As Rosalba Garcia climbed into a wooden boat loaded with 55 people in the middle of the night, she was terrified. The 37-year-old was about to embark on a treacherous journey across a notorious 80-mile stretch of sea between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico known as the Mona Passage. Fraught with strong currents and huge waves, many who undertake the perilous journey never make it ashore.
With only the clothes she was wearing, little money and no papers, Garcia’s only thought as she embarked was to find her 21-year-old son, who had made the same journey two years before, and secure work that would allow her to provide for her two other children and parents back home.
