How A Guatemalan Village's Fortunes Rose And Fell With U.S. Migration And Deportation
Hundreds of people left San Jose Calderas for work opportunities in the U.S. They sent back money that helped the village prosper. Things changed when many of them were deported and had to come back.
In a village clinging to the side of a volcano in southern Guatemala, Florencio Hernadez sits in a cinder block house with the corn harvest piled up, a chicken coop in the corner and pots bubbling on a stove in the courtyard.
His home is the proud product of a hardworking life shaped by migration. As millions of migrants in the U.S. listen apprehensively to fierce political debate over who should be allowed to stay, this village of 550 families tells a stark story of the wide ripple effects that migration — and deportation — can have.
"I was born here, in the village of San Jose
