Within seconds of realizing her Texas home was filling with water early on the morning of July 4, Rosalinda began waking her children, grandchildren and mother, yelling to them, “Let’s go!”
But in the chaos – and after weeks of hearing rumors of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across Texas – her family didn’t immediately realize they were escaping life-threatening floods.
“At first, the kids thought we were running from immigration,” the undocumented mother who has lived in the US for 12 years, told CNN. “We didn’t think twice. The good thing is the children are very obedient.”
The family of 12 – four generations that lived in three neighboring mobile homes perched on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Kerr County – linked arms and began wading through ankle-deep water that quickly became waist-deep as they struggled to reach a neighbor’s RV that would carry them to safety.
“There wasn’t even a chance to put on shoes. We were all barefoot,” said Rosalina, who CNN is identifying only by her first name due to her immigration status.
