In 1975 our family worked with the United States embassy in Caracas to seek approval to bring into the United States a young girl who had in effect become a member of our family. We had her parents’ approval along with legal, notarized papers and other documents which had been requested of us.
However, the gatekeeper at the embassy was not cooperative, to put it charitably. She crossed her arms and summarily denied our request, without giving a reason. We therefore requested a tourist visa for a short period of time to allow the girl an opportunity to see us in our new environment before returning to Venezuela with, hopefully, a promise of a future visit.
This too was denied by the officious woman, who this time gave her reason: “Oh no! You will take her to the US and then you will hide her there and never return her to Venezuela.”
My father was justifiably angered and incredulous; however, there was not much he could do. After further pleadings, we resigned ourselves to the life-changing reality both for the girl as well as for us.
About 10 years later, my father’s cousins from Cuba got hold of me in Kalamazoo, Michigan, requesting my assistance in helping them immigrate to the United States. I of course told them I’d be happy to help in any way possible. That story turned out happily and they eventually made their way to Florida where they were welcomed and became U.S. citizens.
Another 15 years and the catastrophe in Venezuela became known worldwide and, to date, we are told that about 8 Million Venezuelans, 20% of her population, have fled the country — legally and illegally; vetted and unvetted.
We know that within that vast number are very many whom we definitely do not want here, such as Tren de Aragua. We also know that countless numbers have been trafficked here, particularly young girls and boys, many of whom survived the unbelievably harsh, forbidding, bandit-and-snake-infested Darien Gap and the less cruel yet still dangerous passageways through Central America and Mexico.
We don’t have the statistical breakdown for the numbers of people who have come to the United States from Venezuela because they were defrauded by Coyotes who took their money, horribly abused, and then abandoned their prey along the way or at the border; or how many came for the promise of meeting up with family once here; or how many were kidnapped and forced to come.
I personally do know that many who wanted to come were dissuaded once they began the legal processes and were discouraged by the cost and time required. In one case, my acquaintance desisted from seeking to come to the United States and decided to go to Argentina instead, where the process and related costs were much less. He and his family are now doing well and contributing to the Argentine economy and society, active in a good church there.
(Someone ought to expound on the paradox alluded to above: the many decent Venezuelans who admired the United States and wanted to come here; who would have contributed to our economy and to our society; but who were discouraged by what to them were insurmountable obstacles; and who ended up in another country and made their lives there, contributing positively to their new homeland.)
However difficult the long and excruciating journey to the United States has been, for countless numbers the arrival has been even worse.
Earlier this year, in early April to be precise, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued a press release calling attention to the Office of Inspector General report, issued in March, noting the utter failure of the United States Department of Homeland Security to fulfill its legally required duty to monitor the location and status of unaccompanied children who crossed our borders.
The Committee’s press release has links going back to the Obama administration in 2014; one link addresses the evidence noting that administration’s releasing minors into the custody of criminal cartels.
However, all past abuse and indifference pales when compared to the apocalyptic calamity that minors faced during the 2021-2024 years.
One need not be a parent or grandparent to be angered by the actions or inactions of our elected officials and their bureaucracies concerning the legally-required protection of boys and girls who found themselves at our borders.
Once again, by the time these children arrived, many of their peers had already perished or disappeared at the hands of outlaws or beasts or acts of nature during the long journey. The children who arrived were true survivors, in many cases, of heinous, horrible acts of man.
Can you imagine what they must have thought when they realized with horror that their ordeal was but a foretaste of what lay ahead of them?
Over 320,000 children were lost track of during the 2021 through 2024 years. Many were released to unvetted sponsors with no accountability whatsoever. To put it bluntly: these children went from the border to forced prostitution across our country and forced labor and unspeakable abuse.
Although many of these children were kidnapped to be trafficked up here, we must acknowledge that many were actually sent by their parents. Why? How can such a thing be? Perhaps they believed that their kids would make it easier for them to come later? That’s a wild guess. As a parent, I cannot imagine doing such a thing and am disposed to find any sort of reason to ameliorate my judgment of such fathers and/or mothers.
The concept of “open borders” is attractive to many well-meaning people. But do they for a moment pause to consider the real life consequences of such a concept? Do such people have children? Would they want this for their little ones?
During the aforementioned years, unvetted sponsors were OK’d, by telephone(!!!) to take many children with them at a time. Young girls were pimped by such sponsors, many of whom actually were criminals with rap sheets.
If you have the stomach, read the release and the report; they tell how our compassionate bureaucrats and experts ignored pleas for help against adult men who assaulted little ones as they slept; how a whistleblower told about handing children to known criminals; how NGO’s got rich with taxpayer dollars funneled to them by the billions only to use them to get rich and to hire criminals to care for these little ones.
In those years, over $10 Billion were granted to nonprofits, including religious enablers such as Catholic Charities and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Have they never read what our Lord said about this? Do they not remember that Jesus Himself said it would be “better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea”?
People can criticize President Trump all they want. Have at it. But are they aware of the aforementioned catastrophe? Are they aware that he has put a stop to it and that over 60,000 of those missing children have been found in 2025 alone? Is that not something we can be grateful for?
I am grateful for it; however, my sadness overall persists.
It persists because we as a people have lost our way. We need to find the way back.
Let us purpose to consider these things during this Advent and Christmas Season. Not to overwhelm our joys. No.
Let us purpose to commit ourselves to honor the King of Kings by living in obedience to Him and His law. Let us determine to demand righteousness from our elected officials.
And especially to require that religious denominations be held to account.
Crossing the Darien Gap (2021-2024)
