Down on the border, a new trail of tears

By Liz Goodwin GLOBE STAFF JUNE 10, 2018

McALLEN, Texas — Every night before bed, Wil, who is 6 years old, says his prayers and then kisses two printed-out photos of his mom and dad that are taped on the wall by his bed goodnight.

A few hours later, he’s likely to wander out of his bunk bed and stand outside the door of his foster parents’ room, crying and saying his stomach hurts.

His foster parents, Coryn and Silas — who asked to be identified only by their first names to protect the privacy of the immigrant children staying in their Michigan home — try their best to comfort him. You’re safe now, they tell him. But Wil’s anxiety remains.

“You can’t take away that they miss their family,” Silas said. “They miss their parents.”

US Border Patrol agents separated Wil from his father six months ago, after the pair made the long journey from violence-torn Honduras to the US border in Arizona, attempting to claim asylum there. Within days of arriving in the United States, Wil watched as his father was taken away in handcuffs, joining a long line of other chained men. That, according to his foster parents, was the last time he saw his dad.

more
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/06/09/borderseparations/Z95z4eFZjyfqCLG9pyHjAO/story.html