"He is one of those people who prefer to help others rather than himself and was dedicated to his business."

In the little northwest Honduran town of Agua Blanca, Wilfredo Alvarez is trying to build a new life. It’s not easy.

The town looks different than it did when he left for the United States 20 years ago and found his way to Tampa. Gangs, drug cartels and petty crooks control the surrounding area with guns, extortion and fear.

Four months ago, Alvarez, 42, was deported to Honduras, packed with dozens of other undocumented immigrants onto a charter plane for the flight from Miami to San Pedro Sula, the Central American nation’s second-largest city.

“Imagine being separated from your family,” Alvarez said in a recent telephone interview. “They are my life, they are my reason to be in this world. There’s no sense to be here in Honduras without them.”

U.S. immigration authorities hold a different view of what makes sense.

Read more at the Tampa Bay Times