Arizona Republic
PHOENIX – As COVID-19 infections and deaths surged in Arizona ahead of the holidays, Angelica Cueto and her husband loaded their Suburban SUV with gifts and set out east, across New Mexico and then south, over the U.S. border to their final destination: Mexico.
Cueto, a 54-year-old industrial electrician and U.S. permanent resident, has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades, moving from job to job across the Southwest. But the years away have only intensified the pull of her homeland and the family who remain there, she said.
Cueto especially misses her elderly mother, who has a visa to visit the U.S. but is unable to travel because of her age.