3/26/21
By Sarah Towle
Felicia Rangel-Samponaro of The Sidewalk School for Children Asylum Seekers can't say enough about how smart and how talented he is. Fran Schindler waxes poetic about his compassion and capacity for empathy. Mark McDonald of Global Response Management talks about how he values solidarity and justice. Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border notes his dogged determination. And everyone, like Ray Rod, has remarked on Enrique's quiet resilience.
These are all great human characteristics, right? Ones you'd think the US would celebrate in anyone seeking asylum at its border. Yet, all Trump & Co could see was Brown.
Fortunately, Enrique and his brother Melvin are now in the US and with their dad. Their journey took two years, six bullets, a long hospital stay, a kidnapping, months and months in a tent made for weekend camping in all kinds of weather. It should NEVER have been this way. But they also discovered talents they did not know they possessed along the way and found strength in community.
They are now home. Gracias a Dios! Join me in wishing Enrique Bienvenidos and apologies for our terrible, no good, really bad, inhumane immigration "system."