Repose for Jismary: “Victim of Immigration Politics”
Repose for Jismary
by By Dr. María J. Estrada and Tim Noonan
A few weeks ago, we laid to rest Jismary Alejandra Barboza González, who would have turned four years old this August. Her family started their trip north back in May. Little Jismary was born in Colombia and died in Illinois on August 10th.
Colombia is known as the Butterfly Kingdom. Colombia is only second in the world in butterfly species, after Peru. The beauty of the butterflies is legendary, making Colombia a tourist destination for those who are lucky enough to sneak a peek at their beauty. Two hundred species are endemic and are not found outside of Colombia.
Jismary and her family packed whatever they could carry, left the beauty of her native Colombia and those butterflies, and headed north to the safety of the United States to seek asylum. Like many who have taken this trip, the first stop would likely have been Necocli, Colombia, where there is little food or water and no health care system to speak of. Necocli is a major transit point to Panama. Once arriving in Panama, the family headed to the Darien Gap jungle.
The tremendously dangerous hike through the Darien Gap would take ten or more days. Along the route smugglers and criminal gangs extort and sexually assault migrants. UNICEF estimates that half of the children who crossed in 2022 were under five years old, and at least 1,000 were unaccompanied or separated.
To get to the United States, the González family would have had to cross half a dozen more borders, a journey of roughly 2,500 miles from Central America. Arriving in Brownsville, Texas, the family presented itself to the authorities to begin the asylum process. Unknown to the González family they entered into a political game as a pawn.
As the governors of the Republican southern states grapple with the governors of Democratic northern states, families like the Gonzálezes are the collateral damage. The Republican governor of Texas Greg Abbott’s response to Democratic immigration policies came in the form of Lone Star State Initiative. In the governor’s initiative, asylum seekers are bused to cities that call themselves sanctuary cities. They are enticed with jobs, housing, and citizenship. To the González family, Chicago was a foreign-sounding name, yet promised to be much cooler than the 110+ degree temperature that Texas has been experiencing and a new start.
Let’s be clear. These promises by Governor Abbott are lies. There are no jobs or housing waiting for these families that have suffered. The suffering they have endured at the hands of their own government. Followed by the indignities of their journey, only to be lied to again when they arrive in the United States.
These are families with children who want nothing more than what we all desire: safety and security. For the González family, neither of them was found when they arrived.
Traveling along the same migration path made famous by the monarch butterfly, the bus that carried Jismary’s family headed north. The arid landscape became more and more lush as the bus passed San Antonio and through Dallas. As the mile markers kept piling up and then starting over again as the bus left one state and entered another, little Jismary was not feeling well. She was given a drink to help, but still, she did not feel well.
In time Jismary settled down resting on her mother’s lap. The bus crossed into Illinois. After a time, Jismary became despondent, which alarmed her mother. The bus pulled over to the side of the road to check on her. Security personnel on the bus called 911. An ambulance came and took the little girl to the hospital. There, soon-to-be four-year-old Jismary Alejandra Barboza González died.
More than likely, the González family would have arrived in our police District 22 in Morgan Park as many families have since the beginning of May. We would have seen her play in the garden with the other children, but that won’t be the case now. Now, the butterfly rests her wings on a foreign land outside of her mother’s dear embrace.
Maybe not all butterflies were meant to leave their home, such as the native 200 species in Colombia. Perhaps, like Edward Lorenz said, “When a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane in another”.
Maybe Hurricane Jismary will wash away our xenophobia and open our hearts. Open our eyes to the injustice being done to asylum seekers.
She deserved a future, but was denied. Terribly denied. She was lied to by Abbott, by DeSantis and by others like them in this country who refuse to take responsibility for this crisis. Hopefully, her short life will result in something more than a hurricane. Something stronger, such as love for our fellow humans.
May Jismary’s Kind and Gentle Soul Rest in Peace and Power.
For more on winds of change in immigration see: https://rally-theleague.org/
