I am a Cuban refugee who escaped the prison camps of dictator Fidel Castro and came to America about a freedom flight in 1969. For the past nearly 40 years, I have been blessed to work at the Mexican border to help more than 20,000 other refugees—those like I once was—seek political asylum and eventual freedom in the United States.

I believe my work is especially important now, a time when angry rhetoric and political one-upmanship over illegal immigration dominates the national political agenda. I’ve just written a new book about my life that I want others to read because it brings to the conflict over immigration a simple and compelling reminder that, just as it has since its beginnings, the United States still welcomes those who come seeking hope and healing.

I Was A Stranger, Hope for A Hidden World, tells not only my story but the story of all refugees. The books also describes how asylum is now being lumped together with all forms of immigration and, as a result, asylum as a legal path to freedom in America appears to be vanishing for hundreds of thousands of people. Since the September 11 attack on the United States, the number of refugees both seeking and being granted political asylum has fallen by double-digit percentages. For more information on the book, visit www.iwasastranger.org

I have a special place in my heart for all refugees and immigrants. They are just like you, just like me—only many are placed by life in circumstances none of us would ever freely choose.

Such was the case for me. For nearly four years, I was confined to Castro's prison camps, enduring for the day freedom would arrive—escape aboard a "freedom flight." My only crime: my refusal to renounce my religious beliefs. Out of the blue, I was released from the prison camps one day. My wife, two children and my mother-in-law were given seats aboard a "Freedom Flight" four days later and nearly four years after applying for one. Between 1965 and 1973, twice-daily flights between Varadero, Cuba, and Miami, Florida, carried more than 261,000 Cuban refugees to freedom – the largest airlift of refugees in the history of the United States

On my flight to freedom, hope replaced the despair brought by years of malnutrition, water poisoning, humiliation and constant threats of torture. Arriving in Miami on Nov. 10, 1969, emaciated and chronically ill, I carried a change of clothing and a promise in my heart: to help bring others the gift I had been given—freedom from persecution, a place to heal my wounds and the chance to discover joy once more in my life. I suffered terribly from PTSD and it took me several years for my digestive system to heal from the camps.

Since 1979, through a non-profit organization now called Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries, I and dozens of volunteers from all over the United States have assisted some 20,000 refugees from more than 40 countries—Muslims, Jews, Christians, and atheists—find a home in the United States. We welcome refugees and those who serve them to our five-acre facility built by volunteers called Casa Compasión—"House of Compassion"—located three miles from the U.S. government's largest immigration detention centers, from which detained refugees are released to my custody. Once there, and in partnership with sister organizations, refugees are offered food, clothing, shelter and counseling while their applications for asylum are processed, an often long and demanding procedure. I consider the U.S. government a full partner in my efforts to assist refugees.

Like hundreds of thousands of Cubans who came to the United States about freedom flights, I received political asylum, and eventually I proudly took the oath of citizenship and became a U.S. citizen. I was a stranger and America embraced me. The gift of freedom I received is priceless. The hidden world of the refugee is now my calling.

I am very concerned that thousands of would-be asylum seekers are enduring dangerous conditions in their homelands out of fear that they will be detained for years in U.S. immigration detention centers and because of America's attitude toward immigrants in general. Under current practices, all asylum seekers are subject to mandatory confinement in detention centers—including entire families.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees noted in a 2007 report, "More and more asylum seekers are portrayed not as refugees fleeing persecution and entitled to sanctuary, but rather as illegal migrants, potential terrorists, and criminals—or at a minimum as 'bogus.'"

Through understanding the plight of the refugee, my hope is that you will better understand the issue of immigration overall. Illegal immigration is a problem no country can ignore, but we Americans must distinguish between illegal immigrants seeking a better way of life economically and individuals in need of protection.

For more information on the work of Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries, visit www.swgsm.org.