“Today is my last day right here in the United States after 20 years. It’s time to go,” said Alfredo Linares, who left Culver City eight weeks ago with his American wife, fearing arrest, detention and deportation.
“I just felt very emotional and sad that I’m leaving,” said Linares, who opted to self-deport to his native Mexico before being targeted by ICE agents. “I just felt I was going to be picked up and asked questions and all of that.”
Linares immigrated to the U.S illegally when he was just a teenager. For 20 years, he excelled in the food industry, working his way up to a cook at a Michelin star restaurant.
Two years ago, he and his wife, Raegan Kline, went into business together operating a street vending pop-up and catering business.
They got married, hoping to correct Linares immigration status, but that would have required him to return to Mexico for at least a decade.
He didn’t want to be separated from his wife and had wished for an immigration reform.
Raegan Kline, a U.S. citizen, said she decided to move to Mexico with her husband, who decided to self-deport amid immigration crackdowns.
But the new administration meant his hopes were dashed, and the couple decided they wanted to avoid the chaos of deportation and leave LA on their own terms.
“I loved it there. It is home, it was my home, and it was hard to leave,” said Raegan, who is learning Spanish as she maneuvers her new life in a new country. “I’m not going to risk my husband going to a work camp or being sent to El Salvador.”
For now, they’ve come to Puerto Vallarta, hoping this could be their new home, a place where they say they feel safe and free.
“Everything is going to be OK,” said Linares. “We have to understand to let go of things so we could keep getting blessings.”
As positive as Linares feels about the couples future in Mexico, their first two months have been like a roller coaster of emotion. He said it was joyful to see his mother in person for the first time in 20 years, but he stressed about starting a business and a new life in a country he barely remembers.
“I feel foreign in my own country,” said Linares.
“I also went through a feeling like I’m somehow betraying the (United States),” said Raegan. “I feel like I’m the type of person that would stay and fight.”
For now, they are focus on each other, their new county, new home and a future without fear and feeling free in Mexico.
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