Two families that left Colombia in search of a better life in the United States are desperately looking for a roof in Los Angeles, since in the 8 days they have been in this city, three have slept on the street.
“We need help to accommodate the 7 of us. We want to have a roof over our heads to go out and look for work. We do not come to harm but to work hard. We want to do things correctly and honestly,” said Andrés Ordoñez, who along with his wife Jennifer Rivera and their children Alisson de 38 years old and Samuel, 5 years old, left Bogotá, Colombia on 12 November
With them came Julio César Iglesias and his wife Jessica Rivera, Jennifer’s sister, and their daughter Natasha two years old.
“We lost our apartment in Bogotá during the pandemic. Then we wanted to start a business and it went wrong. We couldn’t pay and the problems began. We were forced to leave,” says Andrés.
Her sister-in-law Jessica Rivera and her husband Julio César Iglesias, who were also going through a difficult financial situation, decided to join them on the trip.
“It was a journey of many stops until we reached Tijuana, and crossed over the mountains to the United States. That’s where Migration caught us. They took us to some wineries and the pressure began”, says Andrés, seconded by his wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law.
Julio César says that they separated men and women, and they didn’t know about each other for 4 and 5 days until they were released.
But those days in immigration custody were agonizing.
“It’s like a prison with double punishment because we didn’t know anything about our families,” says Andrés.
In addition, the conditions were precarious.
“We slept on the floor. There are people who slept standing up because there was no space; and it was difficult for my daughter Alisson who suffers from asthma”, says Jennifer.
Andrés adds that they were frequently subjected to ill-treatment and even pushed.
“When they asked us why we had left Colombia, and we explained to them, they told us that they were pure lies. That’s what everyone says, they repeated rudely.”
Jennifer says that before coming to the United States, she thought they would receive better treatment from immigration agents.
“They yelled at us. Things were thrown at us. We had to fight over food. The milk cans for the children, they threw them on a mattress. There they are, grab them, they told us as if we were dogs. There are terrible men and women who worked in immigration. They are very rude.”
To the degree – says Andrés – that if his wife did not ask him to calm down, he would have gotten into trouble with one of the agents who mistreated them.
Finally they got out of immigration detention, and they were put in a hotel in San Diego, where they had to stay longer than expected because they got covid-19.
“When they recovered, the Catholic Church bought their tickets to come to Los Angeles. They told us that there was more work here.”
However, in this city they have encountered great difficulty in finding a place to live .
“One night, a boy helped us rent a room, but the police almost took us because all 7 of us went inside, and the hotel only had two beds.”
It was one of the days of rains that Marco Topete, who spent several years in the Adelanto Detention Center, found them at a gas station in the San Fernando Valley; and who, from that day on, has been helping them.
After days and long hours of walking, they found a shelter for 85 days for the family of Julio César, his wife Jessica and their two-year-old baby.
This has not been the case for the family of Andrés and Jennifer and their two children.
“They gave us a donation of 576 dollars to pay for the hotel, but the least they charge us for a room is 90 dollars.”
With tears in her eyes, Jennifer says that the hardest part of emigrating has been seeing their children suffer.
“We come to fight. We are warriors”.
Her husband shares that their hearts break when their children tell them that they are sleepy, cold or tired.
“In those moments, one feels a tenacious pain; and you entrust yourself to God because you want to, but seeing the children suffer is tremendous.”
Jessica says that finding a shelter has been difficult for them because of the applications and forms they are asked to fill out, and because they are immigrants, and then they are put on a waiting list.
“They tell us that there is no budget and they cannot accommodate us.”
Julio César says that the experience of emigrating has been a psychological trauma.
“We had never experienced anything like this. You defend yourself, but it hurts to see the children suffer.”
Both families begged the Angelenos to help them for one or two months with housing.
“We don’t want everything for free, just support for two months with a house to accommodate us. We know how to do things and work. We defend ourselves.”
Topete along with Martín Valles and Pastor Guillermo Torres have been supporting them and trying to get them housing and an immigration lawyer.
“When do I see These cases give me courage, and I wonder where the organizations that support immigrants are,” says Topete.
A GoFundMe account is in the process of raising funds for these families, meanwhile people who want to help them can write to: araceli.martinez@Real America News.com
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