So just gonna vent about something unrelated to RPD .. but no less enraging. Lately ICE has a lot of attention on it again, which I definitely dont think is a bad thing, for several different reason obviously but everytime I see something it makes me miss an old friend badly

I met my friend Oscar at the height of my addiction. He was not an addict himself but happened to be living in an area I frequented often. Genuinely one of the kindest people I've ever known. He saw me at the epitome of my "worst" , homeless and strung out, and offered me dinner

He didnt know me st the time at all, but saw where I had been sleeping and walked right up to me and asked me if I had eaten that day. Of course i spent any money i had on drugs at the time so my answer was no- and for some reason I'll never understand he said " ok come"

Idk if I reminded him of someone he knew or why he felt the need to invite me that day to get in his truck but he took me to the latino market on JD that has a restaurant in the back- and I ate so much I thought I was gonna be sick lol

We talked a lot, I learned he was from Guatemala and had come here when he was a teenager and had lived here for 16 years but that's all I knew of his past. He and his gf lived nearby with their 3 kids, and he worked construction and odd jobs.

Long story short we became good friends with him and his girlfriend. They never treated me any kind of way because of my addiction, just as long as I never brought drugs in their house. One day we were talking and I found out he wasnt here in the U.S legally

His father had gotten out of a gang in Guatemala when he was a kid, and because of how it happened he was killed for it. Both of his uncles and his older brother were also killed as a result, as they had vowed to kill all the males in his family which is why he came here

He had applied for asylum a few years after turning 18 here but due to lot of red tape it was denied and he had appealed and thst also was denied. When we met he was in the process of working with an immigration lawyer, but it had been years without success at that point.

About 2 years after I met him, I was in the process of getting clean by that point, I got s call from his gf in the middle of the night. ICE had done a raid in his neighborhood looking for someone else and caught him and taken him into custody I'll never forget that call

He was taken to the facility in Farmville they were going to deport him i had the chance to at least take his gf and their kids to see him before they did. It was heartbreaking because even with the lawyer already, they couldnt stop the deportation.

I'm skipping over a LOT of details here because this thread is already long but bottom line he was here because he was afraid they'd kill him if he got sent back to his country like they had killed his other family members- had never been in trouble here- and it didnt even matter

All he wanted to do was just live a live without fear for his family, and to not have his sons grow up in that same fear. They were born here- so they were safe he was the only one who wasnt.

That day was the last time I saw Oscar

He was held in Farmville for about a mo th before he was sent back.

His gf got a call about 2 weeks after he had arrived back in his country. He had been shot, and killed.

The very scenario he had been so worried about happened. I remember him telling me he was gonna "be back soon" and that he would come "the right way" even though he could've crossed back illegally a lot sooner, he wanted to "do it right this time"

And as a result, he never even got the chance to try. I still talk to his gf every now and then, and they not to miss any of the kids birthdays or holidays. They've all grown up so fast- It just breaks my heart knowing they will never know him or truly what a great man he was

Granted he was just a friend to me, and the situation is far removed compared to what so many have to deal with but everytime I see ICE in a headline it makes me think of him, and his family, and how angry it makes me... because he should still be here.

He was the epitome of a "good person" just trying to live a good life, and if it werent for ICE he would still be here. He saw the good in me when I didnt even see it, and showed kindness when I didn't think i deserved it. And sadly he is just 1 link in a never ending chain

If lives lost and families broken apart and scarred due to the reprehensible policies in regards to immigrants and the actions if that Department. And everytime I see stories it just makes it feel like it was yesterday I lost a friend

It's just not right this is still happening

But that's the end if the rant I guess... i just needed to let it out into the "void" or something.