Unfair To An Angel!!

I spent Monday visiting a friend of mine in a detention center run by a corporation, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security. His name is Angel, and I met him through an outreach program in our congregation that we call, Friend Speak. In the program we use simple texts from Scripture to help folks that want to improve their English speaking capabilities.

I met Angel seven or eight years ago. He is from La Paz, Bolivia. He was already fairly proficient in his English, so most of what I help him with was diction and working on his accent. We became close enough friends that he spent holidays in our home. And one night a couple of years ago when he awaked very ill in the middle of the night, he knocked on my door and asked me to take into the emergency room, which I did.

Angel has been trying to obtain asylum in the United States, ever since he arrived here more than 19 years ago. His lawyer only sought the path of asylum even though there are two or three other options that were available. Some people who apply for multiple paths find one works better than the other for them. I do not know all the details of the process, but I do know that a few months ago Angel was told that he had been denied asylum. His lawyer told him that there was an appeal that he could make, and Angel believed that the appeal had been initiated. But last week INS officials came to his workplace and took him into custody. They denied to let him even make a phone call to his lawyer before he was arrested and taken to the detention center.

His lawyer came to the place that Angel was being held and asked him for $2200 that would be used for a bond to allow him out of jail, pending his appeal. But early the next morning he was taken to the Bolivian consulate and was told that there was no appeal filed on his behalf. Apparently the lawyer was only trying to secure $2200 before Angel was taken back to Bolivia.

There is a very thin hope that an appeal can be filed and Angel allowed to stay in this country. But it is more likely that he will return to La Paz within the next day or two. He has a positive attitude, though he is saddened at the prospect of having to leave. He says he believes God has a plan and he wants to accept it like a man of faith.

God go with you Angel.

(first published on qassia)