Thread by @paolamendoza

I was told there was a young boy who had down syndrome whose mother was very sick.

I immediately went looking for them. I found Ana in her tent under a mound of blankets. I asked if anyone knew where her son was but everyone pointed me in conflicting directions.

Just then the mother began to stir. She sat up and asked if I could help her. She told me she felt very sick. She had spent the day in various offices getting her paperwork in order for her asylum case. As soon as she got back to the shelter she got sick.

She asked if I had seen her boy. He was looking for food because they hadn’t eaten all day.

Suddenly, Jorge appeared from around the corner. At fifteen years old he’s a bubble of happiness and sweetness. Just as he arrived his mother stuck her head out of the tent and threw up.

Jorge was overcome with worry. He cradled his mother in his arms. She kept throwing up. Jorge became more and more anxious. He started to cry. I tried to make him feel better but he was inconsolable.

His mother patted him on the cheek and said, “I’ll be fine. Go play mi’jo.”

She crawled back into her tent. Jorge turned around and reluctantly did as he was told.

This is the life of refugees as they wait for their asylum cases to get processed. They wait. They get sick. They get better. They wait. Trump is the cause of so much pointless tragedy.

He is responsible for the mess at the border. A wall will not fix this. More border patrol officers will not fix this. More ICE raids will not fix this.

The only thing that will fix this current crisis at the border is abiding by their rights for a speedy + fair asylum process.