Coming back to America: U.S.-born children who return from parent's native country face unique hardships
Jordi Garcia Leal returned to the United States four years ago.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., his mom decided to return to her native Mexico when he was 5 years old.
“I’m unaware of the reasons she decided to return. I spent my entire youth over there,” Garcia Leal said.
When he arrived in Morelos, Mexico, he spoke English. He didn’t understand Spanish. When he started school he had to learn Spanish and his English faded away.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
Garcia Leal was 20 years old when decided to come back to the United States.
Data on how many U.S. citizen children return to a deported parent’s native country is hard to come by. Garcia Leal is one of an unknown number of young people who decide to return. Because they are U.S. citizens, they simply enter the country with their U.S. passports.
In 2018, it was estimated that 4.4 million U.S. citizen children under 18 lived with at least one undocumented parent, according to the American Immigration Council.
Garcia Leal said he chose to return for a simple reason.
“I came to get to know this country,” he said. “When I was in Mexico there was always a lot of talk about the U.S. and I didn’t want to be left with any doubt.”
When he first returned, Garcia Leal was living with a cousin’s family members in the New York area. But there were some problems, making the living arrangements less than ideal. His sister, who lives in Minneapolis, found out and told Garcia Leal to come live with her.
Garcia Leal soon realized that things are more complicated here than in Mexico — including finding a job.
“In Mexico, you go and ask for a job and it can be given to you on the spot. Here, it’s a very different process,” he said.
While living with his sister, the siblings had a falling out. As a result Garcia Leal ended up homeless. But someone had told him about CLUES, which provides services to the state’s Latino community. He reached out for help. Garcia Leal and his sister have since reconciled.
CLUES is seeing more young people in situations similar to Garcia Leal’s, said Aliana Letrán-García, vice president of programs at CLUES.
Although CLUES runs various programs to help the community, they don’t have a specific program or funding for young people facing this type of situation, Letrán-García said.
They run the program out of necessity, she said.
CLUES first began providing services for young people in these circumstances in 2020. There were 32 in the program at the time. Now, there are about 12, Letrán-García said.
“There’s so many needs. It’s not only about a job or stable housing or food. It’s mental health issues; it’s about trauma,” Letrán-García said.
The majority of young citizens come from Mexico, but recently there have been more coming from El Salvador and Honduras, she said.
“We have seen a couple of brothers and sisters. Usually the oldest of the siblings is older than 18. But they come with a 13-year-old or 14-year-old. But the average is around 20, 21,” Letrán-García said.
Many return at the urging of parents, so they can have a chance at a better life. But some are fleeing abuse, she said.
And many of the young people don’t know anyone here. Through word of mouth they learn there are jobs in certain states and arrive there not having any connections, she said. More and more they are seeing young women arriving and staying with friends of friends and often ending up in precarious situations, Letrán-García said.
Being a citizen provides some advantages, but unfortunately it doesn’t shield Garcia Leal from racism. And that racism also comes from an unlikely source.
“I’d say you suffer from both sides. From one it’s because of the color of your skin and not speaking English. And the other is from other Latin Americans,” Garcia Leal said.
Once other Latino immigrants find out he is a U.S. citizen they begin telling him that he must think he is better than them.
“It’s something I have to put up with every day,” Garcia Leal said. “I’ve always said just because I was born here doesn’t mean I have more. I’m worth the same as they are. I may have more privileges but we all have the same rights.”
Vicki Adame covers Minnesota’s Latino communities for MPR News via Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues and communities.