Our story this month highlights the stresses that deportation creates for new parents who welcomed their child together and must now face the challenges of separation. Like many immigrants, Alfonso came to the U.S. in his late twenties, looking for work and a better life. After getting a job in construction and establishing roots in his Salt Lake City community, Alfonso met Angela, his future wife and a U.S. citizen. The couple settled down together in Utah and welcomed their first child soon … [Read more...]
María’s Story: After Detention, the Road to Asylum
María fled her native Guatemala, seeking asylum in the U.S. Her journey included 8 harrowing months in detention, a crucial 6-month bond hearing, and release upon raising her $9,000 bond with the help of the community. In the shadow of the traumas she’s experienced and with her asylum case pending, María looks ahead with hope. Of her eight months in Arizona’s Eloy Detention Center, María says, “I felt like there was no way out, like the world was going to end. I cried every day, not knowing … [Read more...]
Marisela’s Story: Fear, Trauma and Family Separation
When Marisela arrived at the comedor at the end of last summer after a smuggler left her behind, she had already endured domestic violence, threats to her life, and separation from her young daughter in Guatemala. Despite these spirit-crushing experiences, her perseverance and the KBI’s support have helped her continue to seek a brighter future. Marisela, like all who turn to the KBI, has a heart-breaking story that led her to our doorstep. In her home country of Guatemala, she faced … [Read more...]
Juan’s Story: The Struggles of Deportation and Family Separation
Juan was deported to Nogales, Sonora two years ago, and now lives separated from his U.S.-based family by a border and from his relatives in Chiapas by thousands of miles. Struggling to make ends meet and missing his wife and children, he occupies that in-between state so common to the deported, a life with uncertainty, vulnerability, resilience, and hope. When Juan was deported to Mexico in 2015, he had lived in the U.S. for 20 years, working as an agricultural laborer harvesting oranges, … [Read more...]
María’s Story: The Toll of Poverty and Family Separation
U.S. detention and deportation policies have long been the source of separation for immigrant families seeking to be together. María crossed the U.S.–Mexico border twice to visit her father who she has not seen in a decade, but it is not clear how or when that reunion will take place. María came to the KBI in mid-August, after serving 30 days in a U.S. prison and being deported to Nogales, Sonora. She hasn’t seen her dad in 10 years, and her goal was to live with him in Atlanta, work to send … [Read more...]