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My Story - Student #47

De la noche a la mañana me dijeron que tenía que alistar una mochila para poder venirme. Con mucha tristeza por todo lo que he logrado en mi país, por dejar atrás a mi familia todo lo que amaba. Pero, tuve muchas razones para abandonarlo con todos los problemas personales y gubernamentales políticos que estaban pasando en ese momento. Afectaron mi vida y la de mi familia. Entonces, mi despedida no fue muy larga porque no me despedí de nadie, solo de mi padre.

Mi viaje fue algo nuevo en mi vida porque conocí diferentes países y dormí en un hotel. Camine por días enteros y noches enteras. Me arrastre sobre el fango. Cuide a una bebe por días enteros ya que la mamá no podía más. Pesaba mucho. No comí por días enteros. Después de eso, me tocó subirme en un camión usado para transportar pollos que hace mucho frío dentro de él. Después de todo eso, llegué a la frontera de México con Estados Unidos y me tocó esperar una semana porque venía con la oportunidad de cruzar sin entregarme a la policía migratoria. El día que me dijeron que cruce y se dio vuelta la balsa. Pensé que eso Dios lo había preparado para mi y pensé que algo mejor esperaba para mi del otro lado. Caminé por unas horas y en ese momento una luz se acercaba a mi y era la policía migratoria. Intenté esconderme entre la maleza, pero me atraparon y me preguntaron mi edad. Me dijeron que podía entrar y pelear mi caso migratorio. Me subieron a un bus y me llevaron a un pueblo donde me introdujeron a un lugar donde me pidieron mi información personal. Me tuvieron una semana durmiendo en el suelo con una manta de aluminio para dormir. Después, me llevaron a una casa hogar donde me pidieron hablar con mi primo para ver si él me dejaba vivir en su casa. Duré 2 meses hasta que me dejaron salir del lugar.

They told me overnight that I had to pack a backpack so I could come. I left with great sadness for everything I had achieved in my country, and for leaving behind my family and everything I loved. But, I had many reasons to leave with all the personal and governmental political problems that were going on at the time. They affected my life and that of my family. So, my farewell wasn't very long because I didn't say goodbye to anyone, just my father.

My trip was something new in my life because I got to know different countries and I slept in a hotel. I walked for entire days and entire nights. I dragged myself through the mud. I took care of a baby for many days since the mother couldn't take it anymore. The baby was too heavy. I didn't eat for the whole day. After that, I had to get on a truck used to transport chickens that was very cold inside. After all that, I arrived at the border between Mexico and the United States and I had to wait a week because I had the opportunity to cross without turning myself in to the immigration police. The day they told me to cross [the river], the raft turned over. I thought that God had planned this. I thought that something better was waiting for me on the other side. I walked for a few hours and at that moment a light approached me and it was the immigration police. I tried to hide in the undergrowth, but they caught me and asked my age. They told me that I could go inside and fight my immigration case. They put me on a bus and took me to a building where they asked me for my personal information. They kept me for a week sleeping on the ground with an aluminum blanket to sleep on. Later, they took me to a casa hogar, a home where they keep migrant children. They asked me to speak with my cousin to see if he would let me live in his house. I spent two months there until they let me leave that place.