Los Angeles Times

Guatemalan immigrant is too poor to go home

At a time when many immigrants and refugees are trying to get into the United States, Claudia Calderon is too poor to leave.

Earlier this year, she and her husband left their native Guatemala separately and crossed the border, each with one of their sons.

Their journeys to America ended differently, but in many ways, both proved disastrous.

Traveling with her 2-month-old and no money, Calderon turned herself in to border authorities in Texas in March and made a claim for asylum. She was briefly detained, and then went to live at her in-laws' cramped Los Angeles apartment.

When she got there, she learned that her husband, Kristian Francisco Ovalle Hernandez, who was with their 3-year-old son, was arrested for trying to illegally cross the border in El Paso. The boy watched his father's arrest and

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