It took a health emergency for this Guatemalan boy, who crossed the border alone, to see a US judge

[Judi Lynn]

This story is a part of
Global Nation
PRI's The World
June 01, 2017 · 3:45 PM EDT
By Erika Beras




Monica Ruiz and her foster son Bartolo pose in front of their Pittsburgh home. Ruiz says part of Bartolo’s challenge is to learn to become a teenager again. “They've had so many adult responsibilities for so long,” she says. Credit: Erika Beras/PRI


To see Bartolo now — happy, healthy, slurping a Go-Gurt in an English language class — you’d never know what he’s been through since he left his town of San Mateo Ixtatán in northern Guatemala four years ago.

He grew up working in the fields alongside his father, occasionally selling items in the market to help support his parents and siblings. But weeks after turning 16, he set out to the US, joining tens of thousands of other undocumented, unaccompanied minors fleeing poverty and violence in Central America.

"I wanted to come here. There, there isn't money, I couldn't get money. That's why I came here," Bartolo says. Because he is worried about backlash and he is a teenager, we are only using his first name.

He was a child when he crossed the border in Texas in late 2013. He'd been traveling for months.

More:
https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-06-01/it-took-health-emergency-guatemalan-boy-who-crossed-border-alone-see-us-judge