New resource seeks to help ease adjustment after deportation

If you’re returning to Honduras, consider covering up any tattoos and be able to explain them if asked — the tattoos might be the thing that puts you the most at risk. Once back in Mexico and Guatemala, try to blend in, not appearing too vulnerable or too cocky. But in Honduras, either of those might be the best strategy to keep you safe. If you’re going back to El Salvador, avoid wearing Nike Cortez or Adidas tennis shoes, don’t use the numbers 13, 18 or 503, watch your language for common slang like “brother,” “madre” or “carnal.” All of this could unknowingly associate you with a gang.

“People who were born in El Salvador but haven’t been there for a long time, wouldn’t necessarily know that,” says Gabriela Flora with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a national immigrant rights advocacy organization.

There’s a lot that immigrants might not know about their native countries if they were to be suddenly deported, or voluntarily return, because of U.S. immigration policy and enforcement. But that’s where AFSC’s “Crossing South” initiative comes in. Released on Oct. 15, the online guide, available in both Spanish and English, provides information about Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. It explains how to get your affairs in order in the U.S., what can be expected from the detention and deportation process, security precautions to take upon arriving in your native country, and organizations that can help.

“For people who are deported, they can suffer a lot when they don’t know anyone and they don’t have anyone to teach them the ways or to support them down there. And it’s really hard to be in this predicament,” Lupe Lopez says. “So this guide is a really helpful tool.”

Read more here.