“You can judge me all you want, my children deserve to be in a safe place.” Lucero shares the anguish of detention with her children.

“Leaving your city to face the unknown is not easy. I am a mother of two young children, and they come first in every decision. When the security situation became unbearable in our country, I realized the only way out was to cross into the United States.”

“Two things that have left a deep pain in my heart. First, the feeling that we’re not safe and then being sent back to the same place we fled; second, the look on my son’s face when he said, ‘Mom, what a terrible day, my birthday is ruined.’ On Oliver’s birthday, we were in those horrible facilities waiting to be deported.”

“Believe me, my greatest wish would have been for my son to enjoy that day with our family and his little friends, to relish his cake. He is just a child, and his job should be to be a child.”

Lucero shares with great sorrow how guilt consumes her, even knowing that circumstances led her to make that decision. “I know my son may remember this traumatic experience of being in a cold place with bad food and receiving poor treatment instead of celebrating his birthday. But I hope that one day he understands that I did it for his safety. It was the only way I found to protect him and all of us.”

“I didn’t know that the executive order from the US President was so strict. I tried to explain why I crossed, but the agents didn’t listen to me or my sister. Do they really think that someone would expose their children like that out of a whim?”

“I saw my 2-year-old baby crying because he was cold, and the agents were throwing our blankets in the trash. I begged them to give me a blanket for him, imagine that. Those of us who are parents know how much it hurts to see your children suffering.

While I was there, I wondered how those people could be so harsh. Don’t they have children, mothers, siblings? You can see the contempt in their eyes, and they make us feel very bad about ourselves.”

“I don’t know what to do now, and the confusion overwhelms me, but one thing I am sure of: my children are my priority.”

“I will never understand how people, the agents, the politicians, can remain so calm while others suffer. They are unmoved by injustice, like they are made of iron. They condemned me with their looks, but you can judge me all you want, my children deserve to be in a safe place, they deserve to be well. They are children and deserve to stay that way.”