Deported Teacher Recounts Harrowing Journey from Miami to Remote Honduran Village
HONDURAS – In a modest living room of a small house nestled in a remote Honduran village, 24-year-old Wualner Sauceda vividly recalls the day his life was upended. Once a promising science teacher at Palms Spring Middle School in Hialeah, Florida, Sauceda now faces a stark reality far from the comforts of South Florida.
Sauceda, who arrived in the United States as a child, spent much of his early life in Honduras before reuniting with his family in South Florida. “I remember crossing the river as a pre-teen,” he said, recounting his escape from a country marked by violence following the murder of a close relative. In Hialeah, he excelled academically despite the challenges of learning a new language. By his senior year of high school, he was enrolled in honors courses and even took advanced classes in English, pre-calculus, and history.
Determined to give back, Sauceda pursued a career in teaching. He enrolled at Miami Dade College and later chose Florida International University—wanting to remain close to family—for his bachelor’s in chemistry with a focus on education. Graduating in December 2023 with a 3.4 GPA and a teaching certificate, he secured a position at Miami-Dade Public Schools, despite his unresolved immigration status.
However, Sauceda’s dream came crashing down early this year. On January 7, while making his routine check-in appointment at the Miramar immigration office—a step required due to his pending asylum case—he encountered an unexpected delay. “I got there at 8 a.m., and I noticed it was 1 p.m., then 2 p.m., and by 3 p.m. nothing was happening,” he recalled. When he finally stepped inside the government building and inquired about the delay, officers informed him that he was detained.
Shocked and overwhelmed, Sauceda immediately called an uncle to break the news to his family. “Emotionally, it was hard for me,” he said. His asylum application, which had taken several years to process, had already been denied, and with his appeals stalled, his legal options were rapidly dwindling.
After detention, Sauceda was held at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach for more than 20 days. His attorney, Ivan Torres Hidalgo Gato, filed for deferred action, but ultimately, none of the legal measures could halt his deportation. In a final harrowing chapter of his U.S. experience, Sauceda was transferred to a crowded facility in Louisiana—where 60 detainees were crammed into a room designed for only 24. “I remember sleeping on a metal bed, with mattresses pushed to the floor, the room unbearably hot by day and freezing at night,” he recounted.
Shackled by his hands, waist, and feet, Sauceda described the final moments before deportation. On the plane bound for Honduras, he and other detainees were ordered to close their windows to shield reporters from the sight of their shackled bodies. “Sometimes I think about it and it saddens my heart,” he said.
On February 6, Sauceda arrived back in Honduras, now living three hours northeast of Tegucigalpa. In his new home, he resides with his uncle and maternal grandparents, who sustain themselves through small-scale agriculture—growing beans, coffee, and raising chickens and cattle. Life in the village is a stark contrast to South Florida; most homes lack running water or air conditioning, and the family relies on a nearby river and a well for water.
Though his deportation has closed a painful chapter, Sauceda’s journey remains a powerful reminder of the challenges faced by undocumented immigrants. From his humble beginnings in Honduras and his hard-won achievements in South Florida, his story highlights both the promise of the American dream and the harsh realities of immigration policy.
