In the New York metro area, undocumented Poblanos live in fear. We rarely see their stories published. “State officials are equally scared of saying the wrong thing and angering Trump” remarks retired immigration judge Jeffrey S. Chase in Brooklyn. But there are facts we know to be true: immigrant criminalization and deportation rates are at a record high with New York City as the chief deporting city in the United States. In 2018, over 8,000 Poblanos were deported – roughly 3000 from New York.
The vast majority of those incarcerated and deported are non-criminals who fled Puebla to escape poverty and the extreme violence of their state, where gangs like Los Zetas dominate human trafficking and kidnappings that put all clandestine migrants at risk. The deported return to face the most violent year in recent Mexican history. Homicide, femicide, domestic violence, and sexual abuse are all at record highs, and less than ten percent of these crimes are reported. If those who are deported wish to work jobs unaffiliated with cartels, they will make an average of $4 a day. They will struggle to eat.
The deported return to face the most violent year in recent Mexican history.
Still, statistics like these are cold, and often only shared in academic circles. The stories behind them are even more obscure, and under the veil of silence, the humans behind the stories run the increasing risk of becoming statistics.
Deported Poblanos arrive home ashamed and optionless, outcasts in a country they no longer know: “If you say you were deported, your neighbors think you’re a criminal” – Rosa Ortiz was deported in 2008 with no trial or attorney. The families deported Poblanos leave behind in New York City are even more frightened. After granting us permission to visit her home in Rye, the wife of a recently deported Poblano sent this text message just 67 minutes before our scheduled arrival: “I am sorry, but my children do not want me to talk about their father’s deportation. They are afraid and so am I. Please, do not come to our home.”
Media rhetoric is often sensationalist and border-centric.
Answers from government officials were equally murky. While we succeeded in obtaining statements from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, their responses and our questions were pre-approved by the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, DC, and no face-to-face interviews were granted. It seemed often that the investigation would come up short.
America remains divided. Media rhetoric is often sensationalist and border-centric, offering only close-up snapshots of a much broader narrative that is evolving in real-time. In presenting this collection we do not aim to take sides – we aim to cut through the noise by presenting the testimony of those most directly connected to the issue. Their stories are drowning in largely unreported arrests and obscure bureaucratic proceedings. It is only through the protagonists of these stories that we can begin to paint a clearer picture. We present their words and images here.