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\nWe are privileged to read the testimony of a man originally from Haiti, who, for economic reasons attempted to emigrate from Brazil with his wife and 6-month-old son. (Part 1)<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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I left Brazil for the US in 2016. \u00a0My family and I set off with great joy, I went with my wife and my six-month old son because the <\/span>real<\/span><\/i> to dollar exchange left us with little. We left to help those we left behind – family, brothers, sisters, parents, even our friends \u2013 everybody.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
We left Brazil, then Peru, Ecuador, Colombia. To get to Panama, we had to cross the jungle.<\/span><\/p>\n
That was not easy. We always turn to the spiritual, because of our religion. We may have to pay for a guide or for food, but to survive the jungle,\u00a0the spiritual aspect is the most important.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
At the border of Nicaragua we had trouble.\u00a0We were raped and robbed. The police beat us.\u00a0We were lucky to get out. We arrived in Honduras, from there Guatemala,\u00a0then Mexico, where it was difficult. They had us line up. We Haitians stopped being united,\u00a0we started to argue –\u00a0everybody wanted to be first. <\/span><\/p>\n
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\n\n\u201cIt isn\u2019t the end of the world, make a go of it in the U.S.\u00a0 Someday we\u2019ll get back to our plan.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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When we got to the border, a friend of my wife\u2019s told us people were crossing, but they were only admitting women and children. My wife started crying, because she knew what life was like in the U.S. for a mother caring for a small child by herself. While we were still in detention, I told her, \u201cIt isn\u2019t the end of the world, make a go of it in the U.S. Someday we\u2019ll get back to our plan. I\u2019ll find someone to help me.\u201d The friend told me I could apply for asylum. I told him I\u2019m not political – I\u2019m not seeking that. Then Donald Trump came to Mexico, and they decreed that we\u2019d all be deported to Haiti. That\u2019s how I got deported back to Haiti. For me, all of this is a wound. The separation from my wife and son splits my heart in two. There are many problems, difficult ones. But I\u2019ll come out ok because I\u2019m determined. It\u2019s all devastating.<\/p>\n
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\nThroughout this family\u2019s harrowing journey, \u201ca nightmare that will never end,\u201d is woven hope. Pope Francis has called on us to keep the hope of our migrant brothers and sisters alive \u2013 even when they are separated from their loved ones and deported.<\/span> How will we respond not only to encourage hope, but also to act so that their dreams may one day become a reality? What is our part in building a path from devastation to a realistic expectation of a future in a welcoming host society?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Hear the narration of this migrant story (#349 Part I<\/strong>) and many more through the Franciscan Network for Migrants\u2019 partner, Humanizando La Deportaci\u00f3n<\/em><\/a>, a community-based digital storytelling project that documents the human consequences of contemporary regimes of migration and border control in the United States and Mexico. Humanizando La Deportaci\u00f3n<\/em><\/a> has been collecting and producing these stories since early 2017, with funding from various grants, and institutional sponsorships from both the University of California, Davis and five Mexican partner institutions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Testimony redacted by<\/strong><\/span>
Laurie Mikolaycik
Franciscan School of Theology
University of San Diego<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.2″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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