Charlotte and Tim Sullivan
The homepage of the Servas.org website says we promote tolerance. We do that by bringing people from different cultures and backgrounds together. We have often heard that the key to learning tolerance for others is to spend a little time rubbing shoulders with them. My spouse, Charlotte and I volunteer for Servas because it is one small way we can promote tolerance.
Today in the U.S. we are seeing new levels of intolerance being promoted by the language and actions of our government regarding undocumented immigrants. Our current administration came to power in 2016 and again in 2024 by demonizing undocumented immigrants. Today we are seeing that rhetoric turned into actions against our immigrant communities that is purposely designed to create fear in an attempt to drive the undocumented out of our country.
The irony is that the families we are trying to drive out now were during the pandemic called essential workers. The truth is today they are still doing essential work; here in Iowa that includes working in packing plants and on farms. I suspect if the administration is actually able to remove all undocumented workers from the U. S. our grocery stores will once again have lots of empty shelves and meat cases.
Charlotte and I have had the opportunity to volunteer on the border working in shelters with asylum seekers and on the Mexican side of the border with those that were deported. Our experience tells a much different story about what kind of people are trying to cross our border. We heard all kinds of stories about horrific experiences in their home countries and about their trip to the border, but what stays with us the most, is the kind, friendly, and grateful people we served. Today we would like to share a deeply personal story about a rubbing-shoulders experience we have had these last two years.
This is a story about people, good work, values, governments and broken promises.
In December of 2022, people from Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba were arriving at the United States border, requesting asylum at higher rates than almost any other country. In an effort to reduce these numbers and provide some humanitarian relief, the administration of that time created the program “Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelan” (CHNV), a humanitarian parole program allowing eligible individuals from those countries to enter the U.S. temporarily, for up to two years, with advance permission.
If a person had a U.S. sponsor, they could legally come into the country and work for two years. These individuals could receive a social security card and driver's license while working and living in the country for two years, but then they must leave. There was no path in this program for citizenship or any options to continue to live in the U.S. for an extended period of time. CHVN worked: The numbers of people from these countries approaching the border dropped dramatically; in some cases, by over 90%.
The program also worked in the sense that some American communities, including in Iowa, benefited by having great workers doing jobs that local people would not do. There was an extensive application process where both the beneficiary and the sponsor (who is held accountable) reported personal information including financial data. In addition, the beneficiary went through a background check including fingerprinting and health screening.
Charlotte and I have been doing development work, including placing solar panels and water filters in very rural homes with no infrastructure for electricity or water. The living conditions in Nicaragua have worsened over the last five years. The pandemic was especially damaging to the countries of Central America. In addition, the Nicaraguan president has managed to change the constitution so he can be president for life. His government has become extremely oppressive, jailing any political opposition. If you are not willing to support his party, you cannot get a job making livable wages and risk government-sponsored retaliation.
When CHNV temporary protective status became available, five young Nicaraguans were sponsored and came to Iowa. These people include two who have college degrees, and a family of three who lived on a very rural Nicaraguan farm.
For Juan and his family, this program was a godsend; a classic example of how the program was supposed to work. Juan’s family owns about an acre of land in a very rural area of Nicaragua. This was enough to grow the beans and corn they needed for sustenance but not enough to improve their home, pay medical bills or send their daughter to college. Six days a week, Juan rode his horse an hour to another landowner’s property and cut woody plants all day with a machete. The pay was $7.00 a day.
His family jumped at the chance to come to Iowa. They had no interest in staying permanently in the U.S., but hoped they could earn enough money to buy some land and milk cows. Juan had been a dairy farmer his whole life and knew if he could get the land and cows, he could support his family. That dream seemed within reach as he, his wife and daughter had good jobs in Iowa and were saving money. That was until now.
On Friday, May 30, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with a new Trump administration policy that revokes protective status for more than 500,000 immigrants, and voids their sponsors’ hosting abilities. This action ends their ability to work and demands their immediate return to their home countries. For most, a return to their home countries means not just economic disaster but possibly mortal danger as well.
Frequently our friends and families say to us that Nicaraguans and their sponsors did everything legally: Our government will never send these people back to the crisis of humanity they fled from. Sadly, that is not the case. We believe this is all about politics and not what is really best for America. The administration promised mass deportations and the folks in this program, those who have followed all the rules and came to the U.S. legally, are the easiest ones to find. Of course we are biased, but we are filled with sadness and dismay that our government would act in this way.
On June 13, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services notified our Nicaraguan family that the program and their work permissions were terminated, and they needed to leave the country immediately. The very next day, we purchased airfare for Juan and his family to Nicaragua. We knew we would be buying these tickets at some point, but we had hoped it would be their scheduled return date of June 2026.
A USCIS press release that announced these terminations included the following line: “Ending the CHNV parole programs, as well as the paroles of those who exploited it, will be a necessary return to common-sense policies.” We recognize the politics involved in such a statement but neither ourselves nor those who came to Iowa from Nicaragua have exploited CHNV; rather, the U.S. government invited us to sponsor Juan and his family to come to Iowa for 2 years to work. As these people proved to be responsible and provided much-needed labor that benefits the American economy, common sense policy would have been to allow them to complete their two years here, as they proved to be good neighbors, and provided much needed labor while they were.
We have become close friends with the Nicaraguans we sponsored, and they have had a deep impact on our lives. You may not know any of them personally, but if you visited Western Iowa and you ate any Doran Sweet Corn last year, there is a good chance that Juan or one of his family members picked those ears.
If you knew anyone with children in our local community schools, they might have met Fabian, who we have heard is a kind and patient teacher. And, Anyeli who, after only a few days of employment with Monogram Prepared Meats, received a promotion for her intelligence and strong work ethic. Her male supervisor cried as she walked out on her last day of her employment there. I think all who had contact with them would say they are kind, friendly and hard-working folk. We will miss them.
This experience has left us wondering about the values people of the U.S. want in their country. What kind of values do you want for our country?
Maybe it is not surprising that Juan, Yaneth, and their daughter, Maryuris took this change of events much better than we did. Juan’s response was “Many people have helped us here; God has been with them and worked through them. That is the way God works; He puts us together to help each other. God does everything!”
