Why I'm Mad...and Sad

Okay folks. No photos, no feel good stories, just some straight talk.

Right now I'm a little ticked off. Maybe more than just a little. But I'm also sad at the same time.

Why?

Amnesty...that's why!

I'm going to ask a question. Do you think granting amnesty to an estimated 12 to 20 million illegals living in the States will hinder or help the problem of illegal immigration in the future?

Let me share the stories of two men I know personally.

Roberto (not his real name) is a hard working, well respected man in his barrio. He's actually the president of the patronato, kind of like the mayor of the neighborhood. He has a beautiful wife, a beautiful family. He's a good dad. He has a nice home and owns his own business. He and his wife went to the US, illegally, a number of years ago, worked hard - two jobs, stayed out of trouble and saved all they could. They came back home with enough cash to start a good life...BUT, it's hard to go from making $8.00 per hour to making $8.00 per day and although he doesn't say it, I think the savings are long gone. He longs to go back to the US. So does his wife. They talk about it all the time. 

I saw Roberto the other day. The first thing he told me is that a friend from the US called him and told him to hurry back, illegally of course, so that he could apply for amnesty. He wanted to know if I thought it was true. I didn't say a thing. I have no idea. Zilch. I do know this. The trip north is far more dangerous today than it was 20 years ago. And I know this too. I can't bear to see one more fatherless family here.

It made me sad. 

Note: I add this comment one year later. At the cost of nearly $30,000 USD, Roberto has now sent his family north to join him. He hopes that someday they will all become US citizens

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I go often into a certain store here in Sigua. Six days a week I would see Juan, (not his real name) smiling, waving at me. We'd fist bump over the counter and ask how each other's day was going. I like Juan. He's a good looking young man who had worked his way up to a decent position. Probably not making a whole lot, but hey, it's a decent, steady job in a country where those are hard to come by. Two days in a row I go into the store and, no Juan. "Hey, where's Juan?" I ask. "Oh, he doesn't work here anymore" they say. "Why?" I really want to know. "He headed north. Someone arranged for a "coyote" to take him. Friends in the States told him to come. He left without even collecting his last paycheck." Another one of Honduras' future fathers and community leaders...gone.

It made me mad.

I asked myself, why would a young man leave without even collecting his paycheck? Why the urgency? Why the willingness to brave the dangers of a drug cartel infested trip through Mexico? Could it possibly be the hope of arriving in time to receive amnesty?

I googled "how much does an illegal pay a coyote" and came up with this answer. 

$4,000 to $10,000 USD! 

Say what?

Even at the low end that's a years wages and at the high end...3 to 4 years wage. With no guarantee that you will make it to the USA alive...or not be caught and deported back home. 

I'm mad because:

• No one here seems to think it's wrong to go illegally to someone else's country.
• Too many young men and women think that life will be so much better living illegally in the US, where they will be given menial jobs at half of what a US citizens would make...if they'd even do it.
• Our policies encourage such actions.
• Our newspapers lie, trying to make it sound as though young people here are fleeing a war zone. Lies! And we buy into it.

I'm sad because:

• I see the debilitating effects of homes without husbands and fathers.
• I see teenage delinquents who receive just enough money from the States buy booze and become alcoholics at an early age, often fathering multiple children by multiple women because there is a shortage of available men...and caring for none of them. (Ok, that one makes me mad too)
• Honduras is losing their motivated leaders and workforce.

I'm going to be blunt for a moment and I'm going to say something to my fellow Christians, some who will probably disagree with me..and that's okay.

Stop bringing in free stuff and start bringing jobs!

Missions is a multi-billion dollar business. Yes, that's right, Billion with a "B". Most of it directed towards bringing in free stuff, building free buildings or doing free work. AND I'm okay with some of that. There is a place for charity. We practice it often. But here's the deal IF ONLY we'd stop, look and listen. Almost every man and woman I know...they just want a job. They want the dignity of being able to provide for their own families, with their own hands. They don't want the free stuff...until they find out that's all their gonna' get.

So, Church...you want to help?

Send some of your businessmen down here. Send your entrepreneurs. Use some of those billions to start businesses, give micro loans or build schools to teach trades. Maybe this should tell us something. People are leaving here in droves, willing to risk their lives to find work. .

On second thought, I'm not sure I blame them.

I'd probably do the same if I were in their shoes.

So...Do you really want to help?