Taking the risk

She left Guadalajara in February that year with her four year old son and six year old daughter. The older ones stayed behind with her extended family. She needed to make a better life for herself and her family. Maria and her children took a bus to Chihuahua Mexico and met with the person who was going to take her and others across the border. She was told not to expect more than 5 hours of walking to the U.S. Border from where they were. She had brought three days worth of food for her family just in case.
Traveling with ten other men and one woman they started their walk . After awhile the leader of the group was began to get paranoid and told them they should all turn around and go back. None of them wanted to so they continued on without the guide. They had no idea where they were other than in the middle of the desert. They walked on for an additional three days. While they had stopped for a rest, Maria and her children walked a little bit further over a hill and sat down by themselves. The Border patrol caught up with all the others and escorted them back to the Mexican border. Somehow Maria had escaped detection but she was alone with her children.
Maria and her family continued to walk for next four weeks in the desert, not having any idea where she was. The nights were extremely cold and during the day it was blistering hot. She had long ago lost one of her shoes and her foot and leg had become infected from all of the cactus needles. On occasion they would come across a small lagoon and drink from it. By a miracle, none of them got sick from the contaminated water. She also had found some water containers left in the desert for other immigrants. She found 2 – 3 skeletons of other immigrants who had not made it but was able to find food and even sometimes water from their parcels that lay next to them, shielding her children from seeing them. Anything to survive.
She finally came to a paved road and at this point not knowing if she was in the US. A car happened to come by driven by a middle aged couple. They stopped the car to see if they needed help. Maria, not able to speak any English, was afraid to say much of anything for fear that they might be police. She was fortunate the couple happened to speak Spanish so they were able to communicate and Maria found out she was in the United States.
The couple immediately gave them water and took them to their home nearby. Their first full meal in over five weeks was Chicken, beans, soup and milk. Afterward, she slept for two days. They stayed with the couple for a week to recoup after their ordeal.
The couple happened to be going to Nebraska to visit family, so they drove Maria and her children up there.
While living in Nebraska, Maria made a living doing anything she could do (legally) to feed her family, cleaning houses, offices, stores, anything that could put food on the table.
She enrolled her children in school and a local church had sponsored an apt for them. It was a small town so she could walk to get everywhere.
Eventually she met Roberto. He was looking for work and heard that in Wisconsin there were jobs. He and Maria with her children drove to Wisconsin.
After arriving in a small town in Wisconsin she enrolled her children in school. She found a job for a company and worked there for two years. One day she went in to talk with the boss (married) about getting more hours. He stated that they were very pleased with her performance and she could be the manager of her unit as long as she had sex with him. She refused. The next morning she had been locked out and after waiting for him to arrive she asked him about it. He stated he was the boss and if she didn’t want to have sex with him then she was fired. If she said anything about it to anyone he would call Immigration. She had no recourse and had to accept things as they were. Once again she was seeking work.
Several years have now passed since she took that journey from Mexico. She still struggles but she knows there is hope where before there was no hope.
She is isolated from her family in Mexico and has very limited contact with them.
She is not eligible for health insurance or any medical assistance with prescription benefits, social security, food stamps, because she does not have a US IDor Green Card. She is unable to get a driver’s license or ID because of her illegal status. Her children were recently able to register because of a recent Obama ruling. To become ‘legal’ she needs to hire an attorney to help with paper work and the court system and that costs money,(min $10,000) which she doesn’t have. There is also the risk that she could be sent back if not accepted by immigration.
Sorry this was so long but this Is a story of as friend of mine and what she had to go thru to make a life for herself and her children.