Most of the original 36 migrants, which included natives of Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Venezuela, have left the capital region.
On a recent sweltering June afternoon, Jorge Gil Laguna smiled as he walked into his shoddy motel to greet Olglaivis Barrios.
Markers of their last year in Sacramento surround the young Venezuelan couple. Heaps of donated clothes, shoes and purses in the corners. Barrios’ laptop, gifted to her last July, lay on the small dining room table. And a framed photo of a classic blue car, given to Laguna by a former employer, hung on the wall.
But in his hand, Laguna, 34, held their most important item yet: paperwork providing temporary protected status. The designation allows the Venezuelan to legally stay and work in the United States until April 2025.
“If I was working without one, imagine now,” Laguna said, before grinning. “It’s time to work like a donkey.”
This legal permit has the potential to provide stable work opportunities, allowing the couple to move out of this Rancho Cordova motel, where housing costs $72 a day. They also hope to send more money back to their three children and Barrios’ mother, who is caring for them in Venezuela.
Just more than a year ago, Laguna and Barrios, 29, doubted this day would come.
They were among the 36 Latin American migrants who unknowingly boarded planes for Sacramento and promised free housing, high-paying jobs and help with their immigration cases. Instead, the flights, under the direction of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left the migrants stranded in California and at the center of a political battle over immigration.
Their arrival elicited national headlines, public outrage from state officials and a community-wide response, largely shouldered by nonprofit and faith-based organizations. The attention eventually faded away and federal, state and county governments failed to provide resources. In this void, groups and volunteers have borne the unexpected costs of helping the migrants.
“If you look at where the time, resources and volunteers came from, it was local organizations figuring it out,” said Jessie Tientcheu, the CEO of Opening Doors, a nonprofit that provided some migrants with short-term housing.
Despite these challenges, members of the group are likely better positioned than most migrants who have entered the country in recent years. The organizations that provided stipends and free housing also emphasized the importance of building community relationships. So today, months after formal aid subsided, help finds those who chose Sacramento as their home.
“The support hasn’t really ended as a result of the fact that we’ve made friends among the group,” said Shireen Miles, a volunteer with Sacramento Area Congregations Together, the faith-based community organization that spearheaded support for the migrants. “And you don’t ever move on from your friends.”‘Their new life here’
Most of the original 36 migrants, which included natives of Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala and Venezuela, have left the capital region. Some moved to bigger cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago, while others sought out smaller states such as South Carolina and Tennessee.
They left for a host of reasons, including California’s high cost of living, lack of employment opportunities and personal connections in other locations, according to Gabby Trejo, executive director for Sacramento ACT.
Twelve members of the group remain in Sacramento — some sharing hotel rooms, others living for free at their work sites in Folsom and Rio Linda and a group of four splitting the costs of a townhouse in Rancho Cordova. By staying in the region, these members of the group benefit.
“They know that they’re not alone, and there’s this larger community that sees them and wants them to be successful in their new life here in the U.S.,” Trejo said.
Take Jose Castellanos, 34, and his wife Margarita Yanez, 35. They are a recently married Venezuelan couple expecting a child this December. The two migrants have not paid for housing since arriving in Sacramento.
“It’s been a help, a huge help, I’ve seen rents for $1,500,” said Castellanos, while shaking his head.
During the initial weeks, they slept at a church alongside the other migrants. Sacramento ACT transitioned the group to motel rooms in Rancho Cordova. The organization raised roughly $307,000 in donations and grants over the last year to assist the migrants.
