By Audrey Mendenhall
Dominican is stepping up to help refugees who have landed in the Chicago area in recent months.
The university has partnered with local parishes and organizations to supply essential items such as coats and hygiene products.
On a recent morning, migrants gathered at St. Catherine-St. Lucy & St. Giles Parish to receive clothing donations collected by the community for the migrants.
Yineska, a 38-year-old migrant, talked exclusively to the Star after she received new clothes from the parish.
Speaking through a translator, Silvia Lopez Medina, Yineska recounted her difficult journey in Spanish.
She traveled through the Darién Gap, a treacherous jungle considered one of the most dangerous places on Earth.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), “36 people died in the Darien Gap in 2022. However, anecdotal reports indicate that many migrants die in the Darien Gap, and their remains are neither recovered nor reported.”
After approximately four months, she made it through the gap and into Mexico.
In Mexico, Yineska and the other migrants she traveled with were all kidnapped by the cartel. They later exploited them for money from their families.
She was forced to contact her sister in California to send money to the cartel for her and the others’ releases.
“I turned myself in Matamoros because there was a lot of kidnappings, and we were already scared,” Yineska said. “I was in detention for a month and a half and that is where my foot incident occurred.”
Once she showed the ICE agents her infected foot, Yineska was released and found medical treatment in a Texas hospital.
“I was on my way to California, and I sent my sister a photo [of my foot], and she got scared,” she said. “She told me it is best if I stay over here to recover. Then, a friend of mine here in Chicago told me, ‘Come over here, so that they can tend to you, and they could really help you.’ So, here I am.”
In Venezuela, she left her two kids behind to get a head start in America for a better life. One day, she hopes her kids can join her, but financial issues and acquiring papers would make that very difficult.
“I would not want my kids to go through the same journey I had to go through over the jungle. That jungle was a horrible experience,” she tearfully said. “You must survive by yourself. There is no one to help you. It was a really bad experience.”
When asked about what she wants people to understand about the situation, Yineska said she and the other migrants just want to have dignified lives in America.
“We are migrating here for a reason. People in Venezuela do not have the basic things we need [to survive],” she said. “We are coming here out of pure necessity. I just want people to know that we do not want to invade your society.”
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