SHARE
Yessenia’s Journey From El Salvador to Milwaukee and back
Sophie Carson
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY NETWORK – WISCONSIN
2011
Yessenia Ruano migrates to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 24
Gang members had been harassing Ruano, who was working as a seventh grade teacher. On her first attempt, she is caught at the border and sent back.
She crosses again, through tunnels to a house in El Paso, Texas, where traffickers force her and others to stay for a week. She and others are picked up by ICE agents after three days in the desert.
Dec. 1, 2011
After six months in an ICE detention center, Ruano applies to stay in the U.S.
2013
Ruano, now living in Milwaukee, gets married and has two daughters as she waits for her immigration case to be heard
Under a work permit allowed under the 'withholding of removal' status she applied for in Texas, she works as a teacher’s aide. She keeps all of her appointments with ICE — 18 over the course of 12 years, she says.
2017
Back in El Salvador, gang members kill her brother, Luis Ernesto
2023
Ruano withdraws immigration claim
An immigration judge had raised some issues with Ruano’s claim. Her attorney at the time advised her to withdraw her claim, assuming she’d lose. This left her with no basis to remain in the U.S., and she was put on supervision.
2024
Ruano pays a law firm thousands to file for a trafficking victims’ visa
Under the Biden administration, having an open T visa case would protect her from deportation while she waited for a decision, a process that could take up to two years.
Feb. 11, 2025
Facing ICE check-in under new presidential administration, Ruano shares her story publicly
A teacher friend and immigrant advocacy group arranges a news conference for Ruano to tell her story before her February appointment with ICE. Her Ohio attorneys also finally file her T visa application.
Feb. 14, 2025
Demonstrators rally for Ruano, who gets a reprieve
June 17, 2025
Having exhausted every option, Ruano self-deports
ICE check-ins throughout the spring bought Ruano more time in Milwaukee, but ultimately officers said she had to buy a plane ticket and carry out her own deportation.
June 2025
From El Salvador, Ruano adjusts to new life, joins lawsuit
As Ruano and her family start rebuilding their lives in El Salvador, she joins a federal lawsuit alleging ICE acted illegally when it forced her to deport.
She holds onto hope of returning to the U.S.
Online
Friends wonder what deportation means
The tight-knit community that rallied around Ruano continues to feel her absence months after her departure.
Reporter’s notebook
Reporter Sophie Carson traveled
to El Salvador to understand a family’s deportation. She found it full of contradictions.
Ruano’s new life
Ruano reflects on her journey and life in El Salvador in a video interview.
Full timeline
The twists, turns and delays in Ruano’s story highlight the challenges many immigrants face in trying to become legal residents.
More inside
Yessenia Ruano and her family start over in El Salvador
Half a year has passed since U.S. officials made Ruano return to El Salvador. Read about how she’s adjusting to new circumstances — while trying to keep her faith in the future.
Page 11A
This package, supported by the Pulitzer Center, examines life after deportation for a former Milwaukee teacher’s aide and her family.
illustration by Krista Volenski Wilcox and Andrea Brunty/USA Today Network; and Getty Images
2011
Ruano earned a teaching degree in El Salvador and was 24 when she decided to leave for the U.S. She’s pictured as a young adult in El Salvador.
2013
Ruano lived in Wisconsin for 14 years. While she was in the U.S., her brother was killed by gangs in El Salvador.
2025
Yessenia hugs her daughter Paola May 21 at their Milwaukee home. Ruano was a teacher’s aide at ALBA School, a Milwaukee school that her daughters attended.
2025
Ruano’s daughters, Elizabeth, left, and Paola, right, then age 9, pose for a photo with their mother after her Feb. 14 ICE appointment in Milwaukee.
2025
Ruano holds her U.S. work permit and driver’s license.
2025
Ruano shows a receipt indicating her T visa application is being considered.
2025
Ruano listens with her 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth during a news conference about the possibility she could be deported.
2025
In El Salvador, Ruano took her daughters to her hometown, a mountain village where she grew up harvesting coffee beans.
2025
Ruano, center, prays with her daughters, to her right, and supporters June 17 before flying from Milwaukee to El Salvador.
2025
Ruano left Milwaukee bound for El Salvador with her 10-year-old U.S. citizen daughters, Paola, left, and Elizabeth, right. It was the first time the girls flew in an airplane.
2025
Ruano brushes her mother’s hair as her husband, Miguel Guerra, looks on during a visit to Ruano’s childhood village of El Rosario.
SHARE
