S1: It feels almost impossible in this day and age to escape immigration news and discourse.
S2: Rallies against immigration raids that begin in Los Angeles have spread to other cities , including New York , Chicago and Milwaukee , with some clashes reported between protesters and police.
S3: All right , to Chicago now , where protests have erupted there. That is where the Trump administration is ramping up immigration enforcement and a plan it calls Operation Midway Blitz.
S4: Every day , a new executive order enforcement strategy raid , or separated family makes its way through our news feed , and the hot takes and heated debates are relentless.
S5: I'm an immigrant myself and first generation , and I'm all for people coming and bringing something and adding something to the country. But I feel like we're on this point where a lot of people are coming just to get everything that they can out of the country without contributing much to it. So I'd say it's time to focus on the people already here.
S6: I totally , completely disagree with every factual part of that. I think that nobody comes to the United States for our welfare state here. It just doesn't really exist. Even the illegal immigrants that we have here are working.
S1: The country is split between those who feel the current administration is destroying the very fabric of a diverse American identity.
S4: And those who feel it's finally doing something to fix an immigration problem that they believe is the root cause of many of the nation's woes.
S7: When I came to this country , I stood in line for hours and days before I could get my green card.
S4: The avalanche of commentary and slogans on both sides is endless. So today we're going to focus on one assertion.
S7: Yeah , I will be okay. They can be deported , but they can also apply to to come back to the United States , but do it the right way.
S8: If you come to America , then you you've got to do it a legal way , right ? Uh , you've got There's. There's plenty of other people who do it the legal way and , uh , wait their time and , uh , go through that process.
S9: Listen , whatever it takes to become legal , there are laws in place for a reason.
S1: They claim that migrants need to get a ticket , wait in line and enter the country the right way , just like everyone else is a statement you have probably heard before and has become a go to for those in support of Trump's immigration policies.
S4:
S10: Only English piece. Okay.
S1: That's Sharma. Sharma is a Venezuelan exile from Caracas.
S4: She fled her home almost ten years ago after it became impossible to live a normal life.
S11: There is a friend. You want to know him. You want to meet him , you know. Whatever you want to get him. No more. A Julio si quieren jovenes a connoisseur. Julio.
S1: And no charmer is not her real name. Chama is a nickname Venezuelan friends used to refer to each other.
S4: Chama agreed to be interviewed on the condition that port of entry not identified because she doesn't have legal status , and fears deportation from the US. She currently resides in LA , where she works as a live in nanny for a young family with a three year old baby boss.
S12: Esto es two one.
S13: Man my baby boss baby boss.
S1: Okay , you see , Chema entered the US the right and legal way back in 2022.
S4: Legal based on policies set by President Joe Biden's administration. Fast forward to 2025. Chapman was one of hundreds of thousands of migrants that lost their legal status with an executive order from President Donald Trump.
S1: And that's why now she is bound to the shadows. Undocumented.
S4: Undocumented. Karma's story is a testament of unbridled courage and perseverance when forced to navigate volatile political tides , tides that are indifferent to the human lives caught in the middle.
S1: Be it in her home country of Venezuela or here in the US , today's episode will delve into the first chapter of Sharma's Migrant Journey , her odyssey out of Venezuela and her determination to reunite with her family via Taiwan.
S4: In part two will explore her path into the United States. The Herculean effort to do it the legal way and , despite all her efforts , how the system ultimately failed her.
S1: This is a special report. Illegal by decree , part one.
S4: From KPBS. This is Port of Entry.
S1: Where we tell cross-border stories that connect us.
S4: I'm Alan Lilienthal.
S1: And I'm Natalie Gonzalez. You are listening to Port of Entry. Venezuela.
S14: Venezuela. Venezuela.
S4: Sharma's story dates back to a Venezuela that for her , doesn't exist anymore.
S14: So persona customer El nombre del pais Q ya know , exist.
S1: People , places , customs , names that aren't there anymore and feel like fiction or fantasy.
S14: Porque lo mismo cuando tu te vas y teens a donde regresa a cuando two recuerda qué Eh eh eh eh eh eh regresa ya Nishi quiera esta.
S4: Throughout our conversation with her , the nostalgia of longing for those times in her homeland were very palpable.
S14: Cuando comienza diciembre in Venezuela es para mere recuerda mi infancia , recorder Los diciembre y y Los verano.
S4: She especially recalls spending time with family during Venezuela's holiday season in December , which , in contrast to ours in the northern hemisphere , is summertime.
S1: And in Venezuela , a hot tropical Caribbean summer. At that.
S14: Era , UN cuatro con la familia , mi papa de mi mama , vice versa en el oro y estamos junto y regalo y prosperity todo habian todo bello.
S1: Chama remembers having a privileged upbringing. Never really feeling like anything was missing during her childhood.
S14: Yo privilege de mi vida de Nina.
S4: Her father was an oil rig engineer turned insurance broker and her mother a university professor turned K12 teacher.
S14: See ya. Me , papa. Muy bien. Gracias a Dios. Colegio privado habia aja nunca alto de nada.
S1: I could afford the blessings of their hard work. A house with a pool , private schools and family vacations abroad.
S4: But that wasn't the reality lived by the majority of Venezuelans.
S1: In fact , Chema mentioned the country was far from perfect.
S4: There were stark differences in social and racial classes that were visible in her everyday life.
S1: But prosperity and abundance were also visible. People were able to splurge for Christmas gifts.
S4: It all changed for her and her family when Hugo Chavez rose to power in the 1990s , to eventually become president in 1999.
S15: In Venezuela. DNS Hora es la hora del pueblo.
S1: The impact of Chavez's rise to power can still be felt decades later , and the story of how it happened is as dramatic as it is consequential.
S4: There's failed coups , frauds , constitutional resets , geopolitical blockades , petrodollars , corruption , embargoes and hyperinflation.
S1: It's all a telenovela unto itself.
S4: While diving into all that is not relevant to our story. It did play a part in how Chama and an estimated 7 to 9 million Venezuelans were forced out.
S1: Whether under the Chavez regime or his successors , Nicolas Maduro.
S16: They've trekked for hours across the Guajira Desert , nestled between Venezuela and Colombia , to join this long queue.
S17: On the floor or bunk beds alongside each other. More than 170 Venezuelans are sharing three bedrooms , two bathrooms and every single space there is left. And this makeshift shelter on the outskirts of Lima.
S18: Today , the growing migrant crisis in Latin America has hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans flee their countries seeking economic and political stability.
S4:
S1: And Sharma's family was no exception.
S14: South Africa , Inglaterra , México. Argentina , Peru. Bolivia , Espana. Londres , Malaysia. Indonesia. Bogota. Todos todos. Jamas.
S4: Jamas. Family and friends are all scattered around the world , pushed out by the crackdown on dissent , insecurity and what Chama calls.
S14: The Unidad imposible.
S1: Le quotidien edad imposible.
S4: That's Spanish for the impossible. Daily living conditions.
S14: Poor temperature de agua. Agua bajo el paso. Una otra vez eso empezar cambiar hacer mas frequent y mas frequent y mas frequent a partir.
S4: Things like extreme water rationing that gradually escalated from one day a month without water to once a week to three days without water , a week to 4 to 5 to only having water for 30 minutes each day and a full day of water once or twice a month.
S14: Aldea cada una vez mas agua , ya know me podia llevar cuando two eras bastante porque la voz de la mejor calidad y la regla.
S1: It was hell when you couldn't flush the toilet , or as a woman when you were on your period , Kayama mentioned. They just couldn't bathe.
S14: ESO q buscar una conversion una cola de cuatro cinco aura una de panne.
S4: There were insane 4 or 5 six hour queues just for bread.
S1: There was a food rationing system with carts and designated days to get chicken or beef or coffee.
S14: El cafe de la semana comprar pollo araucana.
S4: Even getting food supplies for her baby was a whole quest unto itself.
S14: We were on dice. No puede ser qué kataria qué voy a hacer darle de comer al nino a trabajar se con una mision imposible. Apotheosis.
S4: The normal daily tasks that we take for granted would just be impossible.
S14: No , no puedo vivir ASI Izquierda derecha. No , no fue todo eso y su mal la seguridad.
S1: Then there was the insecurity.
S14: I mean.
S1: I was held at gunpoint seven times.
S14: Said una vez en la vida y nunca la primera persona. Yo salida Venezuela Q no se ha venezolano al q yo asi Como two yo somos amigos en la vida de verdad.
S4: The indignation she felt propelled her out of her seat. She formed a gun with her fingers and pointed it at her producer Julio , while asking him if he was ever held at gunpoint.
S1:
S4: Kasi Sharma hasn't met anyone outside of Venezuela who has.
S1: The poverty , the hunger , the insecurity , it all led to social decay. What was seen in the streets of Caracas masses was unspeakable.
S14: Pero si siento. Como la calle partido. UN locura mosquito decia cono. No , no puede ser. Por ejemplo ya al final. Cuando estaba sabado estaba a ninos de la calle este usando Granada's para a la gente.
S4: Chama heard stories of kids using grenades to mug people. Reports of minors , some of them very young , being sexually exploited for food and prostitution.
S14: Por comida. Seis siete anos. Ninos. Nunca.
S1: And while that may sound hard to imagine , there are many news reports from the time that described in detail the extreme lengths people went through just to survive. Karma just couldn't stay there. She couldn't keep her son there.
S4: So imagine an extreme shortage of basic goods , a fear for public safety , social decay , and when Sharma attempted to advocate for change. Well.
S14: Amigos , todavia la universidad. Ellos estaba también activa.
S4: And she remembers helping activist friends design flyers , website and blogs that would spread dissident messaging in opposition to the current government.
S14: Entonces yo todo el apoyo nivel visual este Los logos Los flyers , el website todas la parte de diseno grafico.
S1: From that some things got weird.
S14: Ido a Los teléfono quieren a mi mama en el caro con el hijo dos veces me cuenta.
S1: She began experiencing different forms of harassment from unknown sources.
S4: Her phone lines got tapped. Her family was followed by strangers in a car. Bank accounts were meddled with. Her email and social media accounts kept getting logged in and logged out. Nadia.
S14: Nadia. Nadia. Nadia. Nadir grafico cualquiera es un psycho terror.
S1: She was just a simple graphic designer , feeling the whole weight of a campaign meant to intimidate her and leave her feeling afraid for her well-being and that of her family.
S4: Shama wants to leave one thing clear politics wasn't the motivating factor for leaving.
S14: Tengo agua. Tengo la tengo vida pueden. Ahora ahora de la gana. No me importa. Mientras yo tenga vida problema tenemos vida.
S1: Had she felt safe and had dignified living conditions , she would have stayed regardless of Chavez or Maduro or whatever the political situation may have been.
S4: What she wanted was a place to live and prosper safely with her then ten year old son from Venezuela in the 20 tens just wasn't that place.
S14: Yo yo yo. No , mijo. Esto eso. Follow me , Miss Venezuela.
S1: And that was the tipping point. The moment she knew she wasn't able to ensure a future for her son , she said goodbye to her life in Venezuela.
S4: One hot , humid day in November of 2016.
S1: She has never been back since that day.
S4: Luckily , Chama had a way out thanks to her now estranged spouse.
S1: But while her life would get safer , it by no means would get any easier.
S4: In fact , Sharma's journey to find a home was about to get very , very complicated.
S14: She says Pozo Sudan , el Venezuela pero padres no son de Venezuela.
S4: Chama was married at that time to a man with dual citizenship , a Venezuelan national who also possessed citizenship of another country , which was treated more favorably by the U.S. Department of State in the early 20 tens when he had left Venezuela.
S1: We will have to meet her spouse's nationality out of fear of giving out too many details.
S4: Chema spouse had his green card approved via his second country of origin.
S1: He had family in California , so he took off before she and her child did.
S4: The plan was to be reunited with Chama and their child in LA.
S14: Yo yo queria venir me Mexico. El a Los Angeles y Los Angeles Q voy a hacer muy facil a Tijuana en caro.
S1: Jama originally wanted to stay in Mexico City.
S4: But her spouse mentioned Tijuana was a better option since it would be easier and cheaper for him to drive down from LA to Tijuana than to fly down from LA to Mexico City.
S14: And Miho Bueno. Hasta ciudad de México , yo Carol caro desde Los Angeles a Tijuana y lo podemos ver todos Los fins de semana. No una vez al me.
S1: So that was the plan. Chama would wait it out in Tijuana while her spouse would push her family reunification in the US with a petition titled I 130.
S4:
S19:
S14: Tijuana , a genderless. Shaman.
S1: Shaman. Her spouse would find out the hard way that Tijuana is more expensive than Mexico City.
S4: Nevertheless , it was still the best option for them.
S1: Arriving in Tijuana was a bit of a culture shock for Chama. One that shook her to the core then and still moves her to tears now in shock.
S14: Cuando Venezuela muy fuerte sobre todo el tema yo Como habia tanto y nosotros no tenemos nada.
S4: Shopping at a supermarket would incite a flurry of mixed feelings. She remembers asking herself.
S1:
S14: Yo. Yo yo yo yo. No yo , no acuerdo.
S1: Picking something as simple as rice juice or yogurt turned into a form of torture. She had spent her last years in Venezuela just dealing with a meager and scarce single option.
S4: Sharma shared that she suffered panic attacks from the overwhelming amount of choices available. Sometimes having to leave the supermarket to catch her breath. Rose.
S14: Rose. Said Mrs. Buscando a Rose.
S4: A deep sense of guilt and powerlessness would wash over her , as she recalled how her mother had spent the last six months before Sharma's departure searching for a bag of rice.
S14: Yo yo yo , Finca de commerce completo de mi casa para mi mamma. Mi papa. La comida. Cuando yo me fui.
S4: The look on her face as she shared this with water filled eyes piercing with rage , revealed the pent up anger at the system that forced her to skip meals so that her parents would have enough food after she'd gone.
S14: De la manana de la manana.
S4: She recalls opening the faucet at odd hours of the night in her Tijuana apartment to see if there was running water still.
S1: Flushing the toilet and taking long showers. Crying , but happy that she and her son had a better life than back home.
S14: I don't know. Why me ? Three. La manana. Sola me. Imposible.
S4: Tijuana for Chama was an oasis of warmth and rest. She felt the welcoming embrace of a city full of immigrants just like her.
S1: But the cost of living wasn't that welcoming.
S4: So finding employment was going to be key.
S1: The moment it was decided Tijuana was a destination. Gemma rolled up her sleeves in Caracas and started looking for potential job opportunities in Mexico.
S4: She contacted a Mexican recruitment agency owned by some Venezuelan nationals looking for workers in the creative field. That agency would facilitate the networking with a pool of employers in Mexico.
S1: This agency was well known for streamlining the work visa process for outside talent , and fulfilled the strict guidelines the Mexican authorities required.
S4: They would take care of making sure Chama would get a work visa as soon as she landed a job with one of the employers in the pool that this recruitment agency already worked with.
S1: By the time she arrived in Mexico , she had two job offers waiting for her , one with the famous Tijuana creative agency that constantly hired foreign talent , and another with a post-production studio founded by Venezuelan friends in Mexico City.
S4: Ultimately , Chama went with the Tijuana agency's offer as they offered to pay her more and in dollars.
S1: So she had the recruitment agency to facilitate the Mexican work visa process.
S4: And she had an offer for a job that would sponsor the work visa. The stars seemed to be lining up.
S1: Juan challenged though.
S14: Este yo entre Como a Los tres meses. Yolo ici Sally Medina , mi visa me le varon en México. Me le pajaro y chama.
S4: First entered Mexico as a tourist with a plan to seal the deal with his employer , and then finalized the work visa process with the recruitment agency she'd contacted.
S1: All within 180 days.
S4: The max allotted time you get to spend in Mexico as a tourist.
S1: At 90 days. Of those 180 , she would need to exit Mexico and enter back to follow immigration law.
S4: Then , after she reentered , the clock would reset for the remaining 90 days.
S1: With Sharma established in Mexico with a full time job , her son enrolled in school and the work visa process underway. The first 90 days were coming to an end.
S4: That's when things turned into an audition trial.
S14: In Venezuela , a la Sierra.
S1: The recruitment agency that was handling her work visa , shut down.
S4: Sharma couldn't believe her luck. Why did it seem like this ? Black cloud was constantly lingering over her head , she wondered.
S1: Nevertheless , the famous creative agency she was working for offered a solution.
S14: No lo tenemos nosotros y nosotros.
S4: They would take over the work visa process , which was in their best interest. As Sharma wasn't the only foreigner in their staff pool.
S1: But they had to start from zero as it would be a new request.
S4: Sharma had less than 90 days left to do.
S1: It , a highly improbable feat.
S14: Hacerlo Justo , cuando se no se puede Qué plan ? Pinto. Proceso. Bureaucratic. Como siempre todo.
S4: América Latina to raise the stakes in that race against the clock. This famous creative agency hit internal strife and crisis amidst some scandals , and the role in Sharma's visa process hit snags and dragged.
S14: To dias y cuando.
S4:
S1: At that point , Sharma would have to leave the country with her son or become undocumented.
S14: El hijo de salir de México volver a hacer el el proceso de la visa y entrar.
S1: She left the creative agency after failure to get the visa. And to add to her misery.
S14: Tanden Zimmerman's support.
S1: Her passport expired.
S4: Without a passport , she couldn't leave the country or enter another country. She was left stranded , virtually stateless.
S1: With no credentials to her name.
S4: Unable to open a bank account in Mexico or obtain a credit card. Forced to live in the shadows in the informal sector.
S1: Undocumented in Taiwan. You're listening to Port of Entry.
S4: Sharma's husband , facing his own employment challenges in LA , was inconsistent in his support of Sharma and their son. Sharma started facing food insecurity in Tijuana.
S1: Sharma , though , was not bred to be a quitter.
S4: As she puts it , she has a PhD in surviving from the Chavez and Maduro school of hard knocks. Unable to get work formerly in her field of graphic design or TV producing without a work visa. She's at work informally in a totally new field.
S1: After she met a new friend who Chema noticed was making good money.
S14: Tanto con ese pensamiento milagros con un assistant dental.
S1: The line of work.
S4: Dental assistant.
S14: Y la vida y yo no es la gente esta chama.
S4: Didn't have training as a dental assistant , but she knew how to coordinate and manage. So she pitched herself as a clinic administrator.
S1: The key securing American clients from San Diego looking for cheaper dental care.
S4: Her main asset.
S14: Is gracias a Dios di con una con un poquito inglés. Follow me. Me diferencia.
S1: Her limited but handy English skills.
S4: She met with a potential employer and was hired on the spot. As the clinic already had a portfolio of American clients it was trying to retain and wanted to expand its client base.
S1: The owners would later prove to be two of her guardian angels on her journey.
S14: LaVonne de la Cadena y BMT. Cuando me ahi me tiene una buena clinica. Empezar me por debajo de la mesa. Ya see me cuatro anos.
S4: She reached an arrangement with the clinic and was paid under the table. She quickly rose up to be its main administrator. She was there in December of 2018 to 2022.
S1: In the meantime , renewing her passport was another massive ordeal.
S4: But a stroke of luck played in Sharma's favor.
S20: El gobierno mexicano. Diplomatic con Venezuela y evitar confrontations con cualquier nacion.
S21: Nosotros no estamos buscando otra cosa mas K l q se pueda avanza hacia dialogo y Paz.
S1: During her time in Tijuana in 2019 , under the new Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador. Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Venezuela improved.
S20: La Feria mexicana desde el conocimiento. El gobierno del presidente venezolano , Nicolas Maduro y junto con Uruguay , llamo a la solution pacifica a la crisis politica en ese pais.
S4: That year , Mexico recognized Venezuela's government and allowed entry to Venezuelans seeking refuge. As diplomatic relations strengthened , the two countries reached an agreement to allow the issuing of Venezuelan passports in Mexico.
S14: El Pais support por primera vez una.
S1: It was as if the stars had aligned. Mexico was the first country to have this option and Chama happened to be there to.
S14: La vida C con Bolivia Como con Tijuana , Bolivia. El pais Como entro México a través de vuelta a méxico a través de vuelta.
S4: Finally a lucky break for Chama.
S1: Remember , with the passport expired , she didn't have a way out of living in the shadows. Undocumented. But with the passport , she would have more options.
S4: Even if those options were limited.
S14: To a passport.
S4: She would spend two and a half years trying to get an appointment for that passport.
S1: Two and a half years. Dang , that's just a lot of time waiting.
S4: Every day she would log into the Venezuelan online civil registry or submit to request an appointment.
S1: It took a miracle to get an appointment.
S22: Then you've got mail.
S1: The email she was anxiously waiting for suddenly dropped in her inbox.
S4: But as his charm , as luck , blessings would sometimes come with a catch.
S1: The catch this time.
S14: I don't say it to me. A las ocho de la manana.
S4: She received an email on a Friday for an appointment the next Tuesday morning. Just a three day notice in Tijuana. Mexico.
S14: Mexico.
S1: She was in Tijuana.
S4: And her appointment was in Mexico City.
S1: Without a car. Unable to drive. Without access to a bank account to pay for a plane ticket.
S4: Chama was on the verge of a panic attack.
S14: Con nosotros Los dias y passage en el passage.
S4: Her employers , appreciative of all the work she did for the clinic , gifted her the plane ticket and gave her the days off with pay for her to be able to get her passport.
S1: Cheema flew to Mexico City for her appointment and would receive her newly printed Venezuelan passport six months later in 2021 , a breakthrough. But while things seem to be going well in Tijuana.
S4: Sharma's relationship with her husband , who remained in LA , had deteriorated as he failed to financially support Chema and their now 15 year old son.
S1: Despite that , he was committed to their agreement to work toward reuniting the family in L.A. , he just couldn't finance the process which left the financial burden on Chama.
S4: She scraped by the following years as a dental clinic administrator in that same clinic , and another one working 48 hours a week with little time to herself.
S1: And limited possibilities to save money. 2022 rolls in.
S4: And Chama , trying to find a fix to her informal situation , found out about the refugee program in Mexico for Venezuelan nationals.
S1: She decided to initiate that process in case she planned to enter the US via family reunification fell through.
S4: She didn't want to put all her eggs in her estranged husband's basket , so she weighed the decision of becoming a refugee in Mexico against entering the US as a refugee.
S1: But this decision had a catch.
S4: She knew that getting asylum in another country would annul her possibilities of entering as a refugee in the US , so she didn't rush it and allowed the process in Mexico to move , but slowly.
S14: Told ya , estaba en el proceso de. Hacer refugee oficial para pasar para mi papel. Eventually , porque a través de ese proceso en México ondo , sino puede ser ciudadano mexicano.
S1: When she finally got an appointment with the UN refugee agency office in Tijuana.
S4: Which would put her on track to become a refugee and consequently a naturalized Mexican citizen in two years.
S1: Fate had other plans.
S23: It's part of a Biden administration plan that will allow up to 24,000 Venezuelans the right to temporarily live and work in the U.S. if they can find an American sponsor.
S24: Starting today , if you don't apply through the legal process , you will not be eligible for this new parole program. One must have a lawful sponsor here in the United States who agrees to sponsor you to get here. Then that person has to go undergo rigorous background checks and apply from outside the United States and not cross the border illegally. In the meantime , if they apply in their application is approved , they can use the same app , the CBP one app , to present at a port of entry and be able to work in the United States legally for two years. Pero.
S12: Pero. Pero.
S14: Pero.
S4: The moment Chema learned the news that Venezuelans , just like Ukrainians fleeing the war earlier that year , could request legal status through the parole program in the US. She rushed to apply.
S1: Immigration parole is like a temporary permission slip from the government that allows someone without a visa to enter the US for a short time for a critical reason.
S4: Such as a war or political instability in their country of origin.
S14: On cuanto numero , Diez.
S4: Says she was one of the first Venezuelans to be granted parole status.
S1: She remembers the process being easy and straightforward.
S14: Pero solo Como para mi mi mi pasar por el sistema de la tene su permiso in prima loving.
S1: As she downloaded the CBP , one app.
S4: Uploaded a photo of her passport to prove she was Venezuelan.
S1: Filled out a form naming her estranged husband as a US sponsor.
S4: And next thing she knew , she was on a flight to the US , which was a requirement.
S1: As you couldn't enter via a land port of entry.
S14: In Tijuana , Veracruz de Veracruz , Los Angeles.
S4: LA had been the North Star for years , the place where her son would finally reunite with his father , where she'd get the support she needed as a mother , and where , despite there not being a romantic relationship anymore , the family could reunite and find stability.
S1: But not right away. Pearl did not provide an immediate happy ending. All wrapped in a bow.
S4: Trump's decision to leave Tijuana also meant leaving her son behind. Temporarily.
S1: Temporarily.
S4: While she figured out what his path to LA would look like. The roadblock this time was not legal but financial.
S1: And the options for karma were difficult to digest.
S4: She shared her feelings over a zoom call as she was traveling with her working family.
S1: To this day , remembering that difficult decision still gives trauma anxiety.
S25: In my family.
S4: Forced migration is anything but easy. Leaving behind a life to start a new one comes with numerous challenges , especially during these times.
S1: Karma is still working to overcome hers.
S4: But now in the US.
S1: We're a whole new set of obstacles has emerged.
S26: We are following some breaking news out of Washington. The Trump administration is now telling migrants from Cuba , Haiti , Nicaragua and Venezuela that their legal status is being revoked. More than 500,000 migrants are now being told to self deport or face being forcibly arrested and removed from the United States.
S4: That's it for today , folks. We will return with the conclusion of Sharma's story in part two of Illegal by Decree.
S1: This episode of Port of Entry was written produced by Julio César Ortiz Franco.
S4: Adrian Villalobos is technical producer and sound designer.
S1: This episode was edited by Emma Gonzalez Lima Brandao and Julio Cesar Ortiz Franco.
S4: Lisa Jane Morissette is director of audio programming and operations.
S1: This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting , a private corporation funded by the American people.
S4: Soy Ana Lilienthal.
S1: Yo soy Natalia Gonzalez.
S27: Nos vemos pronto.
