Edna Berenice was a victim of domestic violence by her husband, who never wanted to request permanent residence

When Edna Berenice Rosas Tejeda intended to enter the United States with her tourist visa upon arrival on a flight from Mexico City with her two youngest children, a migration agent at the Los Angeles International Airport, she arrested her and the Children for more than 12 hours and ordered their express deportation.

“I showed him the papers that said I was coming to an alimony hearing for my two children, but he didn't allow it. He gave me two options, signing my papers to leave voluntarily with my two children on the next flight; or send me to a detention center and wait for a truck to take me out with the deportees that will take me to the border. I preferred the first, ”says this mother.

Edna Berenice is a 36-year-old Mexican with two children aged 13 and 12 The oldest was born in San Bernardino County; the second in Los Angeles County.

Edna Berenice Rosas Tejeda fights from Mexico for alimony for her two children. (Photo provided)

From a very young age her parents brought her to the United States with a tourist visa. He says he visited the country many times until in 2005 he met the father of his children and they got married in Las Vegas. He is a Mexican by birth, but a permanent resident of the United States.

However, he says that the man never applied for permanent residence. What she did to avoid putting herself at risk was trying to leave the country when the expiration date of the residence permit for her tourist visa approached. “I did not want to press it. He told me that it was not convenient for us to make the request until he became a citizen. He always gave different excuses, ”he says.

But the marriage was complicated because Edna Berenice, originally from Mexico City, soon realized that she did not have the support of her husband. Not only did she not make any residency request for her but she did not want to include it in her health insurance even when she got pregnant and was found cancer in an ovary.

“What saved me was that MediCal covers pregnancy and even delivery. The cancer was discovered at eight months pregnant and my ovary was removed", He says. In her second pregnancy she was protected again with medical insurance for low-income people, MediCal.

Edna Berenice Rosas Tejada was deported one day after arriving by plane to Los Angeles. (Aurelia Ventura / La Opinion)

Married to a permanent resident, but without immigration status and with two citizen children, things in his home became increasingly difficult.

"I realized that my husband used drugs and sometimes strange people would go to the house to find him," she adds.

In addition, strange things began to happen with the children. “Once I asked him to help me bathe the baby for a year and a half. The boy was bleeding from his mouth. I asked him what had happened. He told me he had done something wrong. ”

On another occasion he left him in the laundry room with the older boy and when he returned he found him full of bruises. “He could never explain what had happened. I don't know if he fell or hit him. He just asked us not to leave in five days, ”he explains.

Edna Berenice confesses that she never wanted to call the police for fear they would take her children away. "I was so scared. It depended on him in everything. I couldn't even drive, ”he remembers.

Until one day he couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave the house and stay with a relative in the Los Angeles area, but he never received any financial help from the father of his children, so he asked for legal and physical custody of the children .

Edna Berenice Rosas Tejada joined the Deportados Unidos en la Lucha collective, from where she continues to fight for alimony for her two US citizens. (Photo: Agustín Durán)

The young mother points out that during the years they lived together as in those who were separated, the man assured her that he would never give her a weight and threatened her with deportation. “He even told me that our marriage in Las Vegas had been false and never existed. I proved that we have 14 years of marriage. ”United Sports in the Struggle

Things got worse when he realized that she was looking at family courts to give her alimony. "He sent me a message telling me that I was not going to rest until my tourist visa was taken away," he says.

It was when she decided to return to Mexico and from there fight for the alimony for her two children.

To continue with the food payment process, two months ago, on August 16, he returned to Los Angeles.

“It was when I was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The migration agent started asking me many questions. I was very sincere, ”he adds. “I told him what was coming. He saw that he had a return ticket for three months. I wonder what I was going to work on. I told him I was waiting for the alimony. ”

From there they passed her to another room to continue questioning her. “They reviewed my social networks and my messages on WhatsApp. They saw my conversations, ”he adds.

They also realized that I had requested food stamps for my children. "As much as I insisted they were not for me, but for my children they didn't care."

The drop that spilled the glass was when the immigration agents in the LAX made a phone call to the husband, and asked if she had lived in the country with a tourist visa and stayed longer than allowed, he answered everything yes

That was when they took the prints and made him remove the earrings and the laces. “I did not stop crying. I felt very bad for the children who were very stressed witnessing everything, ”he says.

Immigration officers took away his tourist visa, put him on a penalty for five years for not returning to the country and took it on the next flight back to Mexico, after 12 hours of detention.

“Everything is very painful and sad. In the end the father of my children won. He achieved what he wanted, that they deported me so as not to have to pay alimony, ”he says.

Edna Berenice adds that many tell her that I looked for a lawyer to help her to cover her children's expenses. "But with what money," he asks.

In Mexico City, the young mother joined as a volunteer to the Deportados Unidos Collective that helps, monitors and accompanies the deported community.

“The purpose of the collective is the reintegration of people who go through the deportation process. I feel lucky because I have alternatives. I have a family here, he says. But there are thousands of people who cannot find their way or an exit so easily. There are blind companions, others who were beaten and face health problems. ”

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