José left Honduras due to poor economic conditions and threats from local gangs. He worked in transportation, an industry in which many people are subject to extortion from gangs in Honduras. After the third attempt on his life for not paying, he left his children – aged 12, 9, and 6 – with his parents and set off for safety in the United States.

He travelled by train and truck and was imprisoned in Mexico for several months, where, he alleges, he was abused, both mentally and physically. He attempted to cross the border to the United States and was quickly detained and beaten in US custody, he says.

“The immigration agent asked me if I had marijuana and I told him that I didn’t smoke. He insisted and I answered the same,” says José. “He wanted to undress me and I told him that this was forbidden, that this is undignified. ‘You don’t make the rules here, you’re not in your country, fucking immigrant,’ he told me. ‘OK,’ I said, ‘but you are not going to undress me.’ And I did not let myself be undressed. 

“They hit my face, they threw me on the ground, and I fell face-first. They handcuffed my hands and feet like I was a criminal and had me kneel for an hour,” he says.