Taken in the night

Celia has been barely making it in the last few years. With her severe diabetes, hypertension and mental illness, it is amazing that she continues on, and that she was able to marry a Guatemalan man 5 years ago. As a poor Dominican immigrant, she can't afford much in the way of therapy or psychiatric care, so she has relied on me, on my encouragement and management of her medications, trying to keep at bay her psychotic features, while at the same time trying to keep newer antipsychotic medications from worsening her diabetes.

Last week her husband was taken. Eduardo went out in the evening to return a pickup truck to a friend. Somehow, the "Migra", as the Immigration Service is referred to, staked out his neighborhood, and grabbed him. He was put into detention and will be deported. Of course, like almost all Guatemalans, he has no papers.

Now I have Celia in my office crying inconsolably, and I can find few words of encouragement to give her. "It will be OK" is probably not true. "You will survive this also" may be true, but she might not. All I can do is say I will be there, and I will do what I can.