Kenzie Stokes

Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 3

5 March 2019

Searching for Freedom

It was the day Oscar Rodriguez had been waiting for. He and his mother were finally

going to America, the Land of Opportunity and Dreams. His mother told him he would be able to

go and get an education and fulfill whatever dreams he dreamed. Oscar and his mother currently

live in San Salvador, El Salvador. San Salvador is a city riddled with gang crime, that is very

dangerous for anyone not a part of a gang. Oscar is 10 years old living alone with his mother. He

is an only child, 3 months ago his father was murdered after refusing to join MS-13, the biggest

gang in El Salvador. Oscar had stopped going to school months before due to the gangs that had

overrun his city. Gangs will often stop children on their way to school to try and recruit them, is

the refuse they will murdered.

The way to America is a very hard one to travel, especially if one is doing it in an illegal

manner. El Salvador is located in Central America. The country borders Honduras, Guatemala,

and the Pacific Ocean. It is 1454 miles from San Salvador to McAllen, Texas; the place Oscar

and his mother plan to cross over to America. It would take 452 hours to walk to Texas if they

didn't stop at all, which is impossible. Oscar's mother told him they wouldn't be walking the

whole way but rather, taking trains, and hitching rides.

They leave at night, the easiest time to sneak out when the gang members have passed

out from drinking too much. They pack everything they can carry, a few outfits, a pair of shoes,
underwear, water, and food. The journey to America terrifies Oscar because he never knows who

could be around the corner. He didn't know if the next person they came across would be a

normal person, or a gang member out for blood.

After 15 days of travel Oscar and his mother finally reach the border, they join up with a

group who has plans to cross the border that night. Crossing the Mexican-American border is one

of the hardest parts of the journey. There are fences and security guards across the border, this

makes crossing seem impossible. That night the group started across the secure border everyone

made it across except Oscar, his mother, and one other little girl. Oscar had never been as scared

as he was in that moment, he'd heard stories of kids like him crossing the border and taken from

their parents . The border patrol searched all three of them and soon after the patrol took Oscar

and started to put him into the back of a truck. Oscar let out a cry, screaming, and begging to stay

with his mother. His mother was doing the same thing. The guards hurried to load all three of

them into separate trucks all going in different directions. Oscar tried to fight against the guards,

pleading to let him go and be with his mother again. He had already lost so much, his father, his

home, his friends, his school. He couldn't lose his mother too.

After a few hours the truck finally jerked to a stop and they pulled open the truck door

letting Oscar get off. He ran out hoping that they finally agreed to let him see his mother again,

instead he was greeted with a large grey building that resembled a prison. Oscar was frozen in

fear, this is what he was dreading, this building was where the horror stories originated from, and

now he would be going inside. The guards said something in English, which Oscar did not

understand, but then followed behind them in fear of what would happen to him if he didn’t. At
the entrance of the detention center Oscar noticed a giant mural of the current American

President, Donald Trump.Off to the side read the words, “Sometimes by losing a battle you find

a new way to win the war.” Oscar repeated these lines over and over in his head, wondering how

those words related to his situation. The guards led Oscar to a private room where doctors ran a

few health tests on him then gave him back over to the guards. They led Oscar to a room with

what looked like a giant cage in the middle. Inside he saw many boys, some younger than him

and some older, all laying on the floor wrapped in shiny blankets. Fear tore through Oscar, his

mother was gone, he was alone in a new country, people spoke a language he didn't understand.

When Oscar looked at the boys faces he knew they had been through similar situations.

Oscar's story is one of thousands, in 2018 about 13,000 kids were reported to be staying

in detention centers. This number will continue to rise as people flee from their unsafe countries.

They think they are coming to a safer life where in reality people who work for the Trump

Administration lock them up with no hope in sight.