April 2007 Host Nancy

Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

This is a compelling story of a Honduras boy who braves unimaginable hardships to find his mother in the United States. Enrique’s mother left him when he was five years old to come to the US to find work in order to help feed her starving children, clothe them and send tuition money for school. Eleven years after his mother left, Enrique decides he is going to find his mother and he travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. Enrique’s journey encompassed thousands of miles and he kept going forward, despite the beatings, robberies, lack of food and water, and the dangers of traveling on top of trains. Enrique risked his life over and over to find the mother he so desperately misses and loves. A part of the author’s research involved her retracing Enrique’s journey. As Enrique did, she began in Honduras, took buses through Central America, and traveled up the length of Mexico on top of seven freight trains. She traveled more than 1600 miles, half of that on top of trains. The author’s thorough research provided a realistic insight into the lives of immigrants.

Discussion Points

-Our compassion for illegal immigrants and the issues they face was heightened after reading this book. It is unimaginable going without water for two days or food for five days or clinging to the top of a train while sleep deprived, knowing that if you let go, you might lose a limb to the train, or die
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-Awareness of immigrants from Mexico is certainly present in the United States, however awareness of Central American immigrants is much lower in general. Immigrants from Central American going through Mexico are considered inferior by most from Mexico, resulting in an informal hierarchy.

-It would be cavalier to place the blame for the plights the poor face in Honduras on the government as we are not aware of what resources are available to them, however, the government should do everything possible to improve living conditions for Hondurans.

-Immigrants are in fact helping their countries when they come to the United States by sending money to the families they left behind. This brings billions of dollars to Central America and is Mexico’s second largest contributor to the economy, after oil.

-It is common for immigrant children to feel that they would rather go without the money and clothing that their mothers send to them - they want their mothers with them. The mothers want their children to have better lives and they can only do that with the money they send back from the United States. There is no end in sight of the recurring cycle of leaving children behind.

-Some of our ancestors migrated to the United States legally, and some illegally. This can affect personal opinion, e.g., ‘if my ancestors came in legally, than everyone should come in legally’. On the other hand, perhaps we should empathize with illegal immigrants who are poor and can’t read English.

-Being born in the United States, with all the opportunities available, is a fortunate fate, or as the author notes, sheer serendipity. One belief is that we should share as much as we can of our good fortune with those in very poor countries.