My Dad Escaped Prison To Be With Me
my dad risked everything to be with his
family and this is that story growing up
in some Paulo Brazil
my dad had always dreamt of traveling
the world when he was in his early 20s
he convinced two buddies of his from
church the Church of Jesus Christ of
latter-day saints
better known as the Mormon Church to go
on this adventure with him packing
everything they need in their backpacks
they set off with a little bit of cash
they had they'd rely on the generosity
of random folks to get to the next town
in the next city and the next state they
traveled through Chile Peru Colombia and
Ecuador after gradually making their way
northward through South America these
three amigos or today's amigos settled
for a little while in Panama after a
year there my dad was ready to move on
and his two friends decided to stay
behind in Panama so my dad continued
northward through Central America on his
own he eventually made his way to
Tijuana the city in northern Mexico just
across the border from San Diego oddly
enough he ran into some Mormon
missionaries who told them about how
every morning they walk up the beach
along the Pacific Ocean wave at the
Border Patrol agent and stroll right
into the u.s. they arranged for an
American citizen to take his belongings
for him so he wouldn't with suspicious
and so he strolled right into America
easy right
eventually he'd find his way to Los
Angeles and my daddy gets a job working
in a factory working among Mexican
Americans his Spanish was perfect but he
wasn't learning any English he decided
he needed to immerse himself to find a
community and to teach himself English
the best place to do that was obviously
Salt Lake City Utah aka
the Mormon Holy Land cut to Salt Lake
City he has a job delivering pizza he's
taking English classes which is where he
later meets my mom which is adorable I
know at 24 he enlisted at the local high
school for troubled teens despite having
just barely learned English he graduated
at the top of his class and spoke at his
high school graduation two years later
my parents get married now keep in mind
my dad is still undocumented delivering
pizzas and attending night school but
undocumented nonetheless in the midst of
all this my mom gets pregnant with me
fast-forward to the night before I was
born my mom starts having contractions
as my parents are timing these
contractions getting ready to you know
have a baby
they hear a knock at the door with no
idea who it could be maybe a neighbor or
a friend checking in they opened the
door it was two immigration officers
they'd been tipped off about my parents
give us your documentation without the
proper paperwork the officers are going
to detain them right then and there my
mom the feistiest latina you will ever
know wasn't having it true to form she's
like we're not doing this right now I'm
pregnant I'm about to give birth any
second you can't do this so they were
issued a court summons for a week later
in the meantime I'm born in court they
were told that they had 30 days to leave
or risk being deported and if they were
deported their odds of ever coming back
were slim to none so they left back to
Brazil my mom's American visa was still
renewable if she were to return to
school so she enlisted in classes and
came back to America with me meanwhile
my dad is still in Brazil determined as
ever to be reunited with his family with
no job prospects and after having been
turned down numerous times for an
American visa my dad decided to make the
journey again this time it was going to
be as fast as possible he had been
referred to a guy who for a very steep
fee would be able to get my dad past all
of the immigration checkpoints and into
the u.s. the plan was for my dad to
board a u.s. bound bus and he would be
made aware of when to get on and off the
bus he had no choice he gave the man all
the money he had and risked everything
the day comes my dad is on the bus while
in the way there was an unexpected
checkpoint they searched the bus and an
immigration officer asked my dad for his
documentation he was caught he was
arrested he was sent to jail for days he
obsessed over how to escape at one point
he actually asked one of the guards if I
run will you shoot me and the guard was
like yeah for sure he heard rumors of a
few inmates who had managed to escape
even scarier he had heard about inmates
who had attempted to escape but got
caught and were beaten within an inch of
their lives
one day they handcuffed my dad along
with all the other Brazilian inmates and
taken to the Brazilian consulate so that
they can be fingerprinted and ID
so that they'll eventually be sent back
to Brazil in the midst of all this
commotion my dad saw an opportunity
while being led off the bus they took
his handcuffs off he was outside in the
light of day and the gates were still
open and he knew this is it it's now or
never so he made a run for it the fence
was closing in and he went and faster
the prison alarm went off
he's just able to slip through and gain
a head start into the city years before
there had been an earthquake so he was
able to hide among the rubble of homes
and abandoned buildings near the prison
he could hear the police sirens as they
patrolled the area searching for him he
just kept running making his way from
spot to spot trying to get farther and
farther from all the chaos running until
he was far enough away that he could no
longer hear the police chatter the call
of the sirens with nowhere else to turn
he made his way to a place that could be
his last chance
the closest Mormon Chapel no one is
there eventually a janitor showed up and
my dad tells him about trying to make it
back to his wife and daughter in America
about the guy who was supposed to help
him avoid the immigration checkpoints on
the bus to the border about how he was
in jail and suddenly the janitor cuts in
wait what did you say what was that
guy's name turns out the janitor knew
the mother of the man who scammed my dad
as in the guy my dad gave all his money
to to avoid the checkpoints on the bus
apparently this woman attended the
church they were standing at so the
janitor took my dad's in her house they
get there she opened the door and my dad
asked her if she's the mother of
so-and-so she takes one look at my dad
sighs and replies what has he done to
you she was so kind my dad was able to
shower and II he even got to call my mom
and tell her that he was okay
for context my mom had no idea where my
dad was she hadn't heard from him since
he gotten arrested from the start she
didn't want him making this journey
again but at this point he was already
in too deep and so the church people
there put my dad in touch with the
church people in the following
neighborhood and he went on and on until
he was across the border from McAllen
Texas he'd been told out lots of
businessmen crossed the border at
McAllen every day all the businessmen
did was declare I'm an American citizen
and then they walked right in so the
church folks gave my dad a suit and a
briefcase for his belongings they
organized for an American citizen to
meet my dad on the other side my dad
walked past Border Patrol and declared
in the most bogus American accent I'm an
American citizen
it worked my dad met the American
citizen and they drove to the airport
my mom had purchased my dad an airline
ticket and she knew that if he could
just get onto that fight he'd be in the
clear the McAllen Airport being so close
to the border is filled with immigration
agents so my dad had been advised not to
stare at anyone or draw attention to
himself just be normal
he got his boarding pass and hit it to
his gate just mind your business and
read your newspaper he said to himself
he boarded the plane without a problem
made a transfer at San Antonio in
finally touchdown in Salt Lake City he
did it he made his way back to his
family
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my mom's entire family was at the
airport waiting for him including baby
me and then they lived happily ever
after in America I'm totally kidding it
would take many years of hard work
sacrifice and frankly sheer luck before
they'd be able to secure green cards but
they went on to raise a big family with
four kids and enjoy careers in tech and
finance and that's pretty remarkable
that a guy who just walked right into
the u.s. with less than $100 to his name
who attended high school in his 20s and
worked for years as an undocumented
immigrant paying taxes by the way made
it I have friends who can trace their
ancestry back to pioneers who crossed
the plains immigrants who entered Ellis
Island and yet the American Dream in my
family you
only a generation away I like to think
that there are a lot of stories like
this still happening today
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