Libertad Sanchez was watching her kids and cooking dinner. Tito, her husband, all suited up, arrived from work and expressed his desire to travel to the United States. She didn’t share it. Not in a million years would she ever want to leave her country. She had heard horrible horror stories of how hard life was for immigrants in America.
The next day while picking up the kids from school, Tito’s friend was telling him that he had received his visa to travel to the United States. He encouraged them to apply and not miss out on the opportunity.
Tito wanted to secretly quit his job and leave without telling her and then come back for them. “I was devastated to hear his confession; I even told him that if he had that in mind then we should have never gotten married because we never planned this and I wanted to have a family with lots of kids not with a father who is not present,” Libertad says now.
That same year she had her second child, who was diagnosed at birth with brain paralysis. After giving it much thought she gave in and decided to go for it. They ended up receiving a visa of five years.
With Tito, their youngest son Tito Daniel, and oldest daughter, Maria, she traveled to New York City searching for more explanations and treatments for Daniel’s condition.
“I always get asked this question, ‘What were your dreams when coming to the United States?’ Many say for more opportunities but for me it was for my son,” she says.
When they arrived at the airport, they were picked up by Tito’s family. They opened the doors of their home and offered them support until they were able to settle down. They had planned to only stay for a year but then decided to stay and let the visa expire.
“We didn’t understand the magnitude of fear that would come after that decision,” says Libertad. “We were leaving our beautiful big home in Ecuador, my business and were sacrificing our whole family to be here in hope of finding better medical help for my son.”
Libertad describes the many sacrifices they have made as a family all for the health of her youngest son. One of the hardest things has been the years of humiliation that her husband had to go through at his construction job. No matter how hard he worked nothing was ever enough. He was constantly treated badly and paid under minimum wage. He stayed because he needed the money to support his family.
He wasn’t the only one suffering. Maria, the oldest daughter, had expressed many times to her mother how left out she felt in the family and her frustration with every decision having to be made in the best interests of her sick brother.
For Libertad the most painful part of this journey was letting her daughter down. When Maria was seven years old she told her mother, “I asked for a brother to play with and he can’t walk or talk.”
Libertad has not had it easy herself. After arriving to the United States she became a full-time mother, had a third child, and had to take care of Daniel in addition to running the household. She left behind her superstore business in Ecuador and never had the opportunity to be a businesswoman in the U.S. Her son depends on her being available 24/7.
“It has been tough but God has prepared my heart for what was to come,” Libertad says.
The Sanchez family was not only faced with unemployment. Libertad’s husband was diagnosed with colorectal polyps and had to undergo surgery or face increased risk of cancer. What was supposed to be three months of recovery turned out to be a year-long ordeal.
The most shocking part to Libertad was discovering what had led Tito to this point: For years he had been secretly drinking his depression away, and to deal with the challenges he faced as an immigrant.
Libertad says she felt guilty sometimes for adding burdens to her husband. In their early years in New York she had many emotional breakdowns because she missed her home back in Ecuador. She would blame her husband. “Why did you bring me here, this wasn’t the life I wanted,” she would say in anger.
It was very difficult for them to adapt to a different country with different cultures inside of it, especially having to leave behind their home and move into a small attic. At one point they changed their minds and around December bought their flights to return to their country.
“I would say a guardian angel came and knocked on my door, which was my neighbor and she convinced me to stay.” says Libertad. “I cried so hard when she told me that I needed to think about my kids future and sacrifice my desires but it made sense even if it was a hard decision to make.”
Volunteering at Faith of New York and serving her community has kept her sane. Libertad has protested for immigration and human rights for the past eight years.
“I remember my husband’s family warning us to not fill out the census because we would get deported if we did,” Libertad says, echoing a long-held misconception about the census. “You’re always walking with fear so you don’t know any better.”
While volunteering at Faith of New York, she discovered the importance of filling out the census. Libertad says “If you don’t fill it out then how will you be counted in your community?”
She also experienced racism from other Latinx people. While attending a protest, she saw her own people holding signs saying “Go back to your country.” It didn’t make any sense to her; they were immigrants too even if they had their citizenship.
But she also saw other immigrants work hard to make the best of their situations. Many had no families with them in the U.S. In those moments she was grateful to see her husband and kids every day. Many had it far worse than her.
Libertad and her family have not been back to Ecuador in 21 years. They hope that one day their children will apply for their citizenship and petition for an alien relative granting their parents legal documentation to live in the United States. Until then, they remain undocumented. But for Libertad Sanches, it has all been worth the sacrifice.
“I don’t regret leaving it all behind,” she says, “because even the small progress we have made has meant everything to us.”
