Edwin Vazquez, Guatemala Entrevista con la Hermana Engracia, 16 de agosto 2017 A long time ago—in 2002—my brother and I tried to come [to the US]. I am from Guatemala. My name is Edwin Vazquez, I'm Guatemalan, and I've been traveling on the train. I seek a better… [I’m migrating for economic reasons]. I seek a good job, a normal salary (that’s objective, of course) in order to support my family and myself. Right now I just have one child, a little girl—she is about to turn 11 years … [Read more...]
Enrique’s Story: The Toll of Detention and Family Separation
Enrique was deported and arrived at the KBI recently after 35 years in the United States, the last two spent in detention. Now, he faces an uncertain future as he pursues a visa to reunite with his children and the grandchildren he has never met. Born in Mexico, Enrique has lived most of his 55 years in the U.S.—working, marrying, and raising two sons, both U.S. citizens. Two years ago, he was arrested and detained; this past month he was deported to Nogales, Sonora. Not knowing anyone … [Read more...]
Maria’s Story: An Update on Her Asylum Case
Maria came to the KBI with her four children last fall after a two-year journey, fleeing extortion and kidnapping threats from a criminal gang in her native Honduras. We shared her story as advocacy and church groups in Green Valley, AZ welcomed her and supported her through the asylum process. Now, we happily report on the successful outcome of her case. As a small business woman in Honduras, Maria was able to support her four children as a single mom. But when the local arm of an … [Read more...]
A Migrant Story: Death in the Desert
A year-round tragedy, migrant deaths near the U.S.–Mexico border are a particular danger during the long Sonoran summer, where annual deaths in Arizona alone have grown alarmingly, from 12 in 1990–2000 to 170 since 2000. Over the last two decades, U.S. Border Patrol has recorded 6,951 deaths of people assumed to be migrants along the U.S.–Mexico border. Here, the KBI’s Father Samuel Lozano de los Santos, S.J. shares the story of one man’s heartbreaking loss. Each year, hundreds of men and … [Read more...]
Guadalupe’s Story: The Penalties of Cooperation
When Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos reported to immigration officers on Wednesday, February 8, instead of the routine check-in, she was arrested, detained, and deported. In one of the first deportations which revealed the shift from the practices of the Obama administration to those of Trump’s, Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos was taken into custody in Phoenix when reporting for her regular check-in with immigration authorities, something she’d been doing without incident since 2013. Within 24 hours, … [Read more...]