“I do not recommend what I did to anybody else. You have to come through a door, not a window. My family came first.”
Lizbeth immigrated to the United States from Lima, Peru. When she was in Peru, she had three children and a husband. Lizbeth said at the time her family was so poor, they couldn’t go to school. She immigrated to the United States for her kids to have a better life and education. Before that could happen, she had to leave them. She said it is still the most difficult decision she ever had to make. When she finally earned enough money, she went back to Peru to get her children so they could start their new life in America.
Lizbeth had to do a very dangerous thing. For her family, she took on the challenge of immigrating to the United States illegally without getting caught. She needed to go on this scary journey to help her family survive. She wasn’t alone during this terrifying task. About twenty other immigrants came with her past the Mexican - United States border. These people, who she didn’t know yet, stayed with her when obstacles got in their way. Lizbeth and other people had to hide under a small truck for hours.
Lizbeth immigrated to the United States from Lima, Peru. When she was in Peru, she had three children and a husband. Lizbeth said at the time her family was so poor, they couldn’t go to school. She immigrated to the United States for her kids to have a better life and education. Before that could happen, she had to leave them. She said it is still the most difficult decision she ever had to make.
When she finally earned enough money, she went back to Peru to get her children so they could start their new life in America.Lizbeth had to do a very dangerous thing. For her family, she took on the challenge of immigrating to the United States illegally without getting caught. She needed to go on this scary journey to help her family survive. She wasn’t alone during this terrifying task. About twenty other immigrants came with her past the Mexican - United States border. These people, who she didn’t know yet, stayed with her when obstacles got in their way. Lizbeth and other people had to hide under a small truck for hours.
On Lizbeth’s journey to the United States, she first had to go to Colombia, and then to Mexico. She was brought to a house where she had to stay in and she traveled with a boy who was also immigrating to the United States. Someone knocked on the door, and she would begin one of the most difficult journeys of her life. They needed to walk on their hands and knees “like a dog” to not get caught by the police. There were people called Coyotes with them who knew when the police were coming and they told them to walk every five minutes. They got to the Rio Grande River where the Coyotes told them to take everything off to not get wet. She said it was extremely difficult and scary to cross the river by holding on to a small tube with many other people. In the end, she told us it took her a total of five days to immigrate to the United States.
Lizbeth was in America for years before she was able to go back to Peru to get her children. The main reason Lizbeth immigrated on her journey was to create a better life for her children. In this, Lizbeth was successful, and also became a legal United States citizen herself. One of Lizbeth’s sons is now serving in the United States Navy.
Project Creators - Keyonna, Benyris, Prishtina, Madison, and Sadia
Credits:
All Student and Immigrant Portrait Photos, Writing, Audio Clip Video Short, Climographs, and Coordinate Maps Created By the ISAAC Students - Grade 6 Website Format Created By the Sixth Grade Student Documentary Crew