Faces of Immigration Day 10 of 40
Pablo Alonzo Gutierrez, 48 : Made the arduous journey through Mexico with his daughter Wilma Alonzo Matiez, who hail from the small town of Joyabaj in El Quiché Department of Guatemala. Him and his daughter speak the indigenous Mayan language of Kaqchikel amongst themselves. “To live there it is hard because we don’t have work. […]
Faces of Immigration Day 9 of 40
Miguel Alonzo, 44, from San Mateo Ixtatán, in the Huehuetenango Department of Guatemala told me, “I love America,” proudly when I first meet him. Miguel, blames the government of his country for the problems it faces, “Here comes the president of Guatemala, he just puts the money in his pockets,” he said speaking of the […]
Faces of Immigration Day 8 of 40
Jose Luis Frias, 69, and his wife Maria, 68, came to the United States in 1986. Jose worked as a debt collector in Ciudad Juarez before he and Maria moved to New Mexico. Back in those days, Juarez was a different place, and Frias would walk the streets collecting cash from borrowers without worrying about […]
Faces of Immigration Day 7 of 40
Keila Bejarano, 34 and her daughter Lizzy, 11, from Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. “I’m a single mother, over there you cant get work after you are 30 years-old,” she said, reaffirming the age discrimination many Hondurans describe. Seven years before, she broke off communication with the father of her daughter. In addition to […]
Faces of Immigration Day 6 of 40
Abel Roldan Martinez 43 made the long journey from his hometown of La Libertad in the Peten Department of Guatemala with his daughter Olga Oneida Roldan Lucas, 16, through Mexico. He worked as a field worker, planting corn, beans and coffee his entire life. With four kids and his wife to take care of, the […]
Faces of Immigration Day 5 of 40
Eduardo Barela 25 from Catacama in the Olancho Department of Honduras came to the United States traveling through Mexico with his six-year-old daughter Dana Jose over the course of 27 days. In his case, he traveled without the help of a human trafficker, which they call guides. Upon turning themselves into the Border Patrol, they […]
Faces of Immigration Day 4 of 40
Ignacia Gonzalez, 45, and her son Edgar Choc, 17, from Antigua in the Sacatepéquez Department of Guatemala. Over the course of 12 days, they made their way through Mexico with the help of a guide who they paid for passage to the US-Mexican border. When they were detained by the Border Patrol after crossing the […]
Faces of Immigration Day 3 of 40.
Juan Carlos Lucas Castillo, 32, came from the Huehuetenango Department of Guatemala with his 12 year-old son Carlos “I’d never thought of coming here,” he described about leaving his country. Because of the medical costs of his 89 year-old father and 77 year-old mother, he and his son decided to make the trip through Mexico. […]
Faces of Immigration Day 2 of 40.
Rody Oliva, 29, and his daughter Maria, 12, from San Esteban, Olancho department, of Honduras arrived at the church hall of the Basilica of San Albino in Mesilla, NM for a night after being released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In his home country he worked milking cows earning 1,000 Honduran Lempira ($40) per week. […]
Faces of Immigration Day 1 of 40.
Adan Vasquez, 27, came to the US-Mexico border over a 20-day journey with his son Davis Vasquez, 8, from San Marcos department in Guatemala in search of a better life. “The government doesn’t help us, and we the people make sacrifices,” he said of the quality of life in his country. Raising four children with […]