Family Separation During the Holiday Season
As Christmas approaches, a Rolesville family is experiencing their first holiday season without their father, Fidel Rivera, who voluntarily returned to Mexico on October 13. Rivera, who had lived and worked in the United States for three decades without documentation, made the difficult decision to leave to avoid potential detention in immigration facilities.
"I didn't want to have him go into one of these facilities," explained Jenni Rivera, Fidel's wife of 17 years. "I didn't want him to experience any of the horrors that we had heard about. And I didn't want him to come out, not the person that he was when he went in."
A Changed Holiday Tradition
For the Rivera family, Christmas has always been about togetherness—playing games, crafting, watching movies, and simply being with one another. This year, that tradition has been disrupted.
"My kids deserve to be able to have both their parents. We were a unit of four, always together. It's sad. I feel sad for them," Jenni Rivera expressed.
The family's teenage daughters, 17-year-old Mackenzie and 15-year-old Isabella, are feeling the absence particularly strongly. "We have traditions that have been since I've been born, and they're not even the same," Mackenzie noted. "Like, we took longer to set up anything. And as you can see, there's no lights outside because usually he would do all the lights outside."
Legal Barriers and Family Separation
Despite working in construction for over 20 years, receiving promotions, and paying taxes, Fidel Rivera entered the country without authorization and cannot adjust his legal status even though his wife and daughters are U.S. citizens. His only path to return legally requires him to remain in Mexico for at least ten years before reapplying based on his marriage.
Isabella voiced the family's frustration with their situation: "Everybody gets to have their parents or like their guardian with them, and we don't. Like, how is that fair?"
Looking Forward
Fidel Rivera now resides in Merida, Yucatan, where the family is purchasing a home. They plan to visit him together approximately once each year.
During this holiday season, the family hopes their story might inspire change while relying on each other for support. "I'm thankful for my family," Mackenzie said. "And I want, like, other people to be thankful for what they have. But like, some people have too much or can do more, and my family needs some help."
