Enrique's Journey (35 page)

The description of how migrants arrived in Nuevo Laredo after having lost the phone numbers they were carrying comes from Deacon Esteban Ramírez Rodríguez of the Parroquia de Guadalupe in Reynosa, Mexico, and several migrant children stranded in Nuevo Laredo, including Ermis Galeano and Kelvin Maradiaga. Migrant twins José Enrique Oliva Rosa and José Luis Oliva Rosa told of having been kidnapped.

The reluctance to help Central Americans was depicted by Raymundo Ramos Vásquez, director of Comité de Derechos Humanos, Grupo 5 de Febrero, a human rights group in Nuevo Laredo, and Marco Antonio Valdez, a resident. The statement that Jesus was a migrant comes from Oscar Alvarado, caretaker for the Parroquia de San José's migrant shelter, and was confirmed by Enrique and other migrants.

The description of the encampment is from Enrique and camp residents Hernán Bonilla, Miguel Olivas, Luis Moreno Guzmán, and Jorge Enrique Morales, as well as from my observations at the camp.

I observed Enrique washing cars for money.

The account of meal cards comes from Father Filiberto Luviano Mendoza at the Parroquia del Santo Niño and volunteer Leti Limón at the Parroquia de San José. Migrant Miguel Olivas described the meal-card black market.

I observed dinner for migrants at the Parroquia de San José and how migrants gathered around the map of Texas after the meal to discuss their route. Father Leonardo López Guajardo at the Parroquia de San José calculated the percentage of the church's meals that go to children. I interviewed and observed the lives of other children Enrique met in Nuevo Laredo who were also going to find their mothers, including Ermis Galeano, Mery Gabriela Posas Izaguirre, her aunt Lourdes, and Kelvin Maradiaga.

Talk of hardships and injuries during the trip north by migrants outside the Parroquia de San José comes from my observations of these conversations and from María del Tepeyac, a nun who ran the church's medical clinic.

The portrayal of El Tiríndaro, his heroin habit, and his protection of Enrique is from my observations and interviews with Enrique and the camp residents Miguel Olivas, Hernán Bonilla, and Omar Martínez Torres. In 2003, I interviewed one of El Tiríndaro's Los Osos associates, Juan Barajas Soto, when he was in the Nuevo Laredo jail, Centro de Readaptación Social No. 1, who provided additional details about El Tiríndaro, Los Osos, and Enrique's stay at the encampment. The migrant Jorge Enrique Morales gave Enrique bits of tacos and contributed to the picture of life at the camp.

Enrique's account of the Nuevo Laredo jail was corroborated by Raymundo Ramos Vásquez at the human rights group Comité de Derechos Humanos, Grupo 5 de Febrero. The account of Enrique sleeping in the abandoned house, which I visited, comes from Enrique and photographer Don Bartletti's observations.

The rendering of Mother's Day comes from Central American mothers, including Águeda Navarro, Belinda Cáceres, Orbelina Sánchez, and Lourdes Izaguirre, and from my observations as they consoled one another. A mother's prayer to live is from my observations as I watched Lourdes Izaguirre pray.

Lourdes's thoughts and actions after her son left home are from Lourdes and were confirmed by her cousin María Edelmira Sánchez Mejía, with whom Lourdes spoke at the time.

Enrique's glue-sniffing habits are from Hernán Bonilla and from my observations. Juan Barajas Soto, who was interviewed at the jail in Nuevo Laredo in 2003, recalled Enrique's hallucinogenic talks with trees at the camp and about wanting to be with his mother.

I saw Enrique shortly after he got his tattoo and watched as he struggled to obtain his second phone card. Enrique's effort to beg for money in downtown Nuevo Laredo is from Enrique and Hernán Bonilla.

The dangers of the river and checkpoints come from the migrants Miguel Olivas, Hernán Bonilla, and Fredy Ramírez; the U.S. Border Patrol supervisor Alexander D. Hernandez and officers Charles Grout and Manuel Sauceda in Cotulla, Texas; and my observations.

The description of the desert dangers is from interviews with the migrants Miguel Olivas, Gonzalo Rodríguez Toledo, Luis Moreno Guzmán, Elsa Galarza, Leonicio Alejandro Hernández, Mario Alberto Hernández, and Manuel Gallegos; U.S. Border Patrol agents Charles Grout and Manuel Sauceda and the dog handler Ramón López; and my observations while accompanying agents for three days on the Texas border. I observed Franca running alongside the train while on patrol with Cotulla Border Patrol agents. I was on hand when the migrant Isaías Guerra was caught and described his desert ordeal. The General Accounting Office says at least 367 migrants died crossing the southwestern border into the United States in 2000.

The account of Leonardo López Guajardo's assistance to migrants comes from an interview with the priest in 2000 and with Sisters Elizabeth Rangel and María del Tepeyac. In 2003, I spent a week with the priest. I followed him to church; as he said Mass in a cemetery and to incarcerated prisoners; and as he traveled throughout Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to pick up donated food, clothing, and other items. I interviewed people who donated goods to the priest, including Sister Isidra Valdez, Lydia Garza, Rosalinda Zapata, Margarita Vargas, and Eduardo Brizuela Amor. I spent time with two nuns helping him, Sisters Leonor Palacios and Juanita Montecillo.

To better understand the priest and his work with migrants, I spoke with the church secretaries Alma Delia Jiménez Rentería and María Elena Pineda de Aguilar, and the church volunteers Patricia Alemán Peña, Miguel Delgadillo Esparza, Pedro and Leti Leyva, José Guadalupe Ramírez, Horacio Gómez Luna, Rogelio Santos Aguilar, Rocío Galván García, Juana R. Cancino Gómez, and Felipa Luna Moreno. I interviewed Carlos Martín Ramírez, a doctor who treats migrants pro bono for the priest. I spoke with the church's neighbors Juana Mexicano de Acosta and Juan Acosta Hernández.

6. A DARK RIVER, PERHAPS A NEW LIFE

Enrique's 1
A
.
M
. departure is drawn from interviews with Enrique and migrant Hernán Bonilla, who witnessed the departure, as well as my subsequent observation of the staging area on the south bank of the Rio Grande and my observation of other nighttime crossings and pursuits by the U.S. Border Patrol. El Tiríndaro's words to Enrique and the two Mexicans about getting caught are from Enrique. Other migrants told me that this is a standard speech from smugglers to migrants before they cross the river.

The drowning in the river is from Enrique and other migrants, including three at the Parroquia de San José. The migrants said they had watched a youngster named Ricki drown in a whirlpool two nights before.

The account of crossing to the island and then to the United States is from interviews with Enrique and from my subsequent observation of the island from Enrique's crossing site on the south bank of the river. I retraced Enrique's steps on both sides of the river and went to the spot where he had first touched U.S. soil. I retraced his run along Zacate Creek, past a sewage treatment plant, and up an embankment into a residential area on the outskirts of Laredo.

A description of the jails where migrant children are held when they are caught by U.S. authorities comes from time I spent in these facilities, including a week at Los Angeles's Los Padrinos Juvenile Detention Center and a week in the Liberty County Jail in Liberty, Texas. I also spent a week at a shelter where migrants are held in Los Fresnos, Texas, operated by International Educational Services, and a similar shelter in San Diego, California.

Corrections Corporation of America has denied allegations that the children in its custody were not adequately fed; however, the jail in Liberty, Texas, operated by Corrections Corporation of America no longer houses immigrant children. Immigrant children detained by the Border Patrol entering the country illegally are now handled by the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an agency which uses jails sparingly and favors more nurturing open shelters and foster care.

The description of how Border Patrol agents spot suspect vehicles comes from Alexander D. Hernandez, supervisory agent for the Border Patrol at Cotulla, Texas, during a patrol along the same stretch of highway in south Texas that Enrique's smugglers used. The depictions of how Enrique bypassed the Border Patrol checkpoint come, in part, from my observations during a visit to the checkpoint.

Lourdes's life in North Carolina and the description of her photos are from Lourdes, her boyfriend, and other immigrants who lived with them. She showed me the photos of her children.

The account of Enrique's calls from Dallas to his mother comes from Enrique, his mother, and her boyfriend.

The ride from Florida to North Carolina is from my observations as I retraced the North Carolina portion of the trip. Enrique's reunification and conversations come from Enrique, his sister Diana, Lourdes, and my observations as Enrique retraced his steps into the house, into the kitchen, down the hallways, and into his mother's room.

The reaction by María Isabel to Enrique's arrival in North Carolina is from Belky, her aunt Rosa Amalia, María Isabel, and her aunt Gloria.

The relationship between Enrique and his mother, including the resentment of immigrant children at having been left behind, is from Enrique, Lourdes, Diana, Lourdes's boyfriend, and his cousin, as well as Maria Olmos, principal of the Newcomer Center at Belmont High School, a school for immigrants in Los Angeles; Gabriel Murillo, a former counselor at Belmont; and Aldo Pumariega, the principal of the now closed Bellagio Road Newcomer School in Los Angeles.

The account of Enrique's job, earnings, and purchases is from my observations.

7. THE GIRL LEFT BEHIND

The accounts of life for Enrique, María Isabel, Lourdes, her sister Mirian, and others are based on my trip to Honduras and North Carolina in 2003 and interviews with Enrique, Lourdes, and members of their families in Honduras and in the United States between 2000 and 2005. I spent a week in 2003 observing the lives of María Isabel and her daughter, Jasmín, in Honduras. I spent time at each of the three homes where María Isabel had lived in Tegucigalpa. I accompanied María Isabel to her job at the children's clothing store.

The description of María Isabel's life in Honduras is from María Isabel, her sister Rosario, her brother Miguel, her mother, Eva, and her aunt Gloria. I interviewed Ángela Emérita Nuñez, the woman who first employed María Isabel and in whose house she often slept during her teen years, and Ángela's daughter, Ángela María Rivera. Suyapa Valeriano, who lives near Eva's home in Los Tubos and took phone calls from Enrique for María Isabel, also provided details.

Additional information comes from Enrique's maternal and paternal grandmothers, his sister Belky, his aunt Rosa Amalia, his uncle Carlos, and Lourdes's cousin María Edelmira.

To better understand Los Tubos, the neighborhood where María Isabel lived with her mother, I took a tour of the area with Reina Rodríguez and María Isabel Sosa of the local health clinic, the Centro de Salud El Bosque. Oscar Orlando Ortega Almendares of the health center provided a history of the neighborhood and of María Isabel's family. I spoke with José Luis Pineda Martínez, the director of the local school María Isabel attended, the Escuela 14 de Julio. I interviewed Cydalia de Sandoval, president of the Asociación Damas de la Caridad San Vicente de Paúl, which runs a local day-care center and orphanage, and with Argentina Valeriano, owner of the neighborhood bodega, the Pulpería Norma.

The description of Honduras's economic and social conditions comes from Maureen Zamora, a migration expert in Honduras; Marta Obando at UNICEF's Honduras office; Norberto Girón with the International Organization for Migration; Glenda Gallardo, the principal economist, and Alex Cálix, the director of national development information, at the United Nations Development Program in Honduras; Francis Jeanett Gómez Irias, a social worker with the Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia; Nubia Esther Gómez, a nurse with the program; and Leydi Karina López, the head of human resources of S. J. Mariol, a clothing factory in Tegucigalpa. I also consulted documents in the UNICEF library in Tegucigalpa.

For the depiction of Enrique's life in North Carolina with Lourdes between 2000 and 2005, I spoke with Enrique, a fellow painter and friend, Enrique's boss, Lourdes, her boyfriend, the boyfriend's son, the boyfriend's brother, Lourdes's daughter Diana, and her sister Mirian.

AFTERWORD

The number of undocumented children in the United States is from the 2005 Pew Hispanic Center study by senior research associate Jeffrey Passell entitled “Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics.”

Chiapas's troubles with Central American gangs are from Gabriela Coutiño, a spokeswoman for the National Immigration Institute in Tapachula. The assertion that the number of migrants injured by the trains has doubled since Enrique's journey is from Grupo Beta Sur, social workers at Tapachula's general hospital, and Olga Sánchez Martínez, who runs a shelter for the injured.

Changes in where and how the train stops for Mexican authorities to grab migrants come from Coutiño; Julio César Cancino Gálvez of Grupo Beta Sur; Widmar Borrallas López, a supervisor at
la migra
's El Hueyate Station near La Arrocera; and Tres Hermanos resident Gregorio Ralón Villareal.

The number of Central Americans detained and deported by Mexico is from the National Immigration Institute.

I spent time during 1999 and 2000 at Los Angeles's Newcomer School, where I interviewed dozens of mothers and children and attended classes and student therapy and counseling sessions.

The 1997 National Research Council study cited is entitled “The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration.” The 2003 Harvard University study about immigrant effects on wages is “The Labor Demand Curve Is Downward Sloping: Reexamining the Impact of Immigration on the Labor Market,” by George J. Borjas, professor of economics and social policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.