Waiting for this moment
Seniors from Mexico reunited with loved ones in visit to US
Families bearing balloons, flowers and signs crowded gate D22 at Dallas/ Fort Worth Airport. Among them was Juana Guzmán, eagerly awaiting a hug from the parents she believed she might never see again.
Those gathered were waiting on a flight from Mexico City, from where 28 elderly Mexicans were being whisked away for a visit to America — and their loved ones — through the humanitarian program Lazos de Oro, Golden Ribbons.
Lazos de Oro helps seniors plan reunions with their adult children who they haven’t seen in years because of their immigration status.
At gate D22, time crawled by.
“I have waited almost 25 years for this hug, for this moment. Waiting a few more hours is nothing,” said Guzmán, a McKinney resident born and raised in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.
Nearly two hours after the plane landed, the group of senior adults in blue vests walked through U.S. Customs and Border Protection and out the sliding doors for their reunions. Children and grandchildren ran into the arms of parents for a longawaited hug.
Susana Infante Cruz, 75, and her husband, Juan Guzmán Ceballos, 80, boarded a plane for the first time to get to Dallas. Between tears of joy, the couple embraced their daughter Juana Guzmán, 50, and son José Guzmán, 45, more than two decades after the siblings migrated to Texas for a better life for their own children.
Lazos de Oro works with separated Mexican families, like the Guzmáns, to help older adults navigate the visa process. From filling out the paperwork to scheduling interviews with the U.S. Embassy, to coaching them on what to expect at the interview, to getting them to Dallas for the reunions.
About 150 seniors from several Mexican states, including Guerrero, Sinaloa, Michoacan, San Luis Potosí and Chihuahua, came to the U.S. in 2023 with the program’s help.
As part of the process,
people travel in groups, in different batches, from Mexico City to Dallas, where relatives must pick them up. For some, North Texas is their destination. Others continue on to other states.
“I want someone to pinch me. I can’t believe they are here. It’s the best Christmas present ever,” said José Guzmán.
After hugs and kisses and meeting her grandchildren for the first time, Susana Infante Cruz gave her daughter Juana a blue bucket filled with brown, circular tables of homemade chocolate.
Juana Guzmán emigrated from Guerrero
25 years ago, leaving her two daughters with her mother so she could search for work in the U.S. She ended up in Dallas after a friend told her she could stay with her and help her find a job. She worked for several years at various fastfood restaurants.
“Like everyone else, I said, ‘Just three years and then I’ll go back to my daughters and my parents,’ ” Juana Guzmán said. “In the blink of an eye, 25 years passed.”
After more than a year of living and working in the U.S., her daughters joined her. They later became Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients but have yet to travel back to Mexico.
“I was just a little girl when my grandmother cared for me. I have very vague memories, but I remember living on the ranch,” said Maritza Manzano, Juana’s daughter, as she waited at the airport with her phone ready to film the reunion.
Manzano said she couldn’t wait for her grandmother to meet her 10-year-old daughter, who has only seen her great-grandmother on video calls.
The Guzmán family’s story is the kind often repeated among immigrant families across the country, said Jaime Damián, founder of Lazos de Oro.
“Families have to rely on humanitarian programs and the good faith of the U.S. government to allow them to see their parents before it is too late,” said Damián, who lives in Plano but was born and raised in Guerrero.
The visa that the organization helps process is like any other tourist visa. In this case, the embassy considers that they are adults over 58, have not seen their family for years and are usually without work due to their age or low income, Damián said.
Damián has a long history of working with immigrants in North Texas. He has worked on various projects with the Mexican Consulate in Dallas, the Secretaria del Migrante in Guerrero and other government agencies.
But it wasn’t until 2018 that the U.S. Embassy approved Lazos de Oro as a humanitarian program, and they began implementing the program.
Juana had a beef soup ready for her parents at their home in McKinney, with fresh tortillas, rice and salsa. She took several days off to enjoy her parents and share her life in the U.S. with them.
The Guzmán family said they tried to get visas for their parents on two other occasions before they knew about Lazos de Oro but could not secure them.
“One day, I saw on Facebook the photos of a friend’s mother from our town, and I wondered how she managed to get here. And I asked her, and that’s when I learned about Lazos de Oro and the work that Jaime is doing,” Juana said.
They started the process in April, and her parents had their interview at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City in October.
“Right after they were approved, they called me and I couldn’t say a word. I was just crying. Crying with happiness.”