Texas teen reunites with deported father at border before high school graduation

Aileen B. Flores | El Paso Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Family reunion between Eastlake High grad and deported father Eastlake High School graduate Leslie Silva crosses the U.S./Mexico border to reunite with her father, who has been deported three times.

Less than two hours before she walked across the stage to get her diploma, Leslie Silva crossed the U.S.-Mexico border for a brief celebration with her deported father.

In a video that quickly went viral, Silva donned a purple gown with an orange sash as she crossed the Ysleta-Zaragoza international bridge from El Paso into Juárez to see her father before graduating from Eastlake High School.

It was the first time she saw her father cry.

"He was so happy. He started crying and I've never seen him cry," Silva told the El Paso Times in an interview. "He said he felt really honored and he thought it was really nice of me to go see him before my graduation ceremony."

Leslie Silva was 7 years old when her father, Mario Silva, was caught living in El Paso illegally and sent back to Mexico in 2007. He was later deported two more times during attempts to return to his family, Silva said.

"My dad was deported three times for trying to come back to his family," Silva said. "Unfortunately, he couldn't make it to any of my sisters' graduations, including mine, so I gave him the honor to be the first to see me before I walk the stage," Silva wrote on her Twitter account where she first shared the video.

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The video was taken at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning just before Silva's 9 a.m. graduation ceremony at UTEP's Don Haskins Center. She posted it to Twitter Monday morning and by the evening, it had been shared 16,000 times, had 56,000 likes and was viewed 1.1 million times.

Silva, who plans to study nursing at UTEP, said she did not expect the video to go viral. She said she wasn't ready for the comments she received either.

"It's nice to see that people can relate. That they have the same problems as me," she said.

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Silva said she hopes that the video helps others understand the reality of family separation.

"He has missed a lot of me and my sisters' lives — graduations, parties and everything. So we thought it would be kind of special to see me before graduation day," Silva told the Times.

Silva said it's hard to live separated from her father. But she said she, her sisters and their mother visit him often in Juárez.

"I have the opportunity and privilege to have him close to me and we go to see him every weekend," Silva said. She said that is not something afforded to all children of immigrants.

Silva said her family is still hopeful that one day her father will be able to be with them.

My father got deported when I was in 8th grade and my mother walked out on my siblings and I when I was a sophomore i feel the pain, sadly my father wasn’t there but he was with me in spirit, I’m glad he was able to witness you in your cap and gown, you’ve made him proud 👏🏽 — Benny Lagunas (@blagunas1) June 4, 2018

Many have no idea the challenges our students have to overcome to succeed. Congratulations @kklesliee ! May God bless you and your family. #TeamSISD #EndlessOpportunities https://t.co/OhNaQQfReI — Michael Najera (@michaelanajera1) June 4, 2018