Immigrant Story

An Undocumented Immigrant’s Story

He is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. He showed up in our parish activities center at the first session of a Rediscover group in Lent of 2013. He stood shyly at the door and asked if he could come in and sit down. He chose a chair in the corner, outside the circle formed for the group. When everyone was there and ready to start, what else could the leader do? He was invited to join the circle. He understood some English, spoke a little less. He came back the next week and the leader made him a nametag. We don’t know how much he understood of what the group was talking about, but he tried to share and he showed up at every session.

Later, when he shared his story, he said he was lonely, hungry for a connection to the church and for friendship. A parishioner began helping him with his English. He worked hard at it, hoping that someday there would be a way for him to stay in the U.S. He works six long days a week, including Sundays, so he is not able to get to Mass on the weekends, but a parishioner takes him to Wednesday morning Mass and then drives him to work. He has a special friend he meets on Thursday mornings for breakfast. She once took him to Northfield, to meet the Spanish speaking priest there so he could go to Confession. He took her to a Mexican restaurant that day to celebrate her birthday. Her family invites him for holidays and took him in for two weeks to recover from surgery for a ruptured appendix.

So why is he here? Coming to the U.S. to work is part of his family heritage. When his father abandoned the family when he was 11 years old, his mother left him with his grandmother and moved to California where she remarried and had two daughters. She is still sending money back to the family in Mexico. He visited her there when he first came to the U.S. six years ago, after a harrowing trip across the border, and he spent a few months working with her before he came to Minnesota, where he had two uncles working. He wires money to his wife so they can send their two boys to a good school. He has big dreams for them. He talks to his wife and sons, ages 11 and 8, every day. His boys are growing up without their dad, except on a cell phone screen.

He hired a builder to construct a house for his family. He made room for a small store in his home and plans to use his truck (160,000 miles on the odometer) when he goes back to drive from his small village into Mexico City to buy wholesale and then sell to restaurants and stores. He hopes to have enough money saved to return to Mexico in May of this year, with a detour to visit his mother. He now realizes that his dream of bringing his family here will not be possible.

He likes to play around with his guitar and he shares a dumpy room over a bar with another man. Once he sent his wife $500 and she was robbed leaving the bank. Another time a package he sent to his family with gifts for Christmas was confiscated and never returned, because of a paperwork error. He is a good man - gentle, hard-working, kind, persevering.

This is the story of one “illegal” immigrant. Each person has a unique story. But the most important thing to know about him is that he is a beloved child of God, working hard to get ahead, for love of his family and at great sacrifice. Sometimes it’s good to hear another’s story and try to understand.