Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ This is Heyli in July.

A migrant child, she had been separated from her father for two months at this point.

She was one of thousands of kids separated from their parents under the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy.

NEW with @TIME: bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

2/ This is the story of how a father and daughter endured last year’s border crisis while spending thousands and risking their lives to journey from Honduras to the United States, only to be separated when they arrived in Texas. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

3/ To understand why Heyli and her father, Carlos, came to the United States, we have to go back to the beginning.

Back to San Francisco de la Paz in Honduras. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

4/ Here, Carlos can barely make enough to care for his wife and daughter, let alone help his parents buy medicine for a range of ailments.

Meanwhile, street violence has made Honduras a global murder capital.

bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

5/ To escape, many migrants turn to coyotes — smugglers — to help them navigate the long trek north while avoiding immigration officials and journeying through cartel territory.

Smugglers are cheaper to hire if you bring your kid. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

6/ Here are one smuggler's prices:
+ $10,000 for an adult driven to Houston
+ $7,500 for an adult to reach Houston, with a walking detour
+ $6,000 for a parent & child who get dropped off on the U.S. riverbank, where they immediately seek asylum bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

7/ Why is it cheaper if you bring your kid? It drastically reduces the cost and hassle of reaching the U.S. interior. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

8/ Even with the discounted price, Carlos didn’t have the money to go.

So, the smuggler offered to take them on credit, collateralized with land from a relative. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

9/ This is a lucrative business.

The cartel relies on human smuggling to make up for the loss of drug profits.

Migrant smuggling generated billions of dollars of returns worldwide in 2016 — with a majority of that happening in North America. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

10/ One smuggler estimates he makes $700 to $800 a head, or about $2,000 to $3,000 every two weeks — a small fortune in Central America. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

11/ For Heyli and Carlos, it was a long journey north.

First, they traveled freely through Guatemala to La Técnica, where as many as 300 migrants a day pass through. It is a one-industry town — and its industry is migration. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

12/ Heyli and Carlos took a motor boat from La Técnica to the Mexican side, where they slipped into a private car.

The next day, they were in a two-story stash house where mattresses covered every inch of the floor. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

13/ Then they boarded a tractor trailer that went from stash house to stash house, picking up dozens of other migrants. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

14/ Eventually, they ended up in Reynosa, Tamaulipas — a border city where Heyli and Carlos were effectively held hostage and not allowed to cross into the United States until they paid about a $3,000 “fee” to the Gulf Cartel. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

15/ So back home, Carlos’ family borrowed money from a loan shark and put up their house as collateral.

Only then was Carlos allowed to enter the United States with his daughter.

His family thought the hardest part was over.

They were wrong. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

16/ Carlos and Heyli got caught up in the Trump administration’s controversial “zero tolerance” approach to migrants who cross the border illegally. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

17/ When Heyli’s father returned from one of many mass hearings that played out in courts along the border, Heyli was gone. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

18/ For several weeks in the summer, it seemed their dream would come crashing down.

But then a judge ordered families be reunited and parents be given a second chance at asylum. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

19/ In late July, Heyli and Carlos were reunited after nearly two months apart.

Today Heyli is attending first grade in a Los Angeles suburb, where she lives with her dad, her aunt and two long-lost cousins. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

20/ Carlos has what amounts to a temporary humanitarian permit — known as “parole” — that allows him to live and work in the U.S. while his case is pending. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

21/ It is not clear what will happen to Carlos and Heyli at the end of this process; that’s up to the immigration courts. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

22/ His family still owes the loan shark almost $2,000, for which they’ve been making interest payments only. And he owes the smuggler $3,000. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

23/ Despite all the heartache and worry, the family says it was worth it. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

24/ Back in Honduras, Carlos’ brother says nothing that happened to Carlos and Heyli will dim his ambition to migrate.

And when the time is right, he’ll put his fate, and a big chunk of money, into the hands of a smuggler. bit.ly/2ETV2QZ

25/25 But one smuggler’s warning to migrants?

“People shouldn’t leave with that stupid dream of the United States in their heads. It’s a stupid mistake. The American Dream. It’s a big lie. You might think you’re going to have a better life, but you are going to become a slave.”