the hand that feeds him.

What’s the message? Immigrants don’t have the right to complain about their adopted country. Call it the Penman Penalty, a slap at immigrants who fail to kiss the ground here.

My question: If immigrants must promptly pay taxes and register for the draft, how long before they enjoy the right to free speech without being reminded of their origins? Can Americans handle foreign opinion only as long as it’s mostly positive, like Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville’s?

Otherwise, callense la boca. Keep your immigrant mouth shut.

“They don’t want us to say anything,” said Duran, speaking Friday from the EZ-8. He was reluctant to talk because he feels badly about the fuss and because reporters don’t always get things right.

He wasn’t knocking the city for its help, he explained, only for forcing people out with little notice and for treating families like criminals. “That was no way to handle it,” said the 10-year-resident of the trailer park. “We’re human.”

Duran migrated from Sinaloa almost 20 years ago, lives here legally and says he has never before taken government assistance. He doesn’t believe he spoke out of line: “What I said was fair [justo], but not the way they took it.”

Penman also feels misjudged. He’s no racist, as protesters alleged about his letter. He even adopted a Mexican American son from his first marriage, he said.

“It was an issue of manners, not . . . race or ethnicity,” said Penman, who claims more personal friendships with Latinos “than any other gabacho [Anglo American] I know.”

Well, his friends should have warned him not to use city stationery to meter la pata, or put foot in mouth. He’s the city attorney, not the poobah of public protocol.

Though censured this month by an irate City Council majority, Penman is unrepentant. He says he’s gotten more calls, mostly supportive, than at any time during 13 years on the job.

Maybe most Mexicans are too polite to say what they really think.

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Agustin Gurza’s column appears Tuesday. Readers can reach Gurza at (714) 966-7712 or agustin.gurza@latimes.com