Member-only story
Immigration
So Now People Are Sneaking Out of the United States
What have we become?
Yes, people are sneaking out, not into the USA.
My Mexican friend Jose Arredondo,* who is a dual Mexican/American citizen, tells me that there is now a booming business sneaking people out of the United States.
We graduated with engineering degrees from the University of Illinois and got jobs at the same company. We saved money by sharing a temporary company apartment for 60 days instead of individual flats. Jose and I spent many nights discussing what we wanted for ourselves and our families. We became friends.
He is so paranoid about the US government spying on Americans that he and his wife use burner phones. Jose will not tell me where he is. He stated he, his wife, his kids, and his wife's undocumented parents are leaving for Mexico. Her parents lived and worked undocumented in the USA for four decades. They are moving back to Mexico permanently. He found someone to sneak them out quietly. It is costing him to do so.
Trump is offering to pay people to self-deport, but Jose doesn't trust our government enough to use that program. I don't blame him.
His in-laws worked hard, paid taxes, owned their American home, and cars. They had car, life, and…