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V : Good afternoon everyone, my name is Vicente Rivas, next to me are: Grace Constantine and

Carlos Ramirez and today we're going to talk, about relatives that had crossed illegally the border to

nited !tate" #i Grace"

G : #i Vicente, good afternoon everyone and thank you for your invitation to this s$ace" %llegal

immigrants are $ersons who had enter to the nited !tates violating the immigration laws and

without government $ermission of that country"

V : &o you mean without V%! (

G : %ndeed, as you well mention it Vicente, without Visa or once lawfully entering, remaining within

the country beyond the termination date of a tem$orary visa"

V : )hanks Grace for the introduction" lso with us, is Carlos Ramirez, who has another story to

share with us, about close relatives who have emigrated illegally to the nited !tates" Good

afternoon Carlos and welcome to this s$ace"

C : #i Vicente, good afternoon" Good afternoon Grace and a #i to everyone" )o com$lement Grace'sintroduction about immigrants" %n nited !tates there is a &e$artment of #omeland !ecurity, and

they have estimated that *+ million unauthorized immigrants live in the nited !tates by ovember

-.*/" Can you imagine *+ million of illegal immigrants (

G : 0ow, %t's almost the same number of inhabitants in 1cuador"

C : 2eah Grace, and most of them are from 3exico" )he /.4 come from 3exico, other -.4 from

Central merica, around a *.4 from !outh merica 5here we are6, and the rest are from 1uro$e"

V : nd, 0hat do you think are the $rinci$al reasons behind immigration: leave your family, your

friends, your neighborhood and $rinci$ally your calm and safe, and take this dangerous adventure

and trying to cross the border to another country (

C : 3ost immigrants who come to merica come for better o$$ortunities for em$loyment, the

o$$ortunity to re7oin with loved ones, for the $ros$ect of $roviding better lives for themselves and

their family, and for the educational and medical service benefits"

V : 0ell that's interesting information, but let's start with the central to$ic of this s$ace: the true

stories about relatives or friends that have crossed the border illegally" 8therwise 3iss #y$atia will

score us zero in this video" Grace, do you have any relative who have crossed the border illegally to

nited !tates (

G : 2ou mean, do 01 have""" we're cousins, remember (

V : 2eah, but %'m trying to give more drama to this video"""

G : hhh ok, well, %'m going to talk about the story of our uncle #arry, but in order for our viewers to

understand my story, % need that you tell us first the story of our ncle Vicente 5the other Vicente6"

V : ll right 9 " 3mm" irstly, % need to clarify about )he 8ther Vicente" %'m Vicente Rivas Constantine,

and my uncle's name is Vicente Constantine" 0ell" % remember % was ; or *. years old when he

began with his adventures trying to cross the border" #e was around

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unem$loyed here in 1cuador" !he took a decision to travel and make her life there, ho$ing that my

uncle Vicente would go to the merican consulate and got their visa and could travel with her"

C : )hat's sounds great, but %'m sure that things were wrong and not as they were ex$ected, isn't it(

V : )hat's right9 % remember my grand$arents gave the money for the interview in the merican

consulate" =ut finally, )hey denied a tourist visa to him" &uring the interview, my uncle made the

mistake of mentioning that his girlfriend was traveling with him" 2ou know """ #e had to ex$lain where

he was staying"

!he travelled to nited !tates and my uncle stayed here, but in his mind he had only one $ur$ose

>)raveling to the nited !tates to re7oin with his beloved one>" !o, here it began his first attem$t to

cross the border" #is girlfriend's family knew a $erson who worked as C828)1" )his $erson asked

*. million of sucres to take him across the border to nited !tates" 3y uncle worked hard for several

months and with my grand$arent's hel$ he could collect all the money and $ay to the coyote" #e ?uit

his 7ob, and he left Guaya?uil with a false $ass$ort to ew 2ork as destination with two sto$s: one in

@uito and another one in Guatemala" )he route Guaya?uilA@uitoAGuatemala was $eaceful and

successful" =ut in the sto$ at Guatemala, one border officer noticed that the $ass$ort was fake" #es$ent three weeks in 7ail, and then""" he was de$orted to 1cuador" 8ur family knew nothing about him

all this time" Remember that at that time there was no cell $hones" round a month after his

de$arture, he returned home: sad, disa$$ointed, without 7ob and obviously without money"

C: Boor thing 9" % imagine how he felt"""" : s$ent all what he had, have $assed hardshi$s, having

been three weeks in 7ail, without nobody known, no family and finally de$orted without having

achieved his goal of reaching the nited !tates"

% ask you a ?uestion Vicente""" and what ha$$ened with the money that he $aid to the coyote ( #e

could recovered some of it(, #e could contact the coyote again(

V : 0ell Carlos, in these cases it's very difficult to contact them again after the travel" )hey are very

careful with everything" )hey choose the $lace of meetings, using $ublics tele$hones, nicknames,

etc" %n short, it was unable to recover any of the money"

C : nd what about the abuse by border $olicemen" %s it truth ( did your uncle suffer any of these

abuses(

V : 0hen he came back home, he $referred not to talk about it, because he wanted to try it again" #e

was determined to reach the nited !tates and 7oin his love"

G : ohhhh %t's a romantic story""" !orry """"" continue Vicente" )ell us about his second attem$t to enter 

the nited !tates"

V : 0ell, the second attem$t was + months later" 0ith another C828)1" )his $erson asked for

million for his work" t this time, my mom Dily gave to my uncle the money for the tri$" )his tri$ was a

little different, was a fly from Guaya?uil to Guadala7araA3exico with legal documents and then in

3exico they had to cross the river to )exas"

)he tri$ from Guadala7ara to )exas was very difficult" %t took about a month, he had to slee$ in o$en

s$aces, to $ass days without eating, to face humiliation of the Coyotes, etc" #e s$ent a week in

$rison in 3exico for documents, but then was released and he could continue their tri$" nd"""0hen

he finally crossed the border to )exas his girlfriend was waiting for him"

ow, -/ years later, he is married with 3onica and have < children who are merican citizens by

birth" #e could take the citizenshi$ test and now he is an merican citizen" #is wife is still waiting to

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legalize their illegal status, she is illegal " =oth work and have green card and social security" )hat's

my story guys"""

0hat about your story Grace, it's your turn" )ell us about our uncle #arry"

G: 0ell"""" once u$on a time""""

C : 0hat (((( 5Da miras con cara de !or$rendido6

G: 7a7a7a7a"" sorry, % let myself to be carried on by the ins$iration""" so"" the story of my ncle #arry

ha$$ened when % was / years old" 3y uncle , who is my godfather too, left the country to find a

better life in the nited !tates, but things were not so easy" 3y uncle told me , that it was very

difficult to get to the nited !tates because he had no $ass$ort or visa and as you know, at that time

my uncle Vincent was already an merican citizen and then he gave his $ass$ort to his brother"

)hat's how he went to the nited !tates with false names and documents"

C: 0ith alse documents or with documents of your other uncle("" % don't understand"""

G : 0ell the $ass$ort was real, but the $ass$ort belonged to my uncle Vicente"

C : ahhh"""" nd""" what ha$$ened with the $hoto ( re they twins (

G : ot at all" 3y uncle Vicente has brown skin like me and my uncle #arry is white like Vicente, like

a ghost, $ale, without color"""

V : )hat's ok""" #e understood the idea" 56

G: 0ell" )hey do not look alike"

C : nd"""" so (((

G : 0ell, my uncle $aid to someone who does an excellent 7ob changing the $hoto in the $ass$ort"

=ut my uncle had to memorize all the information of my other uncle Vicente, such as id number, date

of birth, where he worked in the nited !tates, the address where he lived there, etc" #e also $aid a

migration $olice to stam$ the $ass$ort with the entrance to the 1cuador"

#e wanted to $retend as if my uncle Vicente had come to 1cuador" !o the $lan was that my ncle

#arry get out of the country with that $ass$ort, $retending to be my uncle Vicente and he was

$re$ared for any ?uestions to go through immigration"

C : nd""" what ha$$ened in the tri$(

G : #e was nervous, but he had $racticed a lot about any kind of ?uestions that they could ask him"

 t that time, the immigration de$artment did not com$are the finger$rints as now" !o entering to the

nited !tates was easy for him"

C: 0ow""" he was very risky" % would not have dared to do that" nd then"""" what ha$$ened with the

$ass$ort" 2ou said that the $ass$ort had the $hoto changed"

G : 0ell" %'m not sure about that"

V : % know, % know that 999 )he $ass$ort was destroyed and my uncle Vicente re$orted it as lost" #eobtained a new $ass$ort with the correct $hoto"

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C : nd" #e had the better life that he was finding (

G : ot at the beginning" #e was unem$loyed almost two years, he was sad, disa$$ointed, without

 7ob and without money" #e could not get their legal documents because his case was com$licated"

 fter two years he finally got a 7ob in a #otel" Currently he's ha$$y" #e met a Colombian woman,

four years ago, who is his wife now" % mean they are in love"

C : &o they have children (

G : o they don't have children together, but my uncle's wife has three daughters from a $ast

relationshi$"

C : 8k ok""" you have been s$eaking enough" %t's my turn"

V : 8k Carlos, tell us, your story"

C : 0ell, the truth"""the truth""""" in my case % don't know the real story of my uncles who are in the

nited !tates" )hey traveled when % was a child" )hey had a tourist visa but once there, they decidedto stay there, because the 7ob o$$ortunities were much better than in 1cuador"

 t that time in our country we were at war with Beru, after that came the bank holiday, dollarization,

etc """ !o, ll those situations made many $eo$le take the decision to leave the country in whatever

way $ossible"

V : !o, now""" re your uncles living in the nited !tates (

C : 2es, they are in the nited !tates, they made their lives in that country """ 3y uncle Eose$h is

married with a Chilean woman and they had two children" #e works in a su$ermarket chain, and he

is boss of staff" #is salary is very good"" !o % doubt, that he wants to return to his country " #e comesto 1cuador every three years and stays here for a month " )he last time he came alone" #is wife and

children didn't come with him"""" % think, they don't like 1cuador"

G : nd your other uncle, what about he (

C : 3y other uncle (""" #is name is Duis" #is story is very similar to my uncle Eose, both traveled with

tourist visa and never returned" % guess, at the beginning, when they were illegal, they had many

$roblems """ %t must be hard to get work being illegal "" =ut years $assed by and they could obtain

citizenshi$ and now they are ha$$y with their 7obs and with their families and occasionally they

communicate with us"

G : Duckily your uncles didn't go through many $roblems on their tri$s"

C : !ure" )hey were very lucky to travel with a tourist visa and not suffer so many adventures that

many $eo$le suffer trying to achieve the merican dream"

V : 0ell, )hanks Carlos and Grace for your stories"

C : )hanks to you Vicente, and thanks Grace too" %t was a nice moment"

G : 2eah, %t was nice""" thanks to both"

V : 0e ho$e you en7oyed the video"

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G : ohhh""" by the way "" 3iss #y$atia, we ho$e to get a *.""" =21

G : =21

V : =21