A refugee's hopeful, fearful journey to and out of U.S.

Jerardyn sat quietly on the bus, her mood relaxed as her eyes scanned the fleeting horizon of Southern California one August afternoon.

- By Melissa Gomez

'I am requesting voluntary departure because my children and I are experiencing a very stressful situation.... It is difficult to make that decision, but it is preferable to leave voluntarily.' - JERARDYN, writing in a plea to an immigration judge. Jerardyn, pictured at left with daughter Milagro at an L.A. church, asked that her full name not be published for fear of retribution for fleeing Venezuela.

But as the U.S.-Mexico border wall, a towering barrier of steel pillars, came into view, she began taking big, deep breaths. Her heart began to race as she clutched her immigration documents and tried to hide her anxiety from her two youngest children traveling with her. She caught what she believed would be her last glimpse of the United States for now.

A refugee from Venezuela, Jerardyn, 40, entered the United States last year with her family, hoping to obtain asylum. But this was before President Trump took office and launched immigration raids across Southern California, shattering her sense of safety. She lived in fear that immigration agents would detain her or, worse, send her family back to Venezuela, where they risked facing retribution from the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

So after eight months of living in the basement of an L.A. church, she made a painful decision. She would migrate again. This time she'd voluntarily move back to Mexico with her two youngest kids, leaving behind her two eldest, who are applying for asylum.

Photographs by CHRISTINA HOUSE Los Angeles Times THE CHURCH BASEMENT serves as a bathing area for Milagro and mom Jerardyn. The church has a history of sheltering immigrants, including Afghans, Haitians, Mexicans and Venezuelans.