A Family Divided

Arizona Republic three-day series: "For almost six years, Ivonne Gil has lived apart from her husband, Mario Gil, and their 13-year-old son, Daniel, on opposite sides of the border. She was deported in 2007 and hasn’t been able to return legally to the U.S. since.  Mario and Daniel drive to Nogales every weekend to visit Ivonne. Their family's separation has taken a toll on the couple's marriage and disrupted their son's life.  But they hope one day soon that Ivonne will be able to return to the U.S. legally, possibly benefitting from an immigration bill introduced in the U.S. Senate in April by a group that includes Arizona Republicans John McCain and Jeff Flake."

Part I: A family lives on both sides of the Arizona-Mexico border.

Part II: Separation takes a toll on 13-year-old Daniel.

Part III: Mario waits for immigration reform and tries to fix what is wrong.

"Arizona Republic reporter Daniel González and photographer Nick Oza spent a weekend with the Gil family in Nogales, Sonora, and accompanied Mario Gil and his son, Daniel, on their ride from near Tucson to Nogales and back.  González conducted additional interviews with the family, and Oza returned to take more pictures.  The family’s conversations in Spanish were translated by González. All dialogue that he heard directly appears between quotation marks. Quotes that he did not hear directly but were related to him by the family members appear in italics.  González verified all of the events surrounding Ivonne Gil’s immigration problems through government documents provided by the family and with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Border Patrol."