Portraits of a New Beginning: Regina

«When they told me I was going to be released, I couldn’t stop crying.»

Regina left Cuba with her parents and siblings when she was three years old and lived in Mexico for a time before being brought to the United States. She has been in and out of jail several times. The last time, she was sentenced to 54 years in prison. She says that “the possible release date was about 2047,” but after an appeal, her sentence was reduced to 25 years. During her time in prison, she lost all her documents. “I had an ID card, but because so many years had ed, they destroyed it in storage. The driver’s license I got in ‘91 no longer exists,” she says. “Who’s going to pay a $100 storage fee for 25 years?” When she was released in 2019, in her 70s, she moved into a transitional residence at A New Way of Life. An attorney helped her with her immigration status. She realizes how much changed: Her mother died while she was incarcerated, and now she found herself in a world with cell phones with cameras, traffic lights with buttons and automatic paper dispensers in public restrooms. “My situation of having no money, having nothing, not being able to work, is what occupies my mind the most,” Regina says.

^{* The testimonies in "Portraits of a New Beginning" were collected and edited by Ana María Carrano, María Gabriela Méndez, Olivia Liendo and Tamoa Calzadilla, under the coordination of Olivia Liendo and Ana María Carrano.}

Go to the homepage of the book “Portraits of a New Beginning.”