American Studies | Page 38

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.

As a few years past, she continued to live with her parents and work, which was two hours away from her home. Every day she had to take a subway, bus, and had to walk a mile just to get to work. It was very frustrating situation with what Isabel was being paid. She only had enough money for food, some bills, and transportation to work. Luckily a friend she knew who lived in California, told her that if she wanted to come to the U.S., he would pay for the coyote to get her across the border into America. A coyote is the name they give to a person who smuggles in immigrants for a fee. They agreed once she was financially stable, she would start to pay him back.

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