When Marisol Soto Caldera was only 7 years old, her parents made the difficult decision to abandon their lives in Mexico in exchange for a more secure future for her and her sister in the United States. That decision led them to settle in the state of Arkansas, the place that Marisol has always considered her true home. After exceling in high school with the hopes of continuing onto college and pursuing a career in nursing, Marisol was faced with the cruel reality of her undocumented status and the obstacles that it created for her in pursuing higher education.

Unable to afford the higher costs, Marisol decided to not let the stop her from chasing her dreams of helping others and becoming a nurse. She decided to also abandon the one place she called home, achieve her necessary education in Mexico and someday return to Arkansas. However, school conditions were poor for Marisol in Mexico; she had to travel as early as 4:30am alone on buses susceptible to robbers on her way to school, misled by university advisors, scammed out of her tuition, and bullied by her peers for being from the U.S.

In all, returning to Mexico has been extremely dangerous for Marisol as people who have connections in the U.S. have frequently been kidnapped or attacked. She now lives in daily fear of her life and has had to hide her identity to stay safe. These threats of violence have taken a toll on Marisol and she has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression and must take medication for these conditions.

Marisol participated in the action ‘Bring Them Home’ because for people like her who have lived in the U.S. for long amounts of time there is no avenue for her to return to her family. She is now being detained in a maximum security prison in San Diego, California under very harsh conditions. Marisol has committed no felonies and yet is being treated as a criminal. All Marisol wants is to return to the safety and comfort of her true home and be reunited with her family.

We are asking that Marisol be allowed to reunite back with her family in Pea Ridge, Arkansas to escape the dangers that she would face if forced to remain in Mexico. We believe that people like her who have called the U.S. their home for long amounts of time and face life-threatening dangers in their country of origin should be allowed to come home.