Casa Esperanza and Emilio's Story

Casa Esperanza is a homeless shelter in San Salvador.  There is a very high unemployment rate in the country resulting in homelessness.

We visit one morning; we split into three groups.   Some have brought a set of eyeglass frames and lenses; they help fit them to those in need.   Others go upstairs to the kitchen and help make tortillas.  I opt to play games with the guys downstairs.

With my limited Spanish I attempt to teach a few the rules of Uno; playing is more fun than trying to communicate the rules accurately.  After a couple games others join in and I switch to play a game of chess with a man who has invited me.  His name is Emilio; he is comparatively well dressed. Emilio speaks good English; I ask him where he learned it.  He replies that he lived in the Indianapolis area for 27 years.  He made car covers.  But in 2012 he is deported.  Since he has been gone so many years he no longer has close family or friends, or contacts for that matter.  So he can not find employment, or his own place to live, which explains why he is here.  He gives me his sisters phone number in Fresno CA, and when I return home I talk to her.  She does not have the money to call him.  Her English is not as good as Emilio's but she insists I speak English (maybe because my Spanish is unintelligible).  I tell her I will send her pictures of her brother.

The Obama administration has increased the number of deportations.  It may be confusing when you hear critics say the number of undocumented immigrants being sent home has decreased.  Both statements are true.  Deportation is a legal process; re-entering the country after deportation is a felony. It's easier to just send people back to their home country; these are returnees.  This number is lower in part because our economy is no longer as much a magnet as it once was.

You may have heard news reports about young people attempting to enter the US, sent by their families.  This is common in the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.  This has much less to do with economic opportunity than escape from the gangs.  Parents want to keep their children from conscription by the local gang.

While we are in El Salvador Secretary of State John Kerry announces an expansion of the refugee program in Central America.  Members of his party had urged it.  I like to think the ELCA Advocacy network contributed.