Rosa, an undocumented woman in Los Angeles recovering from a near-fatal stroke, faces a DHS fine of $1,820,352 for failing to comply with a voluntary departure order since 2013. She fears deportation to Guatemala because she cannot access her daily medications and cannot work due to exhaustion and mobility limits. She reports avoiding opening the door when medicine deliveries arrive, fearing they may be from ICE. Her husband, also undocumented and earning about $4,000 per month, would need nearly 38 years to pay the debt, while rent consumes much of his income. More than 65,000 immigrants have received similar penalties totaling $36 billion, which organizations call unconstitutional and psychologically torturous.
"Rosa has made two specific requests to her husband in case she's deported to Guatemala: that he send over her pots and pans, and that he save money for her funeral expenses. I would go there to die, says the undocumented woman who has been fighting since January to recover from a stroke that nearly took her life."
"The Trump administration has her in its sights: a few days ago she received by mail a notice fining her $1.8 million for failing, since 2013, to comply with an order to leave the country voluntarily. It is not an isolated case: more than 65,000 immigrants have received letters imposing unaffordable penalties that together total $36 billion."
"I spend my time crying, I feel very sad, I think I won't make it there in Guatemala because I can't be without my medicine and I can't work because I get too tired just walking, laments Rosa. She lives with her husband in a small apartment in Los Angeles and takes a daily cocktail of medications for diabetes, high blood pressure and the aftereffects of the stroke that sent her to emergency surgery."
"When they come to drop off my medicine, I think they're from ICE; I don't want to open the door, I don't want to go outside. Rosa's exact debt to the U.S. government is $1,820,352, an amount her husband the family's sole breadwinner would take almost 38 years to pay if he devoted his entire monthly salary of $4,000 to it."
Read at english.elpais.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]