Livermore father deported to Mexico struggles to find work, worries about losing Bay Area home
CHIMALHUACAN, Mexico (KGO) -- Miguel Angel Lopez did not expect to celebrate his 47th birthday the way he did, with his children 2,000 miles away.
Lopez, who lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 29 years, was deported June 7. He now lives with his father in Chimalhuacán, an underdeveloped city in the outskirts of Mexico City.
"I never thought this was going to happen but I am trying to be strong for my family," said Lopez.
His wife, Rosa, flew to Mexico to visit him.
"I am not used to this," said Lopez with a dry chuckle. "I used to get up every morning and go to work, and come back and see my family."
Miguel emigrated illegally to the U.S. in 1996 when he was 18.
He met Rosa a few years later. They married Rosa in 2001 and she applied for his legal residency. But ICE rejected it because he lied about being a U.S. citizen when he crossed the border.
Later, he was granted a temporary green card but the government revoked it. He's been fighting to stay in the U.S. ever since.
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"It was like 17 years that I was reporting to immigration. At the beginning it was every month, then every three months, then every year until the last time I went and they detained me," he said.
He had a routine appointment at the San Francisco immigration office on May 27.
"As soon as I got in the elevator he told me that I was going to be detained."
Within hours, Miguel was taken to an immigration detention center in McFarland then to the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield. Ten days later, he was first detained then deported to Tijuana.
"It's either I'm here with him and my kids are back at home, or I'm home with my kids and he's out here," said Maria Rosa Lopez.
Miguel's deportation has upended the entire family. Up until his deportation he was a welder and machinist at Wente Winery, the family's sole wage earner.
Now, he is searching for a job in Mexico to help pay the bills in the United States.
"It's kind of hard to survive here with the pay they get here to have to support my family," said López.
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Since January 20 through mid-June, the Mexican government said 56,298 people have been deported to Mexico.
Just days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promoted the government's "Mexico te abraza" program on social media.
The program, which means "Mexico embraces you" is supposed to help deportees find jobs, sign up for social services and offers them the equivalent of $100 in Mexican pesos.
But according to Mexico's Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez, only 4% of those deported had found jobs.
"The process of individuals fitting their skills to the local job market can be complicated. Mexico has a precarious labor market and also a lot of informality," explained Nancy Landa, a writer and migration researcher in Mexico City.
Landa was brought to the United States as a child. She was student body president at CSU Northridge but after living as an undocumented immigrant for 20 years she was deported in 2009.
She now writes about migration for the blog "MundoCitizen."
"Obviously the living standards in Mexico are different, but if you have financial commitments it is virtually impossible to gain that salary you need to support a family in the U.S.," said Landa.
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Lopez said he has started looking for side jobs but has not found anything promising.
As a certified welder, Miguel made $44 an hour. An equivalent job in Mexico earns less than $3 an hour. Lopez said that is barely enough to support himself.
"We have our house, something he's worked really hard for to have for our family. And I'm scared of losing my home," said his wife Rosa.
Lopez said the family is living off savings and he's thinking of cashing out his 401k account to pay the mortgage and other bills if he is not able to return to the U.S. and return to his job.
A GoFundMe for the family has raised more than $56,000.
It's difficult for him. Adjusting is very hard," said Lorenzo López Santiago, Miguel's father. "It's hard to find work and what there is is not well paid."
Low wages are just one worry. Miguel is living with his father in a rough neighborhood. His younger brother, Julio, was killed in October of 2023 outside the family home by robbers who wanted to steal his vehicle.
Lopez said the home was shot at in another location by people trying to intimidate his father.
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The insecurity Lopez faces has his wife developing anxiety.
"There's times I can't control myself of how I feel, and I try to be strong in front of my kids, but I just break down. I can't go to sleep at night just thinking that we're so far away from each other," said Rosa.
Miguel was deported hours before a District Court judge issued an order that allowed to remain in the country as he fights removal orders.
That case is moving forward. The next hearing is on October 7. The family remains hopeful he can return to the Bay Area.
For now, Lopez just dreams about planning a fishing trip with his youngest son.
"Tomorrow, I will bring you back tomorrow," said his son.
"I wish," is all Lopez could reply.
