Enrique's Journey
"Many go north seeking work. Others flee abusive families. Most of the Central Americans go to reunite with a parent, say counselors at a detention center in Texas where the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) houses the largest number of the unaccompanied children it catches. Of those, the counselors say, 75 percent are looking for their mothers. Some children say they need to find out whether their mothers still love them" (Nazario, 2006, p. 5).
This quote comes from a book called, Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario. It is a true story about a boy from Honduras, who attempts to cross the US/Mexico border in order to find his mother who went to look for work in America. I highly recommend reading it and doing so at the same time as someone else you know. It isn't just another book to enjoy reading, but one that will enlighten your thinking. The story is emotional, making you think about your own privilege. I know I got more out of the book by discussing it with my roommates than I would have by reading it independently. I got to hear their perspectives, along with anything important I happened to miss.
As I read the book, I got an introduction into what immigration is like for so many people. And to think that this is just one person's story...it's shocking. While reading, I got a glimpse into what other journeys look like but I know that's just a sliver of what goes on.
Immigration is a topic that easily gets breezed over. Why? Well, many people would simply say that migrants should follow the law and just stay where they are. But it just isn't that simple. There's way more to take a look at within the idea of immigration. As described in the earlier quote, migrants leave their country to look for jobs, remove themselves from dangerous situations, and join their families. Let me point out that this list of reasons is only found on page five of the book. Imagine what else can be learned from continuing on in the story.
People also don't realize how long the process to become a citizen actually takes. There is a back log of at least 20 years for some applications to even be processed. So then, if you're 50 years old...you'd be 70 by the time your application was even first looked at. People who are applying to become a citizen don't have that amount of time, especially if they're in a desperate position. Our government puts a ton of money into security at the US/Mexico border, but how about hiring additional employees to work in immigration services so those applications can be processed a little more quickly? Just a thought that I can expand upon later on.
Enrique's Travels from Honduras to America
Back to the book...Enrique's Journey describes positive actions being taken for migrants as well. There are a number of people in the story that give hope to those making the treacherous journey. And you know what, many of them were church leaders. I was taken back by the fact that the congregations got annoyed with those who decided to help migrants in their travels to America. But then I thought about it some more...we get uptight about the smallest things that happen in church. What color should the new carpet be? The bulletin is formatted incorrectly! We joke about these things happening, but they actually do. When we are arguing about these tiny details, there are people fighting for their lives outside of those church walls. In Enrique's Journey, congregations got upset because migrants were taking up space, making the church look bad, hanging their clothes to dry, etc. But as Christians we are called to help those in need. Just donating money won't always do it, y'all. Yes, that helps but it only goes so far. Physically putting yourself in the situation at hand is much more effective.
Speaking of making the church look bad...are you kidding me?! If all of the congregation's true colors were shown, that's when the church would surely look bad. Church is the place where we need to go when we are broken. We all have stuff going on in our lives that isn't always visible to everyone around us too. In fact, most of the time people don't
fully know what's going on with the person next to them. That's why it's important to spread love and kindness wherever you go. In the story, the problem is visible to everyone and people still don't want to get involved, which is what we are all guilty of. The church is supposed to welcome everyone. The church is supposed to welcome everyone. That's not a typo. I meant to put it in there twice because it's so important. And just for the heck of it...the church is supposed to welcome everyone.
We are so busy helping ourselves and worrying about our own faith journeys. Yes, we should all be growing in our faith, but what about other people and their faith? Isn't that important too? And what better way to stretch our beliefs and support others than by getting involved in real situations
that matter like immigration?! I'm not saying that we should go convert people, but I am saying that we need to spread God's love. Everyone is deserving of God's love. And with that, I encourage y'all to take a look at Enrique's Journey. It is one story that was able to be shared, while most are lost out in the desert or somewhere along those rail road tracks.
Alrighty, y'all. Enough ramblin' for one day. Peace out!
