Long Gone By

Ana Alvarez (Erica Muñoz) is a single mother and undocumented immigrant from Nicaragua whose life is upended by a deportation order. Small town Indiana has provided a comfortable, if not affluent, existence for her and her teenage daughter, Izzy (Izzy Hau’ula) that comes to an abrupt end. 

To complicate the situation, as Ana begins to grapple with the notion of returning to Nicaragua, where she fled an abusive husband years before, she learns that Izzy’s grades have earned her acceptance at Indiana University. Of course, they can’t afford the tuition, and no help is available. As an immigrant, Izzy won’t qualify for financial aid or scholarships, and must even pay out of state tuition. Deciding that her daughter’s chance for a life of peace and prosperity outweighs all other considerations, Ana undertakes a desperate plan to get the money. 

“…Ana Alvarez agonizes about what will become of her family when she’s been sent back…”

Atlanta immigration attorney Sarah Owings, (who sometimes drinks wine with me and tells me things about life in those trenches) talks about the experiences of college students in Nicaragua “The political situation in Nicaragua has caused over 80,000 people, many of them university students, to flee that country in the past year. The country is run by a dictator who has ordered the murder of hundreds of students for their anti-government protests and the arrest and torture of countless others. Indiana is probably a better option for higher education at the moment.” Of the home life that Ana fled, she also says, “Domestic violence is endemic in machismo culture.”