Recently, my neighborhood of Woodlawn was chosen to house asylum seekers at a temporary shelter in a closed elementary school at 6420 S. University Ave. To my neighbors and my Chicago community who oppose this shelter, I’d like to share a different perspective: I am that immigrant you fear.
My family fled Colombia in the 1980s to escape the pillage of our private property. And with no less than three uncles executed on the same bridge as a warning, my mother believed our options were limited. Through the trauma, tears and turmoil of immigrating to a foreign land, with no resources and minimal support, we somehow, by grace, achieved the American Dream.
