The Far Away Brothers: Chapters 5–9

He was especially drawn to the elder, Fernanda, with her long, thick hair; dark eyes; and brash confidence.

It was so quiet, the darkness outside shrouded the whole world from view.

The next morning, when the sun had risen, Sandra, Raúl, and the driver took stock: Dirty clothes, faces streaked with mud, a wily look in their eyes.

Raúl ate slowly and hardly at all. Between labored bites, he told his twin what had happened.

Most of the time Reynosa appears orderly enough, but beneath the surface, it roils. In the past decade violence and crime in Reynosa’s state, Tamaulipas—and throughout Mexico—have increased.

When the notoriously violent Zeta and Gulf drug cartels parted ways in 2010, Reynosa became a turf war battleground...

In the past several years, the cartels have realized that migrants are lucrative marks.

The next year, in 2011, authorities uncovered 193 more...scattered among clandestine graves around San Fernando.

“Help me out back?” one of the coyotes asked him, the guy who, by his firm temperament and imposing stature, appeared to be the boss.

Along the scrub of south Texas, everything sounds like a threat: wind rustling the palm fronds, a lizard skittering through the understory, the heavy flap of a low-flying hawk.

Border patrol agents man the checkpoint, clad in fatigues, black boots, and reflective sunglasses, holding tight to the leashes of German shepherds....

Border patrol agents man the checkpoint, clad in fatigues, black boots, and reflective sunglasses, holding tight to the leashes of German shepherds....

But ask anyone who’s crossed the Rio Grande: the languid look of the river is a sham. Beneath the surface, the water rips fast and cruel.

But ask anyone who’s crossed the Rio Grande: the languid look of the river is a sham. Beneath the surface, the water rips fast and cruel.

The three spent another aimless night forging a pathway through the arid rangeland.

They found a low mesquite tree and scurried up into the slim branches, hurling rocks toward the sounds, until eventually the animals lumbered away.

Occasionally they came across a cattle trough and drank, first skimming green muck off the water’s surface.

Ernesto’s shoes were torn to bits, and they were hungry and thirsty and rendered inert by everything that had brought them here.

Ernesto’s shoes were torn to bits, and they were hungry and thirsty and rendered inert by everything that had brought them here.

First they were sent to the hielera, or icebox—the immigration holding tank, the official limbo zone of the US immigration system.

A 2008 internal border patrol memorandum asserted that immigration detainees should not be held in hieleras for more than twelve hours before being released to an official detention center.

The images of dozens of children locked in windowless rooms revealed the deplorable conditions to which they were subjected.

As the wheels lifted off the tarmac, the Flores twins gripped their armrests and held their breaths.

Undocumented immigrants may use public services like schools, roads, and public hospitals, but they do not qualify for benefits like welfare, food stamps, subsidized housing, or health insurance (even under the Affordable Care Act)—even though these are resources they frequently and desperately need.

Here, the styles were different—skinny jeans, fitted sweatshirts, oversize high-tops only barely laced. It was like what Wilber wore—and not unlike gangster garb back home.

Wilber Sr. told the story of his life as this sort of parable. The moral of this tale: his land was something he’d come to through both patient suffering and divine intervention.

They’d come to adore Gabby’s Chihuahua, Nicky. Each evening they’d coax her into their room.

Because who knew, exactly, where people’s allegiances were anymore? They tried not to think about it, but harbored a needling fear that someone might come here looking for them.

The bus ran through the Fruitvale district, past seedy motels, the outdoor fruit stalls of the Vietnamese shops, and shimmering Lake Merritt, then through Chinatown, and headed into downtown Oakland.

To the twins’ chagrin, they were assigned to separate classes but were too nervous to argue.

Every morning they took great care to shower, slick their hair with gel, and don their new American clothes—which, because they had so few, they had to wash frequently at the nearby Laundromat.

The student body was astoundingly diverse in terms of language backgrounds, cultural mores, and life experiences.

There was a strange hierarchy among students: those who had immigration cases were more quickly supported, due to their imminent court date; those who had not been caught, or who arrived with parents, received less support.

There was a strange hierarchy among students: those who had immigration cases were more quickly supported, due to their imminent court date; those who had not been caught, or who arrived with parents, received less support.

Though Oakland was a “sanctuary city”—a loose term meaning that its police force did not hand over people they arrested to the immigration authorities (this was not an explicit law, though, and there were numerous cases in Oakland and elsewhere in which contact with law enforcement had led to deportation).

Though Oakland was a “sanctuary city”—a loose term meaning that its police force did not hand over people they arrested to the immigration authorities (this was not an explicit law, though, and there were numerous cases in Oakland and elsewhere in which contact with law enforcement had led to deportation).

The Floreses would have to either find a pro bono option, or pay.

It’s a high-stakes venue, the pro bono waiting room, and the twins could feel a familiar energy of hope and anxiety in the air.

As the LSC paralegals explained, unaccompanied minors could qualify for U visas, for people who’d been victims of a violent crime in the United States and were willing to cooperate with the police, or T visas, for people who had been trafficked for labor....

Ernesto balked. He shook his head.