Maria Hernandez is seen at home, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, while awaiting a decision on her immigration case, in order to travel to the United States to reunite with her daughters.
2023 Photo Contest, North and Central America, Stories

Maria's Journey

Photographer

Carlos Barria

Reuters
24 June, 2021

Maria Hernandez is seen at home, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, while awaiting a decision on her immigration case, in order to travel to the United States to reunite with her daughters.

When Maria Hernandez and her two daughters, aged eight and three, arrived in the United States from Honduras in search of asylum in July 2017, border authorities apprehended them. The authorities deported Maria, but her children remained behind. US officials at first arranged for the girls to stay in a children’s shelter; later, they went to live with Maria’s adult son, who was already in the country. 

Maria’s daughters were among the more than 3,900 children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border between July 2017 and January 2021 – even though then-president Donald Trump’s ‘zero tolerance’ policy was not official until April 2018. In May 2021, the Biden administration began to reunite families separated under the policy, which had been aimed partly at preventing families from migrating to the United States without documentation. In 2022, Maria returned under an asylum program, and was reunited with her family in Los Angeles, California. 

Carlos Barria
About the photographer

Carlos Barria is an Argentinian-Chilean senior photographer at Reuters, based in California.   Born in Patagonia, Barria has spent more than 20 years with Reuters covering breaking news around the world, including conflicts and social unrest in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. His work history in...

Read the full biography
Technical information
Shutter Speed

1/2000

Focal length

35mm

F-Stop

F. 1.8

ISO

100

Camera

Canon EOS R5

Jury comment

This project answers many questions about the outcome of one's journey of displacement. It offers a clear and complete narrative on the chronology of Maria’s story, portraying how migration is not a solution, but rather a trigger to a whole new set of challenges. The story offers a unique, emotional perspective on migration that is different from mainstreamed stories. The jury was impressed by the photographer's selection of images which demonstrated their commitment to accurately narrating Maria's story over time, across countries. The story stood out as a subversion of the typical displacement story coming from Central America.