All tagged immigration

10 reasons Central Americans are fleeing by the tens of thousands

10 reasons Central Americans are fleeing by the tens of thousands

Tatiana Prophet
Immigration

Journey through the eyes of José

By TATIANA PROPHET

When José was 8 years old, he and his family fled the farm in northern Honduras where he was born, the ninth of 11 children. It was there that they had raised pigs, chickens, beans, corn, jalapeño peppers and tomatoes.

That was 1999.

“Everything was beautiful then,” he said. “Everything is beautiful being around animals.”

By age 11, after trying to survive with his mother in the big city of San Pedro Sula but finding no work, José moved to Guatemala to live with older siblings. He hadn't yet found his place, so he decided to try his luck in Mexico, where as a preteen he rented from his brother and drove a tricycle taxi. Finally, at age 14, he spent six months on the slow train through Mexico, and even though he couldn’t swim, braved the Rio Grande, to find a life on the “Other Side.”

A change in the wind

A change in the wind

Tatiana Prophet
Immigration

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Gabino González was finishing up repairing a small wall where a tree had fallen after rainstorms in this Los Angeles suburb, mere minutes from the beach.

As he finished cleaning up the job site, he pulled out his cell phone and said, “Este es mi dádi, this is my daddy.” Then, with difficulty, he added: “Mi vida es esto, my life is this.” In the photo is a vaquero, a cowboy on a horse, who he said works out in the country in the state of Hidalgo. His father is 78 years old, and he has not seen him in six years.