She lived undocumented in San Marcos. She returns to Mexico 20 years later as a federal legislator. (original) (raw)

Twenty years ago, Maribel Solache left Mexico to escape violence and seek a better life for herself and her family. She found that safe haven in San Marcos, living as an undocumented immigrant. Now she is back in her home country, as a Mexican federal legislator.

On Thursday, she was sworn in as one of Mexico’s 500 federal deputies in Congress.

“I was very moved,” Solache said from Mexico City. “I cried because to see this place that is so imposing, so magical, that represents such a great responsibility, it was very emotional for me.”

Mexican Congresswoman Maribel Solache (left) takes a selfie with President Elect Claudia Sheinbaum. (Maribel Solache)

She was joined by her 75-year-old mother, whom she hadn’t hugged in two decades until recently. “I returned to my motherland and to my birth mother,” she said.

Solache — a member of Mexico’s ruling Morena party — was elected in June through a system in which representatives are proposed by the parties themselves, as opposed to being elected at the polls.

Last year, an agreement was approved to instruct the parties to choose some candidates from groups that are considered vulnerable, including immigrants living abroad, for the 2024 elections. The number of such representatives that each party has depends on the number of votes it receives per region.

Solache represents an area that includes the states of Guerrero, Hidalgo, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Morelos and Mexico City. She will also represent the immigrant community abroad.

She began her three-year term on Sunday.

In the United States, Solache had been interested in politics since she settled in San Diego County, but she always kept an eye on what was happening in Mexico.

She first got involved in activism in the U.S. when she saw a student demonstration near her home in San Marcos. One of the marchers was carrying a Mexican flag, so she decided to join and learn more about their cause.

From there, she met local community leaders, some of whom became friends, and she became a volunteer for several organizations. She also helped promote the Mexican vote abroad.

Mexico is in the midst of a transition, and on Oct. 1, its first woman president, Claudia Sheinbaum, will begin her six-year term.

One of the main issues on the agenda is a controversial judicial reform proposal by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, which has even caused some friction with the United States after Ambassador Ken Salazar said it poses a risk to Mexico’s democracy and the shared U.S.-Mexico economy. The reforms seek to elect all judges by popular vote, among other things.

Maribel Solache, a San Marcos resident and longtime immigrant rights advocate, shows certificates she has received. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Solache said she is ready to weigh in on this and other changes for the Mexican people but also wants to push for better conditions for migrants abroad — especially as the U.S. election approaches — and also for those who plan to eventually return to their home country.

“She is a warrior,” said San Marcos resident Rosario García, her friend of 15 years. “She is leaving for a very great cause, for those of us here and for those in Mexico.”

‘We will see each other again’

In early August, Solache packed her belongings from her North County apartment and prepared to say difficult goodbyes to her two children, Valentina and Juan, who are now in college.

Solache, 52, reflected on the years she has lived in the country undocumented, although she tried several times to legalize her immigration status. Solache, who holds a law degree from Mexico, made a living by babysitting, cleaning houses and taking care of seniors, among other jobs.

Valentina Castillo Solache left, speaks while Karen Larios, center, does Maribel Solache’s hair, as friends help clean out her apartment. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

As a woman of faith, she said she believes everything happens for a reason, and that when she left Mexico, it was for a purpose. She was not sure if she would ever return because, like many undocumented immigrants, “I learned to live one day at a time.”

“I think these 20 years have been a time of formation, of awareness, of learning. And I am so grateful for the experience of being an immigrant,” she said.

Now, she doesn’t know if or when she will be able to return to the U.S. with her family.

She said she never dreamed of holding public office. What she always wanted, she said, was a better and safer country. That’s why she took this perhaps once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because she felt she could contribute to something bigger, even if it meant leaving part of her life behind.

“It’s a duty,” she said. “It would be a contradiction to be an immigrant and not take the opportunity to go to the legislature and be the voice of those of us who have no voice.”

Crying, Maribel Solache in her bedroom writes letters to her children. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

While her children and friends chatted in the kitchen, Solache took a few minutes to herself. She locked herself in her room, sat down at the foot of her bed, took out two cards, and through tears wrote a final message to her children.

It was even tougher to say goodbye.

“I will do everything in my power, and God will help us,” Solache told her daughter, who looked heartbroken. “We will see each other again. I promise.”

Solache promised her son, as she embraced him as tightly, that she would be thinking of them every moment of every day, and that what she was doing in Mexico was also for both of them.

“Thanks for everything,” he replied. “Thanks for always taking care of us.”

Juan Castillo Solache hugs his mother, Maribel Solache. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Three days later, Solache returned to her old home in Mexico City, where her mother still lives.

Nearly a month later, she says she is slowly settling back in. She’s getting around again on public transportation, including some options that didn’t exist when she lived there 20 years ago, she said. She started eating the typical Mexican antojitos again and reconnected with friends and sisters she hadn’t seen in years. “The first two weeks I felt like I was in a dream,” she said.

But she said it all came together recently when she met Sheinbaum.

Her friends also had good wishes for her.

“Just as she came to the U.S. with one dream,” Garcia said, “she is now returning to Mexico with another.”

Originally Published: September 3, 2024 at 5:00 AM PST

For the record: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the Mexican states represented by Maribel Solache.