Danny Ruiz

Portrait by: Leopoldo Peña

 

165. Turning Personal Bad Into Public Good

“My name is Daniel Ruiz, I have been in Mexico for about 17 years. I was taken as a baby to the United States, I was there until 22 years old. I was raised in the United States. I felt like an American citizen. I grew up on American TV, American culture and never thought in my head that I was not an American citizen. And then got deported for marihuana charges. I was okay with my deportation. I knew I had broken the law and now I am here in Mexico. I got here, I had to learn the culture, I had to learn basically everything about Mexico, and that was very difficult. It took me a while to adapt… We are trying to create a voice also for deported people… to create a unity and voice in society, we are not criminals, because here in Mexico there is a lot of racism, if you are deported they think you are a criminal. We want to make sure we show people that we are good people, we are just trying to make out lives here and do good.”    

165a. Turning Personal Bad Into Public Good