From one day to the next Jose Maximino Amaya lost everything: his car, household goods, and the proximity of his three children, from whom he was separated when he was deported from the United States.
The 50-year-old El Salvador native, who was detained a month ago, was among several dozen citizens of the Central American country who were returned to their homeland Wednesday by US President Donald Trump’s administration.
The group was taken to a migrant reception center in the capital San Salvador.
Amaya exited the center empty-handed, clad in a white T-shirt and black pants, into the arms of his relatives, who travelled over 170 kilometers (105 miles) from their home village to greet him.
“I was on my way to work when they stopped me,” Amaya, who lived in New Jersey and worked in construction, told AFP.
“They told me I was under arrest,” he added.
Over his two decades in the United States, Amaya had never managed to obtain the right to stay.
To avoid being deported he kept his head down and avoided trouble.
Life was tough as an undocumented migrant in the United States, he said.
“Everything is expensive, it’s not the American dream.”
Looking ahead, he said he had no idea what he would do next but was eager to see “what our president (Nayib Bukele) has to offer us.”
Loss of crucial remittances
Amaya not only lost his car, his bank accounts and other worldly goods in the United States, he was also separated from his three sons, aged 22, 26 and 29, who are lawful US residents and who remained behind.
The three followed their father’s arrival back in El Salvador on Wednesday on a live video call with one of the relatives who came to meet him.
Although his children all have work, Amaya worries about them “remaining behind alone” especially since his wife, who was detained on the same day as him, is also in the process of being deported to El Salvador.
Trump returned to the White House in January promising to expel “millions and millions” of undocumented migrants, mostly from Latin America.
The deportations have not just led to US-based families being separated, they have left a huge hole in the finances of relatives back home in struggling Central American countries that rely on remittances from the United States.
According to El Salvador’s Central Bank, the around three million Salvadorans living abroad — nearly all of them in the United States — sent home $8.4 billion in remittances in 2024, representing a whopping 23 percent of national economic output.
Jose Adan, one of Amaya’s 11 brothers, said the loss of income from the United States, was “difficult,” particularly for his elderly father.
“The economic situation here is not easy,” the 41-year-old said.
