Isabel's Life in Mexico
Her story starts out on the country side of the biggest city in the world, Mexico City, also known as the District Federal. Isabel was the third youngest out of her six sisters and one brother. Her mother was always a serious woman who was very hard on her kids. As a lower class family in Mexico, they suffered a lot of finnancial deprivation. Isabel was only fourteen-years- old when she was forced by her mother to stop going to school and start working. By the time she was seventeen, she was already married to a man named Saul and had 2 girls. Although her husband still lived with his mom and sisters, Isabel was sent to live with him anyways. She dealt with tremendous hardship living there due to the fact that her husband was an alcoholic, and he was abusive towards her. He was never at home, and he was unfaithful. This went on for seven years until he filed for divorce.
Sadly, by divorcing him, she lost custody of her two daughters. She fought to keep them, but because she moved back to her parent’s home after the divorce, had no job, and no income to support them, she lost her case in court and didn’t win custody of her daughters. Isabel did have visitation rights of course, but one day when she took the girls home to visit
there was a bad storm, they could not leave and ended up staying the night. Although Saul knew her intentions were good, he still took them away from her. After the day she lost her visitation rights, she never spoke or saw her daughters again because Saul forbid all communication. To this day, she says she hasn’t overcome the pain of losing her two daughters. She says that although she may never see them again, she has become stronger and has learned to accept it.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, 13 percent of the population in the U.S. are immigrants, around 41 million people. Some travel more than others, but they all have one thing in common. They seek to change their life for the better with the opportunities this great country provides. For some the road is easier than others. For one immigrant woman, the road was full of speedbumps and tragedies, but she refused to give up. This is her story. To protect her identity, I will refer to her simply as Isabel
The Search for a
Better Life
Better Life
for a
38 myMagazine/January, 2013
Photography By
Lee, Jim.
Photography By
Islas, Alejandro.
Areisy Murguia