When they first arrived in Tijuana in the winter, they didn’t have jobs, and Daysi and Jimmy slept in parks and on floors and begged for money. Recently, Daysi made the heartbreaking decision to send Jimmy to live with relatives and attend school near Washington, D.C. She hopes they'll be reunited one day. Image by Erika Schultz. Mexico, 2019.
When they first arrived in Tijuana in the winter, they didn’t have jobs, and Daysi and Jimmy slept in parks and on floors and begged for money. Recently, Daysi made the heartbreaking decision to send Jimmy to live with relatives and attend school near Washington, D.C. She hopes they'll be reunited one day. Image by Erika Schultz. Mexico, 2019.

When Elizabeth Valdez followed her deported husband, Rafael, to Mexico with their two daughters, many friends thought she was making an irresponsible choice for her children—both, like Valdez, are American-born.

But how much did those friends know about what life would be like in Mexico? Probably, like most in the U.S., very little.

Spending time with the Valdezes and other families in Zacatecas, The Seattle Times delves into a subject rarely explored on this side of the border: What happens after deportation? The answers sometimes defy stereotype.

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