Border Journey: The heart of solidarity: Just wanting to go home

Thirteen year-old Yamil entered the United States for the first time in seven years with his mother and grandmother yesterday here in Nogales. He and his grandmother Elvia were detained by Customs and Border Protection for five hours. His mother Claudia was handcuffed and arrested.

Three undocumented youth who have been living in the U.S. recently traveled to Mexico so that they could attempt to return yesterday with Claudia and four other people who had been long-time residents of the U.S. Claudia was at the head of the group as they entered the pedestrian border crossing and requested to be allowed re-entry on humanitarian grounds. She and the others were committed to taking this action as a bold challenge to current deportation policies.

The Obama administration has now deported 1.7 million people – more than any other president in the history of the country. If the current rate continues, Obama will have deported more people than all of the previous presidents combined.

Elvia told me that her husband and brother were killed in Durango, Mexico in 1988. She received threats and fled to the U.S. with her four children when Claudia was just 13 years-old. They eventually moved to Wichita, Kansas where Yamil was born in 2000.

Claudia told us “I feel like Dorothy (in the Wizard of Oz). My life was hit by a tornado and I just want to go home.” Claudia’s husband was detained while he was driving to work in Wichita. She was then detained while acting as his interpreter and they were both placed in deportation proceedings.

The immigration judge said that Yamil, who was five, “could survive in Mexico.” He has been seen by a therapist to treat his depression. Claudia told us that he recently asked her, “When are we going to get our life back?”

I talked with Yamil yesterday while we were waiting to find out what would happen with his mother and the others. I asked him when he moved to Mexico and he replied “January 1, 2006.” Yamil told me that he wants to go back to Wichita with his mother, and then have his father and their dog join them. He likes the peacefulness of Wichita and that his parents could find work there.

Yamil loves soccer and he plays goalie. His favorite team is the United States and he will be rooting for them again in the next World Cup. Yamil and Claudia went to the U.S. match against Uzbekistan in the Under 17 World Cup at the Torreon stadium in 2011. Claudia told us “No one even knew where Uzbekistan is located but they were all rooting for them against the U.S.” Yamil was one of the few people that supported the U.S. and was disappointed when they lost.

Elvia took Yamil to have his first hamburger back in the U.S. and he returned with a big smile on his face. Unfortunately, that smile disappeared an hour later when we learned that Claudia and the others were being sent to the Eloy Detention Center.

This is the first time that a group of long-time U.S. residents (who are technically Mexican nationals) have attempted to return to the U.S. by petitioning for humanitarian parole. Since that petition was denied, they are now applying for asylum. Claudia is very concerned about her safety if she’s deported back to Mexico. Her family is again receiving threats and she and Yamil have spent most of the last year closed up inside their home.

For the latest developments in this historic case, go to the National Immigrant Youth Alliance Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NationalImmigrantYouthAlliance To take action, go to the Dream Activist web site: http://action.dreamactivist.org/bringthemhome