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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Brent Crosson and Alexandra Villareal

‘I am here, I am free’: how one Venezuelan refugee triumphed against the odds

illustration of scenes from a family's life, including making a ring from a bottle, going to the airport with children, spending time on the phone, and flying a plane
‘The ring has a meaning because the experience marks you.’ Illustration: Emre Altındağ/The Guardian

The rough floor of the immigration detention center was Alejandro’s sharpening stone.

For hours each day, he scraped trash against concrete at the River correctional facility in rural Louisiana so he could make rings for his loved ones. He wore plastic Coke bottles down to an “O” shape, using the cylinder to give the rings their form. He knew the bottle would leave the rings too big for the fingers he was making them for: his sister, niece and best friend. But he had nothing else.

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