A Rosary
Ethan* came with the caravan with his older brother who told him two nights ago he would cross the border and hasn’t heard from him since.
In El Salvador, Ethan’s neighborhood was operated by a gang. A competing gang from a different neighbourhood extorted him for money to continue going to school. His neighborhood gang believed he had joined the competitor and he began receiving threats from both gangs.
“I had to leave to find safety, to find my freedom. I would rather end up in a detention center inAmerica than go back to El Salvador,” he says.
“Going back to El Salvador would be a death sentence. I wish I could change places with people that are afraid of us, so they can see what my life is like. We are not criminals. People work hard and do the right thing and innocent people still get killed for no reason. I would prefer to immigrate legally but I’ll do whatever it takes to get to safety.”