Nine-year-old Juanito can identify most of the world flags in the lobby at his North Side school. He’s seen them firsthand after trekking thousands of miles on foot from his native Ecuador to a new home in Chicago.
Juanito and his mother, Ana, are part of a recent wave of migrants from Central and South America seeking asylum in the U.S. (WBEZ is withholding their real names and school name due to safety concerns). The crisis made headlines last summer after Republican-led states started busing people to major cities including New York and Chicago.
