Paul Voiland: A tale of two Americas

Glenn Carstens-Peters/StockSnap

Published: 02-04-2025 7:54 AM

Inspired by real events:

America No. 1; A Latino mother in Mexico gives birth to a baby girl who has a congenital defect. The life-threatening condition cannot be treated at her local hospitals. Shriners Hospital in the United States of America can treat the condition.

Shriners pays most or all of the expenses to bring the child to Philadelphia for treatment. Shriners is funded by the generosity of Americans, including some support from the federal government. After successful treatment, the child and her mother are tragically killed when the Medivac plane taking them home crashes.

America No. 2; A Latino mother in Central America cannot keep her daughter safe from violence, nor adequately housed and fed. So she comes, at great risk and cost, to seek refuge and opportunity for her daughter in America. She enters the U.S. without proper documentation, gets a job working at a farm; is on the payroll; has withholding taxes deducted from her paycheck; is able to pay rent for a modest room and is finally able to meagerly support her child.

After reaching this minimal level of security, the child and her mother are arrested and deported by the federal government back to the chaos and danger of their home country, where they are assaulted and tragically killed by the cartel gangsters that they had fled from in the first place.

Which America do you want to live in?

Paul Voiland

Montague

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