ROLESVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- With Christmas just days away, ABC11 sat down with the family of Fidel Rivera, the undocumented Rolesville man who self-deported earlier this year amid concerns about the growing immigration crackdown.
Rivera left on a flight back to Mexico on Oct. 13, despite working and paying taxes in the United States for 30 years, to avoid the worst-case scenario of ending up in an immigration detention facility.
"I didn't want to have him go into one of these facilities," said 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."
For the Rivera family, Christmas is usually family time: a chance to play games, craft, watch movies -- but most importantly, be together.
Everybody gets to have their parents or like their guardian with them, and we don't. Like, how is that fair?- Isabella Rivera, Fidel's daughter
"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 said.
Fidel Rivera had been in the US for three decades without legal status, working in construction for more than 20 years and receiving several promotions. Since he entered the country without authorization, he cannot adjust his legal status even though Jennifer and his daughters are US citizens. That means Fidel's best chance to return is to stay in Mexico for at least 10 years, then reapply for legal status because of his marriage to Jenni.
For his daughters, 15-year-old Isabella and 17-year-old Mackenzie, it's a Christmas that looks and feels incomplete this year.
"We have traditions that have been since I've been born, and they're not even the same. 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," Mackenzie said.
It's an experience they know not everyone will have to live through.
"Everybody gets to have their parents or like their guardian with them, and we don't. Like, how is that fair?" said Isabella.
With the holidays here, the family says they're hoping their story can create change -- and they're leaning on each other that much more.
"I'm thankful for my family. 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," Mackenzie said.
Fidel Rivera is living in the Yucatan city of Merida, and the family is in the process of buying a home there. Jenni Rivera said they plan to visit as a group about once a year.
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