[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"core\/picturefill,entity_embed\/caption,views\/views.ajax,views\/views.module","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__306735__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"306735","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/306735","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__306735__en","pager_element":0}}},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"0ae5601d8790ff50fca3cf23b9ac9170285f2f75823ebdc8d9cc054bc03a679b"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":"\u003Clink rel=\u0022stylesheet\u0022 media=\u0022all\u0022 href=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_reI-6YIYy-k9pvxm-gaCRrn5cSrTZRtyAMrp4YXDUJw.css\u0022 \/\u003E\n"},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_VkK39bvB4H6LLVemwPFz8QWcUMTFqZ3FFo_LBVv_4vs.js"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__306735__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__306735__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EEvery time Marco G. gets deported, his Ohio-born wife, Leah, takes the kids and follows him to Mexico until they can all get back home.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThey can\u2019t stand being apart. They\u2019ve been married for almost 16 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter recently being deported for the third time, the family was starting to contemplate another possibility \u2013 if it would be possible to settle a while in Mexico. Their US-born kids \u2013 Antonio, who is 14, and Sofia, who is 10 \u2013 need Mexican papers to enroll in school.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed\u0022 data-type=\u0022image\u0022\u003E\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022embed align-right embedded-entity embedded-entity-type-media embedded-entity-bundle-image embedded-entity-viewmode-embeddable embed--right\u0022\u003E\n \n\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \n \n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\u0022figure figure--expand text-center\u0022\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__media relative inline-block mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ca href=\u0022\/modal\/32723\u0022 rel=\u0022modal:open\u0022 class=\u0022figure__link\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cimg srcset=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/480w\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201707us_mexico_leahmarco.jpg?itok=pBxaXJZ1 480w, \/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201707us_mexico_leahmarco.jpg?itok=Mj8Hu72x 850w\u0022 sizes=\u0022(max-width: 524px) 100px, 500px\u0022 data-responsive-image-style=\u0022embedded_images\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/embed_xxl\/public\/multimedia_images_2017\/201707us_mexico_leahmarco.jpg?itok=Mj8Hu72x\u0022 width=\u0022850\u0022 height=\u00221133\u0022 alt=\u0022Marco G. and Leah in an undated photograph.\u0022 loading=\u0022lazy\u0022 typeof=\u0022foaf:Image\u0022 \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022figure__expand absolute block bottom-0 right-0 w-8 h-8 bg-white text-gray-700\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022sr-only\u0022\u003EClick to expand Image\u003C\/span\u003E\n \n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\u0022icon fill-current w-full inline-block\u0022\u003E\n \u003Csvg viewbox=\u00220 0 20 20\u0022 fill=\u0022currentColor\u0022 role=\u0022img\u0022 focusable=\u0022false\u0022 aria-hidden=\u0022true\u0022\u003E\u003Cuse xlink:href=\u0022\/themes\/custom\/hrw_design\/dist\/app-drupal\/assets\/spritemap.svg?cacheBuster=#sprite-expand\u0022\u003E\u003C\/use\u003E\u003C\/svg\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/a\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022figure__info text-left font-serif text-xs md:text-sm lg:text-base mx-auto text-gray-700 mt-1\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022figure__caption\u0022\u003EMarco G. and Leah\u00a0in an undated photograph.\u00a0\u00a9 Private\n\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003C\/figcaption\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EIn an interview at the Tamaulipas Institute for Migrants in Nuevo Laredo on June 14, Leah described Marco \u2013 the only boyfriend she has ever had \u2013 as the \u201csmartest man ever.\u201d She said Marco crossed the US-Mexico border illegally when he was 18, which would have made it nearly impossible for him to get a green card through his wife, especially after his repeated deportations. Whether working with horses in Ohio, managing a huge apartment complex, or repairing Japanese-made motor-building equipment in Michigan, the couple told Human Rights Watch Marco\u2019s US bosses find him invaluable. One employer called him an \u201cexcellent employee\u201d and told us he is having a hard time finding his replacement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EMarco was first deported in 2010, after being put on probation for driving while intoxicated. Leah went to bring him home from a bar, where he wasn\u2019t supposed to be, and they quarreled. \u201cExactly what I was trying to prevent is what happened,\u201d she says. \u201cThe police came, and they wouldn\u2019t listen to me saying we were okay. They took him and deported him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThe second deportation happened in 2013, when they were trying to sell a trailer he had remodeled, to put a down payment on a house; the buyers, whom they had allowed to move in, refused to finish paying and called the police, saying Marco and Leah had assaulted them, which Marco and Leah deny. Marco was deported so quickly he wasn\u2019t able to attend his court date for the assault charge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThe third deportation happened in January 2017. Leah had been driving Marco to work at a Kentucky Derby training track, but he drove himself one day, and police stopped him \u201cfor no reason,\u201d she says. They said the warrant on the assault charge showed up, and authorities held him in Claremont County Jail for three months, subpoenaing the complainant. She never showed up, and they turned Marco over to ICE for deportation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EEven harder than overcoming the setback of Marco\u2019s latest deportation has been healing from the trauma of their last stay in Mexico, after Marco\u2019s 2013 deportation. They told us back in his hometown of La Barca, Jalisco, Marco built the family a big house that, along with his foreign-born wife, attracted the attention of a gang. They kidnapped Marco and, to intimidate Leah into paying ransom, fired an automatic-rifle fusillade in front of the house. Cowering inside with her screaming children, Leah called the US consulate in Guadalajara, and within half an hour, the Mexican military arrived. \u201cIt was a half hour that lasted a lifetime,\u201d she says. Leah and the children were whisked onto a bus back to the US, not knowing what had become of Marco. A month later, he showed up in Ohio. His relatives in La Barca had given the house, with all its furnishings, to the gang in exchange for his release.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey\u2019re scared, being back here,\u201d Leah says of their children. \u201cWe\u2019re all pretty traumatized.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003EThe family told us they collect US Social Security payments \u2013 for Leah\u2019s Crohn\u2019s disease and Antonio\u2019s blood platelet disorder \u2013 but they haven\u2019t been able to find medication since arriving in Mexico. They are hoping to move out of the sweltering cinderblock apartment they rented in Nuevo Laredo and head for Cancun \u2013 about as far from La Barca as possible \u2013 where they figure Marco will find work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u0026#13;\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe\u2019s more of an American than what some people up there are,\u201d Leah says of Marco, waving a hand northward toward the far side of the Rio Grande, \u201cbecause he works hard and takes care of his family, and you can\u2019t say that about everybody up there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u0026#13;\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null}]