A Story That Changed A Mother's Life
ByGabriela Suarez

Catalina Cruz is my neighbor. She lives in Richmond CA. She is camera shy so I didn't take a picture of her.

Catalina is a housewife.She is now only dedicated to her family here and converted to Christian Pentecostal before she came to the U.S. She was Catholic prior to that. Cruz is from Jojutla ,Mexico. She came about 16 years ago to.

when Cruz was about 28 she decided to come to the U.S. to be able to give her family stability it was a very hard decision.

Approximately 41.3 million immigrants live in the U.S. Some come for work to maintain their families, other come for a new kind of life.

Cruz had to leave her 4 kids with her mother. She came with her 8 month old baby and with 240 pesos equivalent to 20 U.S dollars for the whole trip. She walked the some mountains and a desert to be able to get to her brother who was waiting for her.

Reasons for Immigration

• need to leave in order to survive
• attracted to new way of life
• human traffiking