
{"id":308208,"date":"2024-08-22T21:19:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T01:19:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=308208"},"modified":"2024-08-22T21:19:43","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T01:19:43","slug":"the-border-of-the-american-dream-biography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/digital-channel\/gallery\/the-border-of-the-american-dream-biography\/","title":{"rendered":"The border of the American dream: Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mercedes* had the first of her three children when she was under 20 years of age. By then she had already been working for a long time: for her, working life began when she was a teenager. A little over 5 years ago, in her 40s, the crisis in Venezuela pushed her to emigrate. She did so alone, with Peru as her destination. The plan was to support her family, which she left behind, from there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Peru, she did not find the conditions to settle down. In addition, she could not stand the distance from her children; so she decided to return to Venezuela to join her family and, 8 months ago, she emigrated again, this time on her way to the United States and with company. Leaving with her were her youngest daughter, 26, her son-in-law, 25, and their three children, ages 5 and 2, and an 8-month-old baby.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe were desperate. We had work in Caracas, but it wasn\u2019t enough to live on. The violence was also unbearable. We had nothing more to lose and we decided to undertake the journey,\u201d says Mercedes, already in El Paso, in U.S. territory, at the Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n, a temporary shelter for migrants where she and her family are recovering for a few days from the long journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308247\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308247\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308247\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias2-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The grandmother carries her grandson, as she did during the months of the journey to reach the United States. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To reach the border between Mexico and the United States, they had to cross seven countries: Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Although the distance in a straight line from Caracas to El Paso is approximately 4,000 kilometers, the trip was much longer and more exhausting. For eight months, they traveled almost twice that distance, using various means of transportation and walking long stretches, crossing cities, towns, jungles and rivers. It was an arduous and dangerous pilgrimage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, she celebrates that, despite everything, they are fine and were able to arrive; \u201cbecause that trip was very hard. We saw others who were left behind. We saw very ugly things,\u201d she confesses as someone who does not want to relive it even in her memory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe walked for entire nights. Sometimes the adults spent days without eating or bathing. I was terribly scared because of my grandchildren,\u201d she says as tears well up in her eyes and a lump in her throat prevents any more words from coming out.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308246\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308246\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308246\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1-300x226.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1-768x578.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias1-1-750x564.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308246\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The memory of the journey brings tears to her eyes. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When crossing a river, the precarious boat they were traveling in capsized. The children almost drowned. \u201cThank God I know how to swim and I was able to rescue one of the children and get back on the boat. The other one held on to me tightly. Luckily we survived.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since 2021 alone, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbp.gov\/newsroom\/stats\/nationwide-encounters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more than 855,000<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Venezuelans have entered the United States through the border.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evelyn and Mario* crossed Central America with their three children. They are housed in the same shelter, very close to the border with Mexico. The couple plays with the children, they cuddle them, they joke around with them and they burst out laughing. They all burst out with joy\u2026 It is impossible to imagine what the same family has gone through in recent months.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey almost stole our youngest baby in Honduras. In Mexico, they offered to buy her from us. We were always alert and scared, without being able to trust anyone,\u201d says the young mother.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308248\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308248\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308248\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1-750x499.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias12-1366x909-1-1140x759.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308248\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 40-degree day on the 9-meter-high iron fence in the desert, New Mexico, on the border between the United States and Mexico. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGoing through the Darien jungle in Panama is nothing compared to crossing Mexico,\u201d she says. Near the Mexican capital, she says, the police stopped them and extorted them. Then they took them to an area on the southern Mexican border and dumped them there. They had retreated more than a thousand kilometers, much of it walking for days and doling out money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carmen,* a Guatemalan woman in her 30s, made the trip alone with her young son. \u201cIt was traumatic,\u201d she says. \u201cI left Guatemala with my 2-year-old baby. They charged us $2,500 to take us to Mexico. In Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez they kidnapped us and demanded $8,000 to free us. They had locked us up and threatened to kill us. They only let me make one call to my parents in Guatemala to get the money. Thank God, they managed to scrape together the sum. They let us go. I don\u2019t know how we managed to get out alive,\u201d she says, looking at the child, who is playing near her.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308249\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308249\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308249\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"627\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1-768x482.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias3-1-750x470.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308249\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">It is impossible to imagine what the family went through in the last few months. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yurian and Alberto,* a Cuban couple who emigrated to Uruguay from Havana five years ago, decided to make the journey to the United States. The long journey from the southern cone to the border lasted three long months and cost them $30,000, including payment to coyotes, tickets, lodging, food\u2026and a ransom: they were kidnapped on their way through Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are now in Miami, waiting for the court date for the resolution of their asylum case. While they work 12 hours a day, they are in a hurry to generate any income possible. \u201cWe owe a great deal of the money we invested in the trip,\u201d says Alberto.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308250\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308250\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308250\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1-750x499.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias20-1366x909-1-1140x759.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308250\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A winding area before reaching the barrier that separates the United States and Mexico in the Rio Grande sector, Texas. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI still have nightmares about what we went through,\u201d Yurian confesses. It was one scare after another. When we were about to reach the border, they kidnapped us, tied us up, and held us in a house with other migrants. They pointed a gun at us and shouted that if we didn\u2019t pay $5,000 each, they would kill us. It was the second time that happened to us during the trip. The other time was when we entered Mexico. Every day I ask myself if it was worth taking all that risk. I don\u2019t think so,\u201d she says. Alberto nods in silence.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308251\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308251\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308251\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1-300x198.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias22-1-750x495.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The American dream hanging. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>The final goal and a debt to pay<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After a long and arduous journey, little Beatriz and Ainoa* spend the night in another of the temporary shelters for migrants, in El Paso, Texas. The 6-year-old girls have lived experiences that would mark any adult.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beatriz is Venezuelan; Ainoa, Salvadoran. They arrived here after their families decided to escape the economic hardship and violence in their countries of origin. After weeks of traveling through Central America, the girls\u2019 paths crossed at this point.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308254\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308254\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308254\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"992\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-1024x744.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-768x558.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-750x545.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias10-1366x992-1-1140x828.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308254\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">So far in 2024, more than 50,000 children and teenagers have been found alone on the border between the United States and Mexico. Photo: Kaloian Santos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beatriz enters the room and runs back and forth, between camp beds and taciturn people. The little girl excitedly heads toward a play area. Her long hair dances with each jump: the joy of discovering that little oasis of toys. My alien presence, and the camera hanging around my neck, suddenly catch her attention. Also near me was Ainoa, her new friend, who proudly told me the name she had given to each stuffed animal. Beatriz changed direction and in a few seconds was in front of us.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308252\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308252\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308252\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1-1024x753.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1-768x564.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1-750x551.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias4-1366x1004-1-1140x838.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308252\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The two little girls play in the temporary migrant shelter. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHello,\u201d she said to me with shining eyes. Beatriz, who is no more than 1 meter tall, has three small windows in her smile, a sign of her missing teeth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI see that the little mouse left money for someone under the pillow,\u201d I joked with her.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNo. When we get to the United States, he will wait for me with the money from all my teeth. Now he sends me pizza every time one of my teeth falls out,\u201d she replied with implacable childlike logic, before sitting next to Ainoa and proudly showing that another tooth will soon add to her good fortune: \u201cThis one down here,\u201d she points, \u201cis already loose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beatriz is already in the United States; but in the prime of her childhood, she does not understand that the goal of the migration route goes beyond the border. \u201cThe United States\u201d for her is the final destination, and the shelter is not it.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308253\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308253\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308253\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"978\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-300x215.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-1024x733.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-768x550.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-350x250.jpg 350w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-750x537.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias5-1366x978-1-1140x816.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The two little girls who met at the migrant shelter share the experience of a tremendous journey. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>Unaccompanied minors<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the odyssey of entering the United States illegally by land, Beatriz and Ainoa have been very lucky: they have never been alone. The girls crossed the border into the United States accompanied by their families and thus joined the number of almost 700,000 people who so far have arrived in the country as part of a \u201cfamily unit\u201d this fiscal year, according to demographic data from the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) and the Office of Field Operations (OFO).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, not all the children are so lucky. Border Patrol statistics describe them as unaccompanied minors. So far in 2024, more than 50,000 of them, under the age of 17, have been found in the middle of the jungle or desert, facing an uncertain fate.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308260\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308260\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308260\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias13-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308260\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The desert on the U.S.-Mexico border, one of the most complicated areas to cross. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308261\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308261\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308261\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias14-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308261\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Traces of migrants passing through the Santa Teresa desert, New Mexico. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most unaccompanied migrant children or teenagers come from countries such as Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela, which are facing economic, social and security crises. However, child migration is not limited to Latin America. Minors have been recorded from places as far away as Romania, Turkey and even China.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cuba has seen a significant increase in the number of unaccompanied minors, with nearly 800 cases reported so far in 2024. In this same period but in 2023, 300 had been rescued.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308257\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308257\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308257\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1-300x202.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1-768x518.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias9-1-750x506.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308257\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A father and his young son in a temporary shelter for migrants in the United States after months of travel. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a rule, minors cover the journey with their parents or other relatives. It is near the border where they usually separate to cross, either by jumping the fence in the desert or crossing the Rio Grande. One of the reasons why some parents send their minor children alone or with other groups is the false belief that with them in U.S. territory it will be easier to grant asylum for the older family.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308262\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308262\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308262\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias19-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Rio Grande (or Bravo), a natural border between the United States and Mexico with apparently calm waters, is crossed almost daily by dozens of migrants risking their lives. Many perish on the journey. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The arrival of unaccompanied minors increased when the Biden administration implemented the policy known in Spanish as \u201cQu\u00e9date en M\u00e9xico\u201d (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/es\/tag\/quedate-en-mexico\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remain in Mexico<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), which consisted of making asylum seekers wait there for the resolution of their cases. There were exceptions with unaccompanied minors who were allowed to enter the United States and remain in the country due to their vulnerability, often increased by the lack of documents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When found, many of these children and teenagers carry a telephone number written on their clothes, back, or arm; the only information to contact one of their parents or a close relative residing or not in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308255\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308255\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308255\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias7-1-750x497.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308255\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A window at the headquarters of Las Americas, a non-profit organization established in El Paso, Texas, that provides free legal services to immigrants and refugees, exposes how many unaccompanied minors arrive in the United States. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last July in the Rio Grande sector, Border Patrol rescued two Honduran brothers, just 3 and 5 years old, after crossing the border line. They were alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minors under 17 years of age who cross without the company of an adult or who do so with a group of people that do not include their parents or legal guardians and are found by the Border Patrol, must be transferred within the first 72 hours to the Department of Health and Human Services.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308258\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308258\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-308258 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1-750x499.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias11-1366x909-1-1140x759.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308258\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Most unaccompanied migrant children or adolescents come from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Venezuela. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This agency is responsible for placing them in children\u2019s homes or facilities appropriate to their needs, with the main objective of finding a family member or responsible adult who can care for them while their case is processed in the Immigration Courts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this exception, current immigration legislation in the United States does not provide differential treatment to migrant children compared to adults. As a result, minors are not guaranteed access to a lawyer or child advocate to represent them during their proceedings before immigration authorities and Immigration Courts.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308256\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308256\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308256\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1-300x182.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1-768x465.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias8-1-750x454.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308256\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Minors who cross the border alone or with a group of people who do not include their parents or legal guardians and are found by the Border Patrol must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><b>Father Rafael Garc\u00eda<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one chooses where they are born, but they do choose where they can be useful. Such is the vocation of the Jesuit Father Rafael Garc\u00eda.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When he was just 9 years old, in 1963, Garc\u00eda, his mother, and his brother left Cuba for the United States. The family settled in Miami, a city where the Cuban presence was already strong.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometime later, Rafael studied architecture; but after a few years of working as an architect, he discovered that his true vocation was in another type of construction: that of faith and support for those most in need. When he was 30 years old he left behind plans and calculations to continue dedicating his life to religious service.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 1983 he began the path to priesthood and, a decade later, he was ordained. Almost thirty years ago he was named pastor of the Jesuit parish of Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n, in El Paso, Texas, a few blocks from the border with Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez, Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308265\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308265\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308265\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1-768x527.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias16-1-750x515.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308265\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mural on one of the external walls of the Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n shelter, a group of migrants wait in the shade. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n parish church, founded in 1893 by Father Carlos M. Pinto, an Italian Jesuit missionary, is the most emblematic building in El Paso\u2019s Second Ward and one of the oldest Catholic churches in the city. Since its inception, it has been a spiritual and educational pillar for the immigrant community \u2014 mainly Mexican \u2014 and a symbol of hope for those seeking to belong as newcomers to the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Father Garc\u00eda served in this church for thirteen years. Then his duties took him to other states until he returned to El Paso in 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since then, he has dedicated himself to pastoral care at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center and worked in two residential detention centers for unaccompanied minors, providing spiritual and emotional support to immigrants in vulnerable situations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2020, his commitment was again recognized when he was named pastor of Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n parish church, which allowed him to continue supporting those who need it most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308268\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308268\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308268\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"909\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1-750x499.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias21-1366x909-1-1140x759.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308268\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n temporary shelter for migrants, in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe world is small. I came to the United States as a child, as a refugee, with my mother and my brother. What I experienced as a child I now see every day in other people. I can understand the difficulties that these good people go through, and it is much worse than what I suffered. It is a priority for the Church and for us to care for the most vulnerable people, and migration is one of the strongest and most painful realities,\u201d reflects Father Garc\u00eda.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">His dedication was put to the test in December 2022, when a wave of migrants arrived in El Paso. Hundreds of desperate people went to the Jesuit parish in search of help. Faced with the emergency, the priest did not hesitate to open the doors of a nearby gymnasium, improvising a shelter with the scarce resources available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On December 12, after celebrating mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Garc\u00eda announced the creation of a temporary shelter for migrants in the same building; it would be called Casa del Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308266\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308266\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308266\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias17-1-750x499.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308266\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n temporary shelter for migrants, in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere were many families with small children. The city\u2019s shelters were saturated. More than a thousand people were staying around our church alone. It was very cold,\u201d the priest recalls about those days in December 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the help of volunteers who offered to cook for the new arrivals and organize them, the shelter began to take shape. Thanks to donations from other parishes and caring people from all over the United States, the shelter was equipped with bathrooms, mattresses, toiletries, and food. A group of advisors was also formed to guide migrants through their bureaucratic procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308267\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308267\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308267\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"1023\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1-1024x767.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1-750x562.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias18-1366x1023-1-1140x854.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308267\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at the Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n temporary shelter for migrants, in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shelter currently can house 120 people, but in critical moments it has taken in up to 200 migrants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSomething very beautiful, paradoxical and even biblical is that we receive a lot of help from the neighbors. Statistically, this neighborhood is one of the poorest in the entire United States. In other words, the poorest neighborhood is the one that opens up to the neediest people. That doesn\u2019t happen in other areas, where attempts have been made to open other shelters and the neighbors are against it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308264\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308264\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308264\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"725\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1-768x557.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1-120x86.jpg 120w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias15-1-750x544.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308264\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jesuit Father Rafael Garc\u00eda, parish priest of the Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n church in El Paso, Texas. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308263\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308263\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308263\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"1004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1-300x220.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1-1024x753.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1-768x564.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1-750x551.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Dia-de-las-infancias-1366x1004-1-1140x838.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308263\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The priest wears a gift from Guatemalan migrants around his neck. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the Casa Sagrado Coraz\u00f3n, every day is a challenge and a learning experience. Father Garc\u00eda faces confessions that go beyond the usual, he hears stories of trauma and abuse, kidnapping, torture, extortion and rape. \u201cKidnappings are very sad and a reality that has existed for years,\u201d he says indignantly. \u201cWhat migrants go through on their journey, especially when crossing through Mexico, is terrible. It is known that many women are raped, one or more times, along the way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the harshness and frequency of these testimonies in the voices of those who suffer or suffered, Garc\u00eda confesses that he receives more than he gives. \u201cLove is lived in giving and receiving,\u201d he says. Through migrants \u201cI have confirmed my true vocation in life,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_308269\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-308269\" style=\"width: 1366px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-308269\" src=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1366\" height=\"841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1-1024x630.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1-768x473.jpg 768w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1-750x462.jpg 750w, https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/historias23-1366x841-1-1140x702.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1366px) 100vw, 1366px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-308269\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunrise on the other side. Photo: Kaloian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*For privacy reasons, the real names of the testimonies have been changed.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">See the first installment of this series <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/digital-channel\/gallery\/the-border-of-the-american-dream-promise\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><i>here<\/i><\/b><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every year, there is a string of statistics on the flow of illegal immigration across the southern border of the United States. Behind each of those numbers, there is a face, and a story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3262,"featured_media":308245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34643],"tags":[19256,34537,3835,23082,31773],"ppma_author":[33930],"class_list":["post-308208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery","tag-featured","tag-illegal-emigration","tag-mexico-en","tag-u-s-border-patrol","tag-u-s-immigration-services"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The border of the American dream: Biography | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Every year, there is a string of statistics on the flow of illegal immigration across the southern border of the United States. 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