Staying in Honduras, avoiding sin

To avoid an occasion of sin, I remain in Honduras

I think many people are surprised to find someone from the US here in Honduras, who has been here more than eleven years and intends to stay.

How many times I have heard people noting that so many Hondurans want to go to the US but they find me wanting to stay here in Honduras.

How many times I have tried to convince people that it is dangerous to try to go to the US and that it has been so for years. The trip through Mexico has been dangerous. For the past few years, the situation in the US has been extremely difficult, especially with anti-immigrant bias and propaganda. Most recently, the policy of separating parents from children is barbarous.

But this hasn’t stopped many people. A few days ago I heard of someone I know who fled to the US with one of his daughters. They are together. I keep hearing people talking about leaving.

I know some who have been deported. A major complaint is that they are hardly fed in the detention centers and sometimes the lunchmeat is bad.

I have also heard of a father who was separated from his child and deported, without knowing where his child is. Reading a report in today’s New York Times confirms that this is not an isolated case.

Last week someone asked me why I am staying here.

My usual answer is that here I have found a way to live out my calling, to serve God and the poor.

But I also mentioned, almost teasingly, that I am staying here because, if I were in the US, I would probably be in jail.

The treatment of migrants is so appalling, sinful, evil, that I would probably find myself in jail for opposing that policy. At the very least, I would find myself living in a state of permanent rage at the policies of the US government.

So I stay here – to try to be of service to the poor, avoiding at least one occasion of sin.