For so many, coming into the United States is a dangerous and lonely journey. As Sny Desir watches what’s unfolding at the U.S.–Mexico border, he says thinks of his own path here from Haiti.
In 2017, he was running from corruption and violence. He realized he could not stay in the country he loves and called home.
“I called my family I said, ‘You know, I cannot live in Haiti anymore,’” Desir said.
He said he understands what the unaccompanied children at the border might be going through, having passed through several countries himself, including Mexico, before he made it to the U.S.
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“The people looking for safe life,” he said.
A woman who did not want to be identified said she was reunited with her daughter after she let the young girl cross over the U.S.-Mexico border with an aunt. The aunt eventually became separated from the girl shortly after crossing.
“I knew that on Friday, March 5 they were going to present themselves at immigration and that they were close,” the mother said. “On the sixth, his aunt called me with my daughter to tell me that immigration was going to deport them to Mexico.”
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The girl’s mother said now that they’re reunited, her child is not the same.
“Right now, she is a little happy and then very sad,” she said. “She cries and is scared. But before it was not like that. She was very happy.”
Desir said the mental agony of what is endured while seeking a better and safer life is indescribable.
“I’m still safe,” he said. “OK, there’s nobody coming to kill me. But my mind is not inside of me.”
