A Salvadoran family faces potential deportation from the U.S. after being denied asylum by Canada and held for two weeks in a windowless cell at the border, raising concerns about whether the U.S. is still a safe country for refugees.
Aracely saw Niagara Falls for the first time on a cold Monday in March as she crossed the Rainbow Bridge toward Canada with her common-law husband and two daughters, aged four and 14, fleeing the immigration raids and sudden deportations sweeping across the U.S.
She said they felt happiness and hope as they walked across the bridge, using their cellphones to capture a cloud of mist and spray from the falls in the distance above the Niagara River, still caked in ice.
In a yellow envelope, Aracely carried documents she hoped would be the key to opening the gates to Canada for her family — birth certificates proving her relationship …