This week, we’re talking to El Paso Times reporter Lauren Villagran, who covers immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border for the Times and the USA Today network of newspapers.
The journey of Kristian González Pérez and his family of four is not particularly unique — insomuch as his was one of thousands of families bussed to other parts of the country, sometime for practical reasons, sometimes for political reasons.
They were four of 10,713 asylum seekers who took the same route to New York on city-chartered buses. The family captured the journey on cameras provided by the El Paso Times and the USA Today Network.
As Lauren notes, it was just hours earlier on Oct. 19 — exactly 35 days after they left Venezuela — González Pérez and his family had lined up in the parking lot of El Paso's Migrant Welcome Center. They smiled into the cellphone camera as the bus idled beside them.
Lauren, and Times photojournalist Omar Ornelas, were not allowed to be on that bus. But they flew to New York to meet the family when they arrived, and they continued chronicling the family’s journey.
This story was a collaboration between the El Paso Times and USA Today for the fifth episode in the series “States of America.” The full episode of “States of America” exploring the migration crisis premiered on Nov. 25 on USA TODAY NETWORK’s streaming channel. You can also find it on YouTube.
This week, I’m grateful to have Lauren joining us.