As of my previous Netflix and ICE blog posts, there has been a Netflix documentary that has come out. The show is called, "Living Undocumented" this documentary follows the lives of a couple of families that have been living all around the United States. There is only one season and it was truly shocking to watch. I know about personal people in my life that are affected by this but seeing random people going through different situations of the same thing is mind-opening.
If you don't want sopilers I suggest you watch the show before continuing reading.
I want to share with you guys two stories from the documentary that really stuck out to me. All stories are equally important but I chose these because of how much they stood out to me.
The story of Luis.
Luis is an immigrant from Honduras. Who fell in love with a woman named Kenia who was detained in Kansas City, Missouri. Kenia from a previous relationship had a kid named Noah who is included in the picture to the left. Noah along with Luis and Kenia was born and Honduras making them illegal. Kenia was detained while pregnant with a child of Luis. The story begins with Kenia's attorney trying to fight for her to be realized from a detention center from which if you read my last blog post are horrible especially for pregnant women. After fighting for her release it was declined. Because Noah is her son and also illegal Luis was told to bring the kid to the immigration center in order to start the deportation process. Luis along with Noah and two atterony made their way to the detention center in order to deliver Noah. Luis had the hope that they would let him say good-bye to Kenia but he along with the atteronys were horribly mistaken. While in this process Luis was detained as well. The picture below shows Luis holding Noah as the White man is grabbing on to Luis leading him into the Immigration facility.
The thing that shocked me was that the attorney wanted to go inside the center with Luis as his lawyer and she was actually shoved and thrown to the floor so that she was not able to defend Luis and be there with him. Below is a clip of this event happening. If they treated the attorneys like thise I could only imagine how they treat the people inside the "detention centers" and Kenia a pregnant woman.
Kenia and Noah the child end up being deported back to Honduras and Luis is released from the detention center after several days. The reason Kenia left Honduras was that she was in an abusive relationship with a man that worked as police. Many Latin American countries have a corrupt government so it wasn't like she could have gone to a police member for help while her partner was part of this group.
After being in Honduras for some days Kenia decides it best for her to immigrant back into the U.S. while pregnant and with Noah. She goes on a journey that requires riding on top of a train know as, "La Bestia," which translates to, "The Beast," and its called that for a very good reason.
Above is a video in Spanish explaining what this process is like.
Kenia safely makes it to the border where she explains that she is seeking asylum in the U.S. because she fears for her and Noah's life in Honduras after having her ex-partner was seen in a car parked outside her house in Honduras. The immigration officer was nice enough to let her come into the U.S. but not with papers, only as they looked into her case. Kenia has the child she was pregnant with while being back in the U.S.
The story of Dunoyer Family
Two kids, Pablo 20-years-old and Camilo 17-year-old, and their parents immigrated from Colombia 18 years ago. They came to America in the middle of narco-guerilla threats against their family and the demands of heavy ransom. Their father Roberto worked in a form of official office and when he refused to help out narcos they were treated. They arrived in America on a visa, the family applied for asylum when it expired in 2005. However, in 2008 the judge denied their asylum case saying they did not qualify because their case was not 100% political.
They were still getting threats while living in the United States and the government still deported thier dad back to Colombia. Roberto woke up one day like it was a normal day he got ready and went to work. Little did he know that ICE officials would be there waiting to detain him. Before he was sent to Colombia he spent a couple of days in a detention center. Consuelo (Roberto's wife) Pablo and Camilio didn't know that morning was the last they would have seen of their father. They didn't get to say goodbye. Roberto now lives in Colombia a country he was terrified to go back to a country were his life could be taken away from. A country where his family is no longer with him. Consuelo, Pablo, and Camilo all await if they too are to be deported. They are constantly living in limbo as to if this day may be their last in this country a country the used to call home but wants them out a back to a country thier lives are at risk.
Below is a tweet that Camilo posted where he explains his situation.
These two-story broke my heart along with the others. I highly recommend watching this documentary. There is even a couple from Milwaukee on the show. It's a good way of seeing the different aspects of immigration and different scenarios.