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2 local men visit Phoenix to help migrant families at the border: 'I cried myself to sleep'

By Rikki Klaus
By Rikki Klaus

ATLANTA — Sam Aguilar and Jaime Rangel, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) recipient, had no idea the strength it would take to help migrant families just reunited at the border.

"I cried myself to sleep because it's astonishing to see what human beings can do to other human beings," Rangel told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus.

During 18-hour days last week in Phoenix, Arizona, the volunteers from metro Atlanta organized logistics for several hundred families from Central America including hotel rooms, meals and corporate-sponsored flights.

“It was very chaotic," Rangel said.

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On July 23, a boy announced in Spanish it was his birthday. It was Aguilar’s birthday, too. Volunteers threw an impromptu party for the 7-year-old.

“Just to be able to give them that sort of moment of happiness in such a tumultuous time was really great,” he said.

It was a moment of levity, but the men heard horror stories out of the detention centers.

"(They're) not really getting the nourishment that they needed. They talk a lot about weight loss and things like that," Rangel said.

Children as far as 4 or 5 years old, they were told that their moms and dads purposely abandoned them."

State Sen. Josh McKoon from Columbus, Georgia has been known to take a hard line on immigration. He introduced a bill to prevent DACA recipients from receiving in-state tuition. But Mckoon said families should not be separated.

“We should not as a country have to choose between acting humanely and acting top protect our borders," McKoon said.

The migrants are expected to stay with family members until their next check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The men said they flew back to Atlanta last Friday with three families they helped.

Cox Media Group

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