Basilia is photographed with her children Yahir, her oldest, and Danilo near her home on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Basila immigrated to the United States from Guatemala with her son to escape gang violence.Basilia didn’t intend to make Chattanooga her home, but staying in Guatemala might have cost her her life.
Her husband came to the United States in 2011 for a job. He wanted to earn enough money to purchase a home in Guatemala for Basilia and their baby.
In Guatemala, he worked on a farm for food, then sold the food for money. Sometimes he earned $10 a day.
In the United States, he earned $10 an hour. He would keep enough to pay living expenses and send whatever remained, $100 to $200 every two weeks, to Basilia.
The problem started about three years after her husband left, about a year after she moved out of her mother-in-law’s home, a cramped three-bedroom cottage housing nine adults and their children. Using money her husband sent, she found her own place and began paying rent.