PHILADELPHIA — Sheriff Haeda Raa left Liberia to escape a violent tribal initiation ritual, reaching Central America by plane and, finally, the U.S. border with Mexico by bus and on foot late last year.
U.S. immigration officials held him for five days. He didn’t know where he’d go if he was released. He had no family or friends to turn to for guidance. But he did get a word of advice from a fellow detainee.
“Go to Philadelphia,” Raa, 48, recalled his saying. “We have a community there.”
