Many migrants who make it to the U.S. border have decided to turn back and return to their home countries after discovering how poor conditions are for migrants in the United States.
Michael Castejon, a 39-year-old from Venezuela, told The Chicago Tribune that he and his family, including his wife and teenage stepdaughter, have become fed up after spending five months sleeping either in a Chicago police precinct or a city shelter, unable to obtain a work permit or to enroll his stepdaughter in a local school, two of the main reasons his family came to this country.
"The American dream doesn't exist anymore," Castejon told the Tribune as his family prepared to leave.
"There's nothing here for us … we just want to be home," Castejon said. "We didn't know things would be this hard. I thought the process was faster."
Castejon told the Tribune that his struggles to secure a job made him feel powerless to provide for his family, and he said that he turned to the Catholic Charities of Chicago for help getting him and his family back to Venezuela via Texas.
The organization has helped many immigrant families return to their home countries after they've become disillusioned with life in the United States.
"How many more months of living in the streets will it take?" Castejon asked. "No, no more. It's better that I leave. At least I have my mother back home."
He added, "We just want to be home," despite the authoritarian regime ruling over Venezuela.
"If we're going to be sleeping in the streets here, we'd rather be sleeping in the streets over there," Castejon said.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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