She says she is ready for the rough-and-tumble atmosphere of the US House of Representatives, where she hopes to be working come January.

Haaland, 57, is one of three native American women hoping to be the first to serve in Congress. But the New Mexico Democrat has perhaps the best shot at victory.

So far, she is polling ahead of a Republican woman opponent in a traditionally blue district that includes the state’s biggest city, Albuquerque.

“We need real people who are talking about our issues and know what it feels like,” Haaland told AFP in an interview at her campaign headquarters.

“We have people in Congress right now who… don’t know what it’s like” to be without food or proper health care, she says.

Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, knows what it’s like.

“I’m 30 years sober,” she tells a picnic for supporters in a city park. “I felt that that’s something that is big in my life the public needs to know.”

– Military family –

AFP / Mark RALSTON. Deb Haaland is running for Congress in New Mexico’s 1st congressional district against a Republican woman, Janice Arnold-Jones.

Haaland was born in Winslow, Arizona, where her grandfather worked on the railroad — as part of a federal government policy of “cultural assimilation” for native Americans.

She comes from a military family: father JD “Dutch” Haaland was a decorated Marine and her mother Mary served in the Navy.

The family moved a lot, as many American military families do. Haaland says she attended 13 different schools.

But the customs and traditions of the Laguna Pueblo provided stability in her youth.

Haaland recalls how she spent summers with her grandparents, first in Winslow and later in New Mexico, where she helped them water the fields and bake bread.

She remained active in her tribe, which is supporting her in her run for Congress.

At one time, she served as the chairwoman of the Laguna Development Corporation Board of Directors, responsible for its three casinos on the reservation, which AFP was not authorized to visit.

She also worked as a cake decorator and started a salsa company so she could spend more time with her daughter while in law school. She made ends meet with the help of student loans and food stamps.

After failing the bar exam by a hair, Haaland decided to launch herself into politics, working her way up in the local Democratic Party.

– Progressive –

AFP / Mark RALSTON. Haaland’s campaign baseball caps are a play on words from President Donald Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” hats.

She started in the trenches as a volunteer for John Kerry’s presidential campaign in 2004 — making endless cold calls to rally native Americans to vote.

Since then, she has not stopped campaigning: she worked full-time for Barack Obama, and on dozens of local and state campaigns. She ran for lieutenant governor and served one term as the state party chair.

Her daughter Somah, now 24, was often at her side.

That indefatigable spirit remains intact.

“Deb never takes a break,” says one member of her campaign team.

On the day of the picnic event in Albuquerque, Haaland was in a rush — she was three hours late because she was making calls to potential donors.

“I’m sorry!” she said on arriving.

But she quickly shifted gears to the issues, as supporters enjoyed the tacos and desserts set up on a table adorned with some patriotic decor.

She detailed her progressive agenda for about 30 attendees, including the use of clean energy, health care for all and immigration reform.

– ‘Perspective’ –

AFP / Mark RALSTON. Deb Haaland (R) — seen at her campaign office in Albuquerque — says she can still be a “strong voice” for native Americans, minorities and the poor.

In her interview with AFP, Haaland says while her disdain for Trump was a motivating factor, it was not the only reason she decided to run.

The district she hopes to represent is mainly white and Latino, and does not include any indigenous territories. But Haaland says she can still be a “strong voice” for native Americans, minorities and the poor.

“My ancestors have sacrificed a tremendous amount to keep my customs and traditions for me,” she said.

“So I want to make sure that I am bringing that perspective to the table in anything I do.”

Featured Photo: Mark Ralston, AFP: Deb Haaland — shown surrounded by campaign staff at her office in Albuqurque, New Mexico — is vying to be the first native American woman elected to Congress.

The nightmare began when she crossed the Mexican border into the United States to seek political asylum during the “zero tolerance” policy imposed by US President Donald Trump.

She had completed a long and exhausting trip from Guatemala City, accompanied by her 11-year-old son, whom she is calling “Geremy,” and a nephew.

She left behind three other children: boys of 10 and four, and a girl aged six. She had separated from her husband, who stopped giving her money, and decided to emigrate to the US in order to be able to support the children better.

She offered few details of the trip, though she said she came with other families — not in the infamous immigrant caravan that Trump warned about — and that they were helped by “a guy.”

At a border post in San Luis, Arizona, they turned themselves in to authorities, the first step to requesting asylum.

It was a hot day in May, as both Otilia and Geremy remember well.

Immigration officers placed them in a car; its windows were closed tight.

“It was hot, so hot,” the 31-year-old mother told AFP in a telephone interview. “I didn’t know what to do. I started crying.”

They were the first tears she would shed in the long and painful days to follow — but not the last.

“I never imagined what was going to happen,” said the housewife, who has been studying to become an accountant.

“If I had known it was going to turn out like this, how would I ever have put my son’s life at risk?”

– ‘Say goodbye to your son’ –

Otilia and Geremy were moved from the blistering heat of the car to what migrants call “la hielera,” or the cooler, a jail run by the federal authorities.

GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File / JOHN MOORE. Central American immigrants are freed from US custody in a Texas facility, pending future immigration court hearings.

“They kept us for three days in the cold, on the floor, and gave us nothing,” she said. “The officers made fun of us in English.”

Geremy said he has one image etched in his memory from those first days in captivity: “They took her away chained at the feet, at the hands, and at the belt.”

“I felt very bad, I started to cry,” the boy recounted.

It was worse when the immigration official told Otilia to “say goodbye to your son.”

“He started crying too and we told each other goodbye.”

She was sent to the Eloy detention center in Arizona, while he was taken north to Chicago, 1,750 miles (2,800 kilometers) away.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Otilia said. “What if I was deported? How would I know where my son was? I was very scared.”

In the shelter in Chicago, Geremy was attacked by a 14-year-old boy and suffered a head injury that required hospital treatment.

The Nexus Human Rights law firm, which took up the case, has sued the shelter for negligence.

“My social worker treated me badly,” the boy said. “She did not want to have anything to do with me.”

– Finally, a reunion –

With the help of other detainees, Otilia was able to figure out where her son had been taken and speak to him on the phone.

GETTY IMAGES/AFP/File / JOHN MOORE. Undocumented immigrants, wearing shackles, are seen in a detention center in McAllen, Texas.

“I felt sad, but he was strong. I was the only one telling him to be brave, that everything would turn out in the end.”

She was freed a month later after making bail of $20,000, which Nexus paid after deciding to represent her pro bono. That allows Otilia to remain in the US until her asylum application is resolved.

Nexus represents about 60 of the more than 2,500 cases of children separated from their parents or relatives at the border in the few weeks the policy was in effect.

Nexus finally managed to get Geremy released by late June.

Now he and his mother live with the boy’s paternal aunt in Miami Beach, and her son — the nephew they crossed over with.

Together — free at least — Otilia and her son ponder the future.

Nexus said she will not be deported unless an immigration judge orders her removed.

A first priority is to get a job, Otilia says.

“I left my three children behind and I have to fight for them and fight until the end.”

Meanwhile, she hopes Geremy will work hard to have a better future of his own.

“For all that we’ve been through,” she said, “it will be worth it.”

Featured Photo: US Customs and Border Protection/AFP / Handout. This recent photo from the US Customs and Border Protection agency shows border crossers waiting to be processed at a facility in McAllen, Texas.

“Do you hear us?” supporters ask from outside. “What do you need?”

This was the short interplay Saturday between hundreds of protesters and people being held at a US detention center for undocumented migrants in Otay Mesa, on the border with Mexico.

A group of people held at the center had been separated from their children as part of President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy.

The president on Wednesday signed an order ending the practice of splitting migrant families, but 2,300 children have already been separated from their parents.

“Shame,” “Abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” and “You’re not alone,” shouted the estimated 500 protesters rallied by religious leaders.

“I know those families are suffering and it is very hard to see that children have to go through the trauma of a detention center when they are 10, five years old,” Erica Leyva, 24, who traveled from Los Angeles to join the protest, told AFP.

Though she was born in the United States, she was briefly detained with her undocumented parents when she was four years old.

“I remember how it felt to be behind bars,” she said.

Otay Mesa detention center — managed by a private company — has the capacity for some 1,500 people, though in January it announced an expansion of 30 percent, according to local media.

ICE did not respond to AFP’s calls about the detention center.

On Friday, Democratic Senator Kamala Harris visited several undocumented women at the center who were separated from their children.

“The stories they shared with me paint a picture of human rights abuses being committed by our government. We are so much better this,” she said.

– ‘Concentration camp’ –

AFP / Robyn Beck. Pastor and activist Ben McBride, pictured leading protestors outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center, requested a prayer for “our immigrant relatives”.

Demonstrators covered the name of the detention center with a white sheet that read “concentration camp” in black letters and placed toys and stuffed animals around in protest.

Pastor and activist Ben McBride requested a prayer for “our immigrant relatives” before moving with a group to the fence, despite a “private property” sign and the warning of two guards armed with pepper spray.

At the gate, topped with barbed wire, they tied children’s shoes and keys to demand the release and reunification with family of those detained.

“Release them!” they shouted. “Without justice there is no peace!”

“This is indecent, it is immoral,” the pastor exclaimed to officials.

Apolonia Gregorio Jeronimo, 33, and two of her three children were visiting her detained husband at the center.

Her was arrested six months ago and can be deported in August.

“I thank you very much for your support,” said the woman, who told how her husband arrived in the United States fleeing gang violence in Guatemala.

“He is desperate; he is sure that they kill him,” explained Apolonia, who is a beneficiary of DACA, the program that protects undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children.

Earlier in San Diego, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the detention center, some 1,500 people also protested against Trump’s immigration policy.

“Families must be together,” “No to the wall,” and “Seeking asylum is still legal,” were among the slogans on signs they carried.

And in response to the jacket First Lady Melania Trump wore on a trip to Texas to visit a detention center for undocumented children — which bore the text “I really don’t care. Do U?” — many people wore clothes with the opposite message: “I really care, do you?”

Featured Photo: AFP / Robyn Beck. Protestors link arms after tying children’s shoes and keys on the fence outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center during a demonstration against US immigration policy that separates children from their parents.