Migration
Reflecting On the Trip from the Other Side
REFLECTING ON THE TRIP FROM THE OTHER SIDE Two Stories of Crossing the Border “What mother doesn’t want to do what is best for her child?” Editor’s Note: My partner and I have heard many Salvadorans recount migration stories into the U.S. All are heart-wrenching. Each person has a different reason for leaving the country – gang extortion, gang recruitment of their children, and death threats being the ones we.....
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Reflecting On the Trip from the Other Side - the August 1st upcoming story
Read the jaw-dropping story of a Salvadoran woman who crossed the border without knowing what she was in store for. She lives near us.
Emigrating To a Safer Life
Emigrating Toward a Safer Life Northern Ireland Esta historia se escribe en Español = This story is also written in Spanish here Editor’s Note: Leaving behind family and balmy tropical year-round weather and the black sand beaches of El Salvador, Oliver re-settled in the rainy gray climate of the North Atlantic where he knew no one. But that is what this young man felt he needed to do to find.....
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Emigrating to a Safer Life - Spanish
Emigrar hacia una vida más segura Irlanda del Norte Translation by Juan Escobar Nota del editor. Tras dejar atrás a su familia, junto con el clima tropical balsámico de todo el año y las playas de arena negra de El Salvador, Oliver se estableció en el entorno lluvioso y gris del Atlántico Norte, donde no conocía a nadie. Pero eso es lo que este joven sabía que debía hacer para.....
Carmen’s Journey Across the Border
Esta historia se escribe en Español = This story is also written in Spanish here. CARMEN’S JOURNEY ACROSS THE BORDER Editor’s Note: My partner and I met this lovely soft-spoken teenager two years ago on a trip to El Salvador. She reached out after she and her father crossed our southern border a few months ago. Her intention was merely to tell us where she was and to thank us.....
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Carmen's Journey Across the Border Spanish
EL VIAJE DE CARMEN A TRAVES DE LA FRONTERA Translation by Santiago Sanchez Nota del Editor: Mi compañero y yo encontramos esta encantadora adolescente de voz suave hace dos años en un viaje a El Salvador. Se nos acercó después de que ella y su padre cruzaran nuestra frontera sur hace unos meses. Su intención era simplemente decirnos donde estaba y agradecernos el apoyo que le prestamos en el pasado......
Caught Between Two Countries
Esta historia se escribe en Español = This story is also written in Spanish here. Editor’s Note: This is the third or fourth draft of a piece I began writing several years ago. After each draft I sought feedback from others including the family involved, my partner, and my writing group. The overwhelming response was, “Tone it down. You are being too harsh, too political. This is not an op-ed.....
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Caught Between Two Countries - Spanish
ATRAPADA ENTRE DOS PAÍSES Translated by Juan Escobar Nota del editor. Este es el tercer o cuarto borrador de un artículo que comencé a escribir hace varios años. Después de cada escrito buscaba una reacción o respuesta por parte de otras personas, ya fuese de la familia, de mi socio o de mi grupo de creación literaria. Sin embargo, la abrumadora respuesta era: “Baja el tono. Estás siendo demasiada dura,.....
What Brings Them Back?
Underground America, narratives of Undocumented Lives, edited by Peter Orner, is a collection of first person accounts of individuals who have migrated to the U.S. seeking a better life. They come from places like Mexico, Iran, Bolivia, Guatamala, Colombia, South Africa, and Peru where they were persecuted unmercifully. Their tales are gut-wrenching. They have traded one set of suffering for another set once they arrive in this country which is.....
Brenda Hubbard - Spanish
Nota del editor: Ella dejó la tierra de sushi y seguridad financiera que capturó cada cosa material que podría desear, y se mudó a una nación empobrecida que estaba en una brutal guerra civil en un continente totalmente diferente a través del océano. ¿Por qué? Ella sintió la indignación de haber sido engañada por su gobierno; quería ver cómo los dólares de impuestos de los Estados Unidos se gastaban.....
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Brenda Hubbard
BRENDA RENÉ HUBBARD “Opportunities have opened up for people and education regarding peoples’ life decisions. I feel my life has a grain of meaning.” Esta historia se escribe en Español = This story is also written in Spanish here. Editor’s Note: She left the land of sushi and financial security that netted her every material thing she could ever want, and she moved to an impoverished nation that was.....
Our Perspective on the Border Kids
A PERSPECTIVE ON “KIDS AT THE BORDER” SITUATION Intentionally my partner and I have chosen to wait a couple of months after the initial “crisis” to write about this issue in order to read, process, and digest as much information as possible before reacting and sharing our thoughts. NOTE: Many of the facts listed below are gleaned from the Salvadoran perspective during a July 28, 2014, webinar. Presenters included.....
Lucy Acevedo
“I still thank God because we have closure.” Editor’s Note: The outcome of Lucy’s brother’s story is in direct contrast to Anna Diaz’s son’s story. Yet they are both active in Cofamide, [Committee of Relatives of Dead and Missing Migrants], the organization committed to support the families of migrants across Central America. That group is closely associated with CARECEN [ Central American Resource Center] that also focuses on.....
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Lucy De Acevedo - Spanish
“Todavía le doy gracias a Dios porque tenemos un cierre definitivo” Nota del editor: El desenlacede la historia del hermano de Lucy es diametralmente opuesto al del caso del hijo de Anna Díaz y sin embargo, las dos participan activamente en Cofamide [Comité de Familiares de Migrantes Fallecidos y Desaparecidos], la organización que se dedica a apoyar a las familias de migrantes en toda Centroamérica. Este grupo está íntimamente asociado.....
Facts and Myths on Immigration
(Obtained from Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service www.lirs.org) MYTH: IMMIGRATING TO THE UNITED STATES FOR WORK OR FAMILY IS EASY FACT: ONLY 5,000 VISAS ARE AVAILABLE FOR LOW-SKILLED WORKERS EACH YEAR, YET OUR ECONOMY RELIES ON MILLIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED LABORERS. FAMILIES WAIT YEARS FOR REUNIFICATION. LAWFUL PERMANENT RESIDENTS FACE WAITS OF MORE THAN FIVE YEARS FOR THEIR SPOUSES TO GET VISAS AND JOIN THEM. SIBLINGS OF PERMANENT RESIDENTS WAIT 10-22.....
Siblings
The risks are too great to take for themselves. The risks are not too great to take for their families. The long trip North begins deep inside El Salvador INTRODUCTION: Thousands of Salvadorans, like other Latin Americans, are finding it necessary to migrate north. A lack of job opportunities in their own country continues the cycle of poverty. Hunger is a big motivator, and these people desire to work in.....