SINGLE MOM SAW 2 KILLINGS, MOVED FAMILY

EL PASO -- Silvia's self-imposed exile in El Paso has not been
easy.

She and her two children fled Juarez to avoid the violence that has
ravaged the city. She relied on family members for help, but they had
their own problems to deal with.

Now in a shelter for women, she and her children wait for their next
move.

Silvia saves the little cash she earns working odd jobs. Her daughter,
Julia, 10, and son, Manuel, 9, attend school and make good grades.

"I want my children to be better than me. I don't want them to
struggle like I have struggled," said Silvia, 27.

Silvia, who asked that her family's last name not be published for
fear of retaliation, came to the United States with $300 in June 2008.
She brought only a change of clothes for herself and the children. The
violence was touching too close to home, she said.

Silvia, who wears her dark brown hair long, sat on a chair on the
shelter's porch. Julia and a friend, wearing their school uniforms,
rested on the ground in front of Silvia. They chatted and giggled.
Manuel, sweaty with messy hair, played ball with a friend in the
shelter's gated playground.

It's hard to imagine a little more than a year ago, Julia and Manual
saw a bloody body dumped behind their school in Juarez.

"It was shocking for the children. I was in shock when they told me. I
never thought they would experience something like that," Silvia said.
"We don't talk about it anymore. ... They do remember though."

Silvia called for Manuel. He said he recalled seeing the body and how
it frightened him.

"Juarez is a bad place. There are bad people who rob and assault
people," he said, gasping for air after running to his mother. "I felt
like they didn't take care for us in school. I was scared they could
kill students and teachers, too."

Silvia said she was glad her children do not live in that environment
anymore.

Silvia worked in the perfume and jewelry section of a department store
in Juarez. About a month before coming to the United States, she said,
she was driving home and witnessed two execution-style killings.

"I saw one on the road, then turned on another street and saw another
execution. They were back to back, in less than 15 minutes. They were
shootings," she said. "At that moment, you think 'I hope I am not
caught in the crossfire.' They shoot randomly, and sometimes stray
bullets hit innocent people."

More than 4,500 people have been killed in Juarez since the beginning
of 2008. Most killings have been linked to warring drug cartels.

Silvia said she fears her brother might be among those who have died.
She said he was involved in drug trafficking and disappeared two years
ago.

"I don't know what happened to my brother," she said. "One day, he
called and told us goodbye. He told us if anybody called to ask about
him, we should say we didn't know anything about him. His telephone
has been off ever since. We haven't heard from him since."

Countless other families have fled the city, which once was home to
1.5 million but has shrunk by tens of thousands. Precise numbers vary,
depending on which government agency is counting.

Silvia, who was born in Sonora, Mexico, and grew up in Juarez, was a
single mother living with her parents. She worked long hours daily to
support her family. Before moving in with her parents, Silvia was
married to the father of her children.

She moved to the United States after her children were let out of
school for summer vacation. She said she had a visa to cross into the
United States and her children are U.S. citizens.

She, her children and her father set out for Albuquerque, where her
sister and brother-in-law lived. Silvia said she had a job as a
cashier at a grocery.

Four months later, Silvia's brother-in-law was deported. He did not
have documents to be in the United States.

Silvia said her sister moved back to Juarez to be with her husband.
She said she left Albuquerque with her sister because she did not know
anyone else in New Mexico.

"We came back on Halloween 2008," she said. "We were driving past Las
Cruces and I told my sister, 'What am I going to do in Juarez?' She
said, 'Well, work.' I said, 'We're going back to the same thing.'"

When they reached El Paso, Silvia said, she decided to stay at her
aunt's house in Central El Paso. After three days she moved to the
shelter.

"I left everything behind, but it has been worth it. ... I feel like
I'm starting from the bottom. But everything is for my children -- all
my sacrifices. We feel at ease here. Even though we're right next to
Juarez, life is completely different here. Things are peaceful. I know
my children go to school and they are safe."