Life for undocumented immigrants in the US is tough. Some cities make it illegal for landlords to rent to you; high school graduates desiring to go to college find an obstacle when it comes to paying for college due to their ineligibility for financial aid; and you might be picked up by ICE while out shopping and get deported.

But the struggles don’t end in death, as detailed in recent article in the Los Angeles Times’ “life in the shadows” series.

Alberta Trujillo, 37, left her hometown of Pericotepec, Puebla for Los Angeles after marital troubles. She left behind three children for low-wage work in LA. After some cross migration between LA and Mexico, Trujillo stayed in the LA. On Christmas Eve in 2006, she met a man 10 years her junior, Margarito García. They eventually moved in together and soon she learned they were expecting a little girl.

Sadly, Nicole (the baby) died soon after birth. Trujillo died shortly after. Amniotic fluid got in to her bloodstream. The baby’s father and Trujillo’s fiancee, García, was devastated.

Garcia wanted to bury Trujillo and their baby in Los Angeles. Trujillo’s family — both in the U.S. and Mexico — wanted her to be buried in the town where she was born and where her parents still lived. Three of her children from a previous marriage also lived in Mexico.

“My sister always fought to have a better life here,” said Elizabeth Trujillo, who lives in Los Angeles. “But we are Mexicans and we want to return to where we were born.”

García and Trujillo’s siblings living in Los Angeles are all undocumented:

Returning to Mexico with the body would mean a costly and dangerous journey back across the border to their jobs and U.S.-born children. They decided that the bodies of Trujillo and her baby should be shipped to Mexico and, reluctantly, that they would stay behind.

The family held a viewing and funeral Mass for Nicole and Trujillo in Los Angeles. With the financial help of the Mexican consulate, they sent the bodies to Puebla. There, Trujillo’s family held a traditional funeral and burial for her and the baby.

Sadly, undocumented immigrants are separated from their families in their home countries even in the most difficult times.

Via / Los Angeles Times (en español)