Imagine waking up every day to gunshots and being scared to go outside just to go to school. Imagine having to keep weapons in your house just to protect yourself and your family. Imagine there is an opportunity to leave the chaos of your world just to enter a whole new one.  This is the story of Jose Ramos Perez.

Jose Fernando Ramos Perez is a student from Honduras. He left Honduras to have a safer life and to pursue a dream of playing soccer. Jose loves the game of soccer but hated the environment around him. He knew there had to be another way to live in comfort and be able to play the sport or hobby you love, so Jose came to the United States around June 14. With a whole world of opportunity, Jose came to America thinking he could live safely and keep playing soccer. Instead of a welcome to our country, he arrived being harassed by a policeman and the police arrested him and put him in jail for two months and 14 days in New York.

“Well, when the police grabbed me I felt disgusted because I thought they were going to send me to Honduras again. After I left the jail, the government paid for my plane and sent me and my mom here.” He said that the police questioned his citizenship and wondered if he was trying to cross the border illegally. Jose’s mom came with him to St. Louis, but his dad is still in Honduras. His dad was here for a little while but then realized he wanted to go home. Even though the journey was tough to come here, Jose says that America is better than he thought it would be.  “The reason my mom and I left is because it was like living in hell. A lot of people were killing each other, and my mom and I were just living in the middle of it,” said Ramos-Perez.

Despite everything Jose went through to get here, there are some things he likes about America.  According to Ramos-Perez, “I liked it in when I was in New York when I was out of jail, of course; I also liked it when I was in Chicago. One thing I don’t like is how much I have to move around.” Jose does like one thing and that is soccer.  “I came here to keep playing the sport I love and that is soccer, but everywhere I look nobody knows how to play,” he said.

Jose says that St. Louis is very friendly compared to Honduras and he likes the school as well.