Looch and Caitlin here sitting with some coffee as we try and decipher how to adequately describe this amazing trip. Looch wants border churros; Caitlin misses everyone. We're both basically at a loss for words. This trip was amazing...it was essentially perfect!
I guess we can start with our experience at Casa del Migrante since we shared that together....Chris Kemly was also with us, and I think we can speak for him in saying that it was a pretty powerful experience. After talking with Hilberto, one of the men who helps to run the home, he brought us out into the open patio area where all the men had just finished eating. Looch, Chris, and I began talking to two elderly men who were sitting on the benches near the door. One of the men, named Francisco, began talking to us about his job in the United States. As we continued talking he started to talk about his deportation which entered us into a story of extreme injustice. He told us that he was returning from his work as a landscaper on a Sunday (he mentioned that he needed all the money he could get, and that he was a hard worker) to his trailer that he shared with his girlfriend. His girlfriend was taking care of a baby when he arrived. He continued with his story telling us that the cops came to his door asking questions about a robbery that had happened to his neighbors. He openly answered all the questions and ensured us that he was trying to be as helpful as possible. He welcomed them into his trailer and while he was answering questions, he noticed that they weren't really listening to his story but had wandering eyes around his trailer. They left, however later returned with their sheriff demanding to search his home. He allowed them to, because he was confident that he had nothing to hide. They found the baby that his girlfriend was watching on his bed and told him that the conditions of his trailer were unfit for a child, and that CPS needed to be involved. Although he tried to explain that the baby was not his and his girlfriend was simply watching the child for his parents, they refused to listen. His girlfriend pleaded with the officers to punish her for the wrongdoing, not her boyfriend, however the cops continued to interrogate Francisco and eventually ended up arresting him. He was placed in jail for three weeks before he was deported. When deported, he asked the officer the reason for his deportation and the officer said that the paperwork stated he had been arrested for drugs. Francisco angrily expressed that he has never in his life done drugs, and was appalled by the United States government for unjustly deporting him. He continued to tell us that the baby's parents actually did do drugs, and while he was in jail, they proceeded to steal all of his belongings from his trailer. Despite the hardships this man faced, he continued to speak with us with an open heart readily telling us his story. He expressed how he enjoyed that Looch and I would speak to him in Spanish, and how he was impressed by our generosity in working with Esperanza. Although he had been deported, he was currently trying to get in contact with his mother and sister for his paperwork that allowed him to be in the United States. The other man, although didn't speak much, told us that if we were ever in Puebla, which is where he lived, he would like us to visit his home, located between two volcanoes, because he thought we would enjoy it. We immediately introduced him to our amigo Ben who was planning on studying abroad in Puebla, and they exchanged numbers. What struck us most about this conversation, was the injustices faced by Francisco combined with each of the mens' openness, both into their lives, and into their deeply personal stories. Francisco's story angered me, and has pushed me to research more deeply into the harsh and unfortunate realities surrounding the border. Families are being split up for reasons that are irrationally unjust and unfair. Putting a face to the hundreds of stories we hear each year about the new immigration laws being put into place, muddies the situation a little more. Although the laws may seem logical, actually hearing the first hand effects they have on human beings' lives, causes an immediate sense of discomfort towards the consequences that these "just" laws have. It's disheartening and alarming that the laws of our own nation trump a person's own rights as a human being.
Hopefully more to come from us :) Mucha Paz-Looch and Caitlin
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