Marisol Soto's return home to Pea Ridge -- to her parents and her sister -- was a dream come true.
Marisol flew into Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on Saturday evening where she was greeted by tearful family members and her best friend.
Marisol’s experiences in Mexico and in a federal detention center will be told in next week’s edition of The TIMES.
"She couldn't stop crying," Marisol's sister Mariana said of their mother, Andrea Caldera Vazquez, when her "la nina" returned. She hadn't seen her for two and a half years.
Soto, 20, a native of Mexico, was brought to northwest Arkansas by her family when she was 7 years old, attended Pea Ridge schools and graduated in 2011. Fearing she could not enter an American college nor get a job, she returned to Mexico to attend college. There, she found hardships, persecution and betrayal. As a last resort, she joined a group of so-called "Dreamers" who said they would help her and 150 others return to America. On March 10 they crossed the border from Mexico into California and were placed in a detention center in San Diego.
Marisol was originally denied asylum by a judge, then given a second court date. She said her appearance before the judge was postponed four times. During the process, friends, as well as public officials and school officials wrote letters endorsing Marisol's good character and pleading for her release.
"The first time I saw the judge, she said: 'Miss Soto, come here.' It scared me. I thought I was going to be deported. But she said she wanted to extend it because the case was very long and she wanted to study it."
The next three times she appeared before the judge, the computer system was not working, so the case was continued.
"It was a huge miracle," Marisol said. "By Monday, April 21, the day of court, there were only me, two dreamers and a random inmate."
"She (the judge) was very, very mad about the asylum officer because of the decision he had made. She accepted my plea for asylum," she said. "She said I should have been allowed to leave a long time ago."
Marisol's asylum allows her to be in the United States for a year, but she may not work and has to check in with immigration court. Marisol's family had to pay a $7,500 bond for her release.
Once back in northwest Arkansas, the family did two things: They went out to eat to Marisol's favorite place -- Chick-fil-A, and then -- to church.
"We went to church ... to say 'thank you,'" Marisol said, calling her release a "miracle."
Marisol plans to apply to a dental assistant program which is about a 10-month program, even though she eventually wants to be a nurse. She said she wants to begin something she's sure she can complete within the year she's allowed to be here.
"I've learned a lot," she said, voice breaking and tears welling up in her eyes. "I've learned that my friends -- the people who know me, are more family than my blood family. To me, my mom, my dad, my sister are everything. I've done a lot of growing up and regret a lot of things, like when I talked back to my mom or dad. I completely regret all that."
In the detention center for almost two months, Marisol said she maintained hope that "I was going to be able to breathe the fresh air of home."
Community on 04/30/2014