Gabe LeBlanc

Breaching the Wall Gabe LeBlanc

It is hoped that even those fleeing oppression would follow a legal process to enter the USA. However, for some, that process takes too long, and they will find ways to enter by illegal means. Among those is ambitious 18-year-old Raul Manigot fleeing the oppression of a despotic regime defined by corruption. Coerced into silence, he is unable to express his opinions even on things apolitical, and wants to live free of the system that inhibits his development. Finding protection in the church, Raul vents his frustration to the village priest on matters of religion, and expresses his desire to be in America. The desire to live free is a powerful stimulus that will move people to do the unimaginable to breathe free. Raul lacks the patience to pursue legal entry to the United States. So he stows way on an American-owned, Bahamian-flagged merchant ship, well aware of the dangers faced by those of his race who had taken such a chance on European ships. Lucky for him, he meets friendly deckhands on the ship, who get him off in Puerto Rico. There he meets a Midwestern farmer, who had no trouble getting him on a plane to New York. In time, he falls in love with and marries a beautiful young woman, the daughter of a Protestant minister. As the years wore on, the young couple, with their two sons, lives a comfortable middle-class life. The fear of Immigration catching up to Raul, a daily reminder that his life in America lacks permanence, is now a think of the past.