On a recent humid morning in Michoacán, Mexico, hundreds gathered to mourn Silverio Villegas Gonzalez. His body had finally come home after getting shot and killed by an ICE agent in Franklin Park after he allegedly tried to run him over.
The small town where he was born and raised was filled that late September day with neighbors, friends, and relatives, many of whom have family members working or living in the United States. Among them were Silverio’s elderly parents, dressed in white, leaning on others for support as they made their way through their town, paying homage to Villegas Gonzalez.
Their faces were etched with sorrow; their steps heavy not just from age, but from the weight of a grief that may never leave them. At 38 years old, he was the youngest of their 10 children.
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