After both of his brothers were murdered and his family's land was forcibly taken by a gang, Carlos Aldana and his family fled Honduras. Traveling with several hundred other Central Americans in one of the first migrant caravans of 2018, his heart was set on getting his family asylum in the United States and living with his brother and sisters in Seattle, Washington. To do so without either being detained indefinitely or deported, he had to temporarily leave his wife Elvia and one of his daughters behind to wait in a shelter in Tijuana, Mexico. If there was to be any hope of the four of them having a life together in America, Carlos and Alejandra had to pave the way for their family together. This is the story of that journey and all of the uncertainty that ensued.

Elvia Ramos, right, looks down the street as her partner Carlos Aldana holds their daughter Fernanda Aldana-Ramos, 1, at the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter on April 26, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Elvia and her family fled Honduras after two of Carlos' brothers were killed and their lives were threatened. Carlos said that they were in hiding for months before joining a caravan. Hundreds of migrants from Central America traveled for about a month across Mexico to reach the United States border. Traveling as a large group is considered a safer way to make the journey through the treacherous terrain and various cartel territories of Mexico. A few days later, the group marched to the San Ysidro border crossing south of San Diego, California, where many of the migrants hoped to seek asylum.

Elvia Ramos and her daughter, Fernanda, 1, rest at the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, Mexico on May 12, 2018. She stayed in this tent for a few weeks while waiting for her turn to go to the San Ysidro border crossing and ask for asylum. Her partner, Carlos Aldana, and their other daughter, Alejandra, crossed first and, after being released, traveled to the Seattle area to stay with family and wait for Elvia and Fernanda. Just as the news about child separation was breaking, migrants recognized that the surest way to keep the patriarch of the family from being separated and detained indefinitely was for each parent to cross separately with one of their children. As in Carlos' case, the father and oldest child often presented themselves first, went through detention and, because they had a child with them, were quickly released. Then they would get to their family and call back to the mother to let her know that they were safe. Then, as soon as she could, the mother and the other child or children would cross.

Shortly after being released from an immigration detention center, Carlos Aldana feeds his daughter Alejandra as he looks out of the window of a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles, California on the way to live with his brother in Seattle, Washington on May 10, 2018. Because he had almost no money, he and Alejandra relied on the generosity of strangers for water, food and directions to the correct buses along the way. Plenty of strangers were happy to help the lonely, anxious father.

Carlos Aldana holds hands with his daughter, Alejandra, as they explore a park in Seattle, Washington during one of their first outings in the United States on May 11, 2018. Carlos had not seen his brother Rodolpho and sister Ysenia, who both also made the long journey from Honduras to Seattle, in a long time.

Carlos Aldana shows his ankle tracker to his family at his brother Rodolfo Aldana's house in Seattle, Washington on May 10, 2018 shortly after he and Alejandra arrived from the bus station and were reunited with his brother and sister. He has to wear the ankle tracker constantly while his asylum case is being processed, which could take months or years.

Carlos Aldana’s brother Rodolfo Aldana, left, talks about what size and style of pants he thought would work best for Carlos as he took Carlos and his daughter shopping for clothes at Ross Dress for Less after their arrival in Seattle, Washington on May 11, 2018. After traveling for a month through Mexico in the migrant caravan, presenting themselves at the border to ask for asylum, being detained and then traveling north, they only had the clothes on their backs when they arrived. Rodolfo paid for the $220 in clothes for the two of them as a gift.

Alejandra sits on a bed in Rodolfo's apartment while Carlos' sister Ysenia Aldana does Alejandra's hair before the family leaves the house to run errands and go to church in Seattle, Washington on May 11, 2018. Ysenia made the journey a year before Carlos and is also waiting for her asylum case to be processed. While Alejandra waits for her mother Elvia and sister Fernanda to cross the border, Ysenia helps Carlos with some of the tasks that Elvia would normally do.

Attending church for the first time since crossing the border and being released from immigration detention, Carlos holds Alejandra and prays with his brother Rodolfo and his sister Ysenia in Seattle, Washington on May 11, 2018. They said they prayed for Elvia, Fernanda, and the rest of their family who were still in Mexico waiting to cross.

After getting off the phone with Elvia in Mexico and with his parents in Honduras, Carlos rubbed his eyes and curled up next to Alejandra at Rodolpho's apartment in Seattle, Washington on May 11, 2018. Carlos said that his parents, who lost two sons to gang violence, are too old and frail to make the journey to the United States. He is not sure when he will see them again. Meanwhile, now that Elvia knows that Carlos and Alejandra are safe, she and Fernanda will eagerly and nervously wait their turn to ask for asylum at the San Ysidro border crossing. She said that mutilated bodies were found behind the shelter where she and Fernanda were staying, so Carlos worried about their safety, about whether they would pass the credible fear interview, and how they would make the journey to Seattle. All he could do was wait.

Carlos pushes Alejandra on a tricycle outside of his sister's home where they and several other members of their family are staying in a suburb outside of Seattle, Washington on July 24, 2018. A Honduran flag hangs from the side of the house as a reminder of where they came from and how far they have traveled in their search for a safe home for their family. Carlos and his family reside in the Seattle area waiting for their first court date in their asyum cases. There is a significant backlog of asylum cases, which means that it could be months or even years before Carlos and his family have an answer.