The three children had not bathed in four days. They were sleeping in a makeshift tent on a dirty street outside a bus terminal in Mexico City. Six-year-old Hayli was developing a rash between her legs, but the parents could not spare the 20 pesos needed for a bucket shower.
After a 55-day trek through Latin America, the Aguilar Ortega family found themselves stranded over 3,000 miles from their Venezuelan homeland, and almost as many miles from their intended destination of New York City. They had been in Mexico City for a week, with no money to continue north.
The children, Hayli, Samuel, and Josué, were imagining what it would be like to live in New York, while their parents, Henry Aguilar and Leivy Ortega, were reassessing their journey. Mayor Eric Adams of New York spoke at a nearby conference, while the family slept in tents.
Millions of Venezuelans like the Aguilar Ortega family have fled their homeland due to economic misery and political repression. The family’s journey would test their mental and physical fortitude, strain their relationship, and challenge their ability to build a new life in the United States.
Mr. Aguilar, with a turbulent past, was hoping to start anew in the U.S. Ms. Ortega dreamed of opening a restaurant. They were chasing a vague promise of a better future, despite the challenges they faced.
The family documented their journey from Mexico City to the U.S.-Mexican border, facing dangers and hardships along the way. They relied on charity and sporadic money transfers to survive. Their journey on freight trains towards the U.S. border was filled with uncertainty and risks, but the children saw it as a daring family adventure.
As they made their way towards New York, the family faced prejudice, violence, and hunger. But their determination to reach their destination and start a new life in America kept them going, despite the obstacles they faced.