TAMPA, Fla. — More than 11 million immigrants have arrived in the U.S. since 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

The move can also mean leaving behind family — sometimes, for many years. A Tampa Bay nonprofit is helping educate immigrants on a path toward reunification.

What You Need To Know

Colectivo Arbol is a nonprofit that focuses on helping immigrants in agriculture

Its program helps reunite loved ones through visitor visas

The visas are usually granted for 10 years and requires the help from lawyers and the country from which the person arrived from to be processed

As Carmen Lugo will tell you, tending to her animals is her favorite part of the day. The animals remind her of her home country of Mexico.

Lugo is a permanent resident and has been living in the U.S. for almost four years.

While she misses her country, she says she’ll never forget the moment she arrived.

“Beautiful, because I got here to see all my brothers, my sister and all my children,” she said.

It’s that joy that she wanted for her cousin as well. Thanks to the nonprofit Colectivo Arbol, she reunited with her cousin in March of this year, through a 10-year visitor visa.

“I felt relief to have been able to do this for her, because it was a dream that seemed impossible for her,” Lugo said. “Because it was impossible for her because of the lack of support.”

Lugo said her cousin was struggling day-to-day to make ends meet, so she wanted her to feel supported and loved by bringing her here.

With the help they received, her cousin’s daughter also obtained a visa. While they recently returned to Mexico, Lugo said they’ll be back again soon.

She said the process to obtain the visa took about four months to complete before she arrived. That’s the case for many families the nonprofit serves.

The nonprofit’s founder Isaret Jeffers said many of the families they help are older adults who haven’t seen loved one for more than 20 years.

She said it’s not just about helping, but educating immigrants on this pathway.

“Many of them didn’t even get the chance to see their parents anymore, because many of them have passed away,” Jeffers said. “So imagine the pain you feel when you immigrate here and never see your parents again.”

Jeffers said it’s a big effort to keep the reunification program going. Volunteers help move the older adults through airports in Mexico and pick them up when they arrive here in the U.S.

For Lugo, it has kept her family together, and she believes it will do the same for others.

“They should have faith more than anything and have the confidence that they will receive this help,” she said.

Lugo said Colectivo Arbol has helped reunite about 100 families so far this year.