California’s hidden homeless children: living in garages, doubled-up and unseen

‘Our kids are fearful. Our families are fearful, and as these Ice raids ramp up, I can tell you, we are going to see our attendance at school in the fall decline.’ Illustration: Angelica Alzona/Guardian Design; Source images via Getty Images

For the past year, nine-year-old Brigitte has lived with her parents in a converted garage, behind a house, in Salinas, California. Her bedroom is just about big enough to bust out some K-pop dance moves, though not spacious enough for her parents to agree to get her the cat she dreams of.

There’s no outdoor space, or a living room, but the family no longer has to share a kitchen, bathroom or fridge with two other families, like they did when they first moved here from Oaxaca, Mexico, three years ago.