TOP PHOTO,FROM LEFT: My brother Alfredo, me, and my cousin Teresita, in Cuba.
Back in 1960's Cuba, a rumor began to ciculate that the Castro government planned to turn all kids over 3 into wards of the state.The Cuban middle classes reacted by launching Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan), in collaboration with the Catholic Church and the US government. Over 14,000 unaccompanied minors were sent from Cuba to the US, to live in orphanages,convents, group homes or these rural "camps" in the middle of nowhere, until their parents could join them in exile. About half of them had no friends or relatives on arrival and horror stories of abusive teachers and foster parents abound.
By the time these kids were reunited with their families in near-adulthood, they had become strangers.Add to this the resentment many felt at what they saw as being abandoned to their fates by selfish parents, and you could say that Operación Pedro Pan destroyed families.
My folks did it in reverse. They moved to the States and left my younger brother and I with relatives, until they could send for us.That was unpleasant enough;we were treated like orphans by dismissive adults and my uncle, a drunkard, once pinned me to a wall because I'd gotten into a fight with my cousin.I never forgave him.My aunt tried to "console" me by explaining that my uncle was like Fidel Castro, he had a quick temper but his heart was kind. Even as a child, I didn't understand how that was supposed to make me feel better.
So, if THAT situation was bad, I can only imagine what it's like for children who are being sent into the desert alone, to become another country's problem. That is morally wrong and it constitutes political and public relations blackmail. People send their babies into the desert and then try to tug at American heartstrings to bypass immigration laws. Same with the famous DACA "dreamers";they were encouraged to step forward as illegals, no guarantees,then they were threatened with deportation. Then the American public was flooded with all these sob stories about why they should stay, because after all, it wasn't their fault that their parents had brought them here illegally. Well, let them go prove their elegibility and get their green cards. Get in line, like everyone else, go through the process. We who came before you did just that.
My parents did everything right.They moved here, waited their turn to become, first residents, and then citizens,they paid taxes, bought a little house,sent their kids to college. Nobody gave them anything. Nobody gave ME anything. It annoys me when strangers think they're entitled to shortcuts, based on the tragedies they have created by themselves.
If you can't care for your kids;don't have them. And if you do have them, keep them by your side at all costs.
