Poetry and short stories with vivid imagery and magical realism; centered on a Latin American historical/political theme. Written by the wife of an asylum applicant to her husband, offering him escape from his detention surroundings. Many were published in literary journals. In February of 2010, after 3 years seeking asylum in the U.S., Jennifer Lawson - Zepeda's husband was deported from the U.S. He fled his country for safety and applied for asylum again in Nicaragua. He was held with over thirty missing refugees from throughout the world, hidden in the bowels of the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería detention center in Managua. All were held incommunicado and instructed to pay bribes if they ever wanted freedom again. Ms. Lawson-Zepeda's husband was held in complete darkness for nine days before he was located by a civil rights delegation from Panama, the Salvadoran Embassy, and the United States High Commissioner of Refugees. Jennifer Lawson - Zepeda has taken profoundly personal feelings from this experience and blended them with magical themes, historical locations and Latin American locations in her first book with stories including: a former FMLN collaborator during the Salvadoran civil war longs for one last scent of lavender as she suffers from Chagas disease; dos pericos stroll together sharing stories and friendship as one of them grieves; the death of a taxi driver haunts a lonely wife through recurring visions of him in El Salvador; a sugar cane factory in Guabajaney, Cuba burns to the ground when "el Jefe" tries to kill a leftist; and much more.
About the Author: In October of 2009, after being held for three years in immigration detention for applying for asylum, Jennifer Lawson Zepeda's husband was deported before his Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case was decided. Why the rush to suddenly remove him? Two corrupt I.C.E. agents involved in the case knew the decision was about to be overturned. He was rushed to the Florence Arizona processing center, where his wallet and the money Mrs. Lawson - Zepeda had provided him to seek a safe haven was removed by another I.C.E. agent at the deportation center before he was shipped on a plane to El Salvador where they believed he would be murdered. His case was not one of sneaking over the border. He had no criminal warrants out for his arrest. It was a case that involved the efforts of two I.C.E. agents who made a deal and lied, thereby endangering the lives of both Mrs. Lawson - Zepeda and her husband. The documents proving the robbery are clear. He has the papers showing the money was turned over to him at the San Diego Corrections Corporation of America facility and after being handcuffed during the entire flight and released to Salvadoran law officials, the money had disappeared. This practice is donw wirth great regularity to immigrants and is covered to protect unscrupulous Homeland Security employees and I.C.E. agents who help themselves to the monies provided by U.S. citizens for their families when deported. In February 2010, Mr. Zepeda was detained and held incommunicado by the Sandinista cadre responsible for Immigration and Criminal Investigations of asylum applicants after he walked into the Managua office to extend his tourist visa and apply for asylum there. Mrs. Lawson - Zepeda spent over nine days contacting ACNUR (a Nicaraguan Human Rights Agency, UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees), and the Salvadoran Embassy, earning his release. The Director of the DGME facility in Managua was investigated by ACNUR who entered the facility and took numerous photos of the conditions, noting that they were holding numerous immigrants from: Somalia, Ethiopia, Cuba, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, and the U.S. for over a month incommunicado, violating human rights and demanding ransom to release each one. Mr. Zepeda was taken to the Honduran border, and released and he made it back to El Salvador, where they now live together. Although Mrs. Lawson - Zepeda reported this to the State Department, this report was too late to make it into the human rights report published in April for Nicaragua. In November of 2010, her novel Anastasia and the Cuban will be published by Siren-Bookstrand.