Help Alejandro* resettle safely in his home country!
I am making this request on behalf of Alejandro, whom I met and became friends with in 2021. Alejandro is kind, smart, and a generous teacher. He is exactly the kind of neighbor I’d love to have hundreds of.
Unfortunately, due to the escalation in actions by ICE, it is no longer safe for Alejandro to live in Minnesota—much less work and save money.
Alejandro's sister is self-deporting soon, and he has decided that it is important to go with her. This is an agonizing choice, one that has him leaving the country where he’s invested so much before he feels equipped to return to his home country.
Alejandro was born in Ecuador, and then moved with his mom to Spain when he was young. He grew up there, served in the Spanish military, and tried for 17 years to get established and save money. Finally, he gave up on Spain and came to the United States five years ago, where he joined a cousin working in construction. After he fell off a roof and injured his back, he turned to restaurant work, investing in his education with a culinary degree (still agonizing work for someone with a chronic injury).
Over the years, Alejandro has managed to save about half of what he needs to build a house on land he owns in Ecuador. He has been playing the long game, paying taxes, being a good citizen, and diligently working toward his goal. He lives very very modestly, but he has built a life here to be proud of.
In an ideal world, there would be a welcoming path to citizenship and home ownership for people like Alejandro. He is a valuable member of my community personally and others here in Minnesota. But since we all must work with reality as it is, we’d love to give him the boost he needs to make it the rest of the way toward his goal of $60,000, as quickly as possible, and get him out of this country as it teeters on the brink of full-blown white nationalism.
With this money, Alejandro plans to build a two-story home where he can live, where his mom can finally retire from a lifetime of cleaning houses, and where his disabled younger sister can be surrounded by family.
His land is near the beautiful Podocarpus National Park on the edge of the Amazon, characterized by incredible waterfalls and biodiversity. Ecotourism is on the upswing there, so maybe we can all come visit someday when he’s settled and thriving.
*Name and identifying details have been changed to protect him.
Photos: the perfect Spanish tortilla Alejandro brought to our Friendsgiving this year, publicity photos taken by his cousin, who works for the city of Zamora, in Ecuador.