Three months into his first year as an American high school student, Juan Rodríguez-Ramírez stopped doing his work. Arriving in Los Angeles from Guatemala in January 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the 17-year-old Tz’utujil Maya had online classes. A teacher noticed his absence and asked Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, an intervention coordinator, to check in. Aware of the school’s concern, Juan’s father, Mariano, did something Carrasco Cardona said is rare: He wrote a letter explaining their circumstances.
Those circumstances were extraordinary, yet not uncommon for migrants from Central America’s Northern Triangle — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. For reasons of work and safety, Mariano left San Pedro La Laguna in Guatemala to go north to the United States in January 2020. In his absence, Juan’s mother was raped. Mariano returned eight months later with a plan to take his son, Juan, with him to the U.S. The rest of the family would follow after.
