My Dad Escaped Prison To Be With Me

my dad risked everything to be with his family and this is that story growing up in some Paulo Brazil my dad had always dreamt of traveling the world when he was in his early 20s he convinced two buddies of his from church the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints better known as the Mormon Church to go on this adventure with him packing everything they need in their backpacks they set off with a little bit of cash they had they'd rely on the generosity of random folks to get to the next town in the next city and the next state they traveled through Chile Peru Colombia and Ecuador after gradually making their way northward through South America these three amigos or today's amigos settled for a little while in Panama after a year there my dad was ready to move on and his two friends decided to stay behind in Panama so my dad continued northward through Central America on his own he eventually made his way to Tijuana the city in northern Mexico just across the border from San Diego oddly enough he ran into some Mormon missionaries who told them about how every morning they walk up the beach along the Pacific Ocean wave at the Border Patrol agent and stroll right into the u.s. they arranged for an American citizen to take his belongings for him so he wouldn't with suspicious and so he strolled right into America easy right eventually he'd find his way to Los Angeles and my daddy gets a job working in a factory working among Mexican Americans his Spanish was perfect but he wasn't learning any English he decided he needed to immerse himself to find a community and to teach himself English the best place to do that was obviously Salt Lake City Utah aka the Mormon Holy Land cut to Salt Lake City he has a job delivering pizza he's taking English classes which is where he later meets my mom which is adorable I know at 24 he enlisted at the local high school for troubled teens despite having just barely learned English he graduated at the top of his class and spoke at his high school graduation two years later my parents get married now keep in mind my dad is still undocumented delivering pizzas and attending night school but undocumented nonetheless in the midst of all this my mom gets pregnant with me fast-forward to the night before I was born my mom starts having contractions as my parents are timing these contractions getting ready to you know have a baby they hear a knock at the door with no idea who it could be maybe a neighbor or a friend checking in they opened the door it was two immigration officers they'd been tipped off about my parents give us your documentation without the proper paperwork the officers are going to detain them right then and there my mom the feistiest latina you will ever know wasn't having it true to form she's like we're not doing this right now I'm pregnant I'm about to give birth any second you can't do this so they were issued a court summons for a week later in the meantime I'm born in court they were told that they had 30 days to leave or risk being deported and if they were deported their odds of ever coming back were slim to none so they left back to Brazil my mom's American visa was still renewable if she were to return to school so she enlisted in classes and came back to America with me meanwhile my dad is still in Brazil determined as ever to be reunited with his family with no job prospects and after having been turned down numerous times for an American visa my dad decided to make the journey again this time it was going to be as fast as possible he had been referred to a guy who for a very steep fee would be able to get my dad past all of the immigration checkpoints and into the u.s. the plan was for my dad to board a u.s. bound bus and he would be made aware of when to get on and off the bus he had no choice he gave the man all the money he had and risked everything the day comes my dad is on the bus while in the way there was an unexpected checkpoint they searched the bus and an immigration officer asked my dad for his documentation he was caught he was arrested he was sent to jail for days he obsessed over how to escape at one point he actually asked one of the guards if I run will you shoot me and the guard was like yeah for sure he heard rumors of a few inmates who had managed to escape even scarier he had heard about inmates who had attempted to escape but got caught and were beaten within an inch of their lives one day they handcuffed my dad along with all the other Brazilian inmates and taken to the Brazilian consulate so that they can be fingerprinted and ID so that they'll eventually be sent back to Brazil in the midst of all this commotion my dad saw an opportunity while being led off the bus they took his handcuffs off he was outside in the light of day and the gates were still open and he knew this is it it's now or never so he made a run for it the fence was closing in and he went and faster the prison alarm went off he's just able to slip through and gain a head start into the city years before there had been an earthquake so he was able to hide among the rubble of homes and abandoned buildings near the prison he could hear the police sirens as they patrolled the area searching for him he just kept running making his way from spot to spot trying to get farther and farther from all the chaos running until he was far enough away that he could no longer hear the police chatter the call of the sirens with nowhere else to turn he made his way to a place that could be his last chance the closest Mormon Chapel no one is there eventually a janitor showed up and my dad tells him about trying to make it back to his wife and daughter in America about the guy who was supposed to help him avoid the immigration checkpoints on the bus to the border about how he was in jail and suddenly the janitor cuts in wait what did you say what was that guy's name turns out the janitor knew the mother of the man who scammed my dad as in the guy my dad gave all his money to to avoid the checkpoints on the bus apparently this woman attended the church they were standing at so the janitor took my dad's in her house they get there she opened the door and my dad asked her if she's the mother of so-and-so she takes one look at my dad sighs and replies what has he done to you she was so kind my dad was able to shower and II he even got to call my mom and tell her that he was okay for context my mom had no idea where my dad was she hadn't heard from him since he gotten arrested from the start she didn't want him making this journey again but at this point he was already in too deep and so the church people there put my dad in touch with the church people in the following neighborhood and he went on and on until he was across the border from McAllen Texas he'd been told out lots of businessmen crossed the border at McAllen every day all the businessmen did was declare I'm an American citizen and then they walked right in so the church folks gave my dad a suit and a briefcase for his belongings they organized for an American citizen to meet my dad on the other side my dad walked past Border Patrol and declared in the most bogus American accent I'm an American citizen it worked my dad met the American citizen and they drove to the airport my mom had purchased my dad an airline ticket and she knew that if he could just get onto that fight he'd be in the clear the McAllen Airport being so close to the border is filled with immigration agents so my dad had been advised not to stare at anyone or draw attention to himself just be normal he got his boarding pass and hit it to his gate just mind your business and read your newspaper he said to himself he boarded the plane without a problem made a transfer at San Antonio in finally touchdown in Salt Lake City he did it he made his way back to his family [Music] my mom's entire family was at the airport waiting for him including baby me and then they lived happily ever after in America I'm totally kidding it would take many years of hard work sacrifice and frankly sheer luck before they'd be able to secure green cards but they went on to raise a big family with four kids and enjoy careers in tech and finance and that's pretty remarkable that a guy who just walked right into the u.s. with less than $100 to his name who attended high school in his 20s and worked for years as an undocumented immigrant paying taxes by the way made it I have friends who can trace their ancestry back to pioneers who crossed the plains immigrants who entered Ellis Island and yet the American Dream in my family you only a generation away I like to think that there are a lot of stories like this still happening today [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeedVideo

Views: 2,542,434

Rating: 4.8386812 out of 5

Keywords: Ni8u, US, USA, VXWf, america, borders, brazil, buzzfeed, buzzfeed video, buzzfeedvideo, deportation, immigrant, immigrants, immigration, immigration story, mexico, politics, story time, storytelling, storytime, this is that story, undocumented, undocumented immigrant, united states, united states of america

Id: zW2pEGkiUFo

Length: 9min 6sec (546 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 07 2018