Category Immigration Debate
Plead Your Asylum To Me
It’s weird where our eyes will wander when we’re forced to recount our trauma. I arrived in El Paso, Texas, and connected with HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Services. HIAS has been working with migrants and refugee populations in the US and Latin America, and I was volunteering on their Border Response Team for two […]
The Mythical US-Mex Border
I remember the migrant surge of 2014 when women and children began arriving at the mythical US-Mexico border. I say “mythical” because for most of us, the border is this never-before-seen streak across the world. It marks where our laws begin and where our sovereignty starts. But few of us have actually been South to […]
Why Immigration : Part Three
Living Honduras, you see that immigration isn’t just statistics, it’s a mind set. Teens in the communities spray MS13 on walls because they think it’s cool. They have little else to do – no jobs, not many fathers – so they either work in the fields or join the club. Gang communities feel claustrophobic. Their […]
Why Immigration : Part Two
In the summer of 2012, I was backpacking in Arizona when I met my church group in the sizzling streets of Phoenix. We were attending a general assembly, and one of the activities on the list was an organized protest. We mounted a fleet of school buses and headed into the outskirts of the city, […]
Why Immigration : Part One
It took her three buses and less than a month to reach the US border from Honduras. Once there, she had no choice but to stay in a border town and save money; the coyotes were charging something like $3,000 for the smuggling. She settled in with a local family and watched their kids in exchange […]
Jeff Paddock
Suddenly-Human 