Carolayn Ponce

I arrived in Tapachula, Mexico; from there, we took a motorcycle to a hotel, and the next day we traveled by bus to Tuzla. In Tuzla, we slept at the bus terminal until the next bus departed for Arriaga. Then, we caught another bus that took us to Mexico City. When we arrived in Mexico City, we didn't know what to do or where to go, because right after we got off the bus, we were robbed of everything we had. After that, we were planning to sleep under a bridge, but my mother managed to get in touch with my stepfather and told him what had happened to us; he then sent someone to pick us up. Afterward, we arrived at a house where there were other immigrants; we stayed in that house for about two or three weeks. After those weeks, we took a bus to Sonoyta—a journey that took two days. When we arrived, some men picked us up and took us to a house filled with many immigrants; we stayed in that house for a week. After that week, they took us toward the wall (the border). We crossed the wall and walked through the desert for two hours until Border Patrol stopped us and took us into custody. We spent a week in immigration detention (I don't remember exactly why; there were no windows, and we couldn't tell the time). Finally, they released us and allowed us to proceed. After that, they transported us by bus to Tucson Arizona, and then took us to a hotel. The next day, we took a bus to Los Angeles, California, where my stepfather picked us up. And that is the story of how my entire journey to the U.S. began and ended By Carolayn Ponce