For a mother who self-deported to Mexico, days of feeling lost

TLAQUEPAQUE, Mexico - Maria Barrancas stood in the backyard of her mother-in-law's home, alone but for a pig and some hens. It had been about a week since she packed up her life in Gardena, Calif., and left for Mexico with her partner and their two children.

There, in the small, dusty Sinaloa town of El Aguaje, the isolation hit her. Her three older children were still in California. She was in a country she hardly remembered, having left for the U.S. 32 years ago at age 15.

She broke down in tears but wiped them away before walking inside to her family. She didn't want them to see that she was afraid.

Back in their two-bedroom apartment in Gardena, Barrancas and Ricardo Madrigal had dreamed of one day owning a home nearby. They made