Teresa Valdez

Disclaimer: While place descriptions and news events may coincide with the real world, all characters and the plot are fictional. 
== Biography ==
=== Early Years ===
=== Education ===
Teresa and Ryan took a class in immigration (and migrant labor?) together in 2016/17. She has also taken a 'Spanish for native speakers' course, and a seminar about May Sarton, She hopes to finish college and teach children bilingually in both English and Spanish.
In Winter 2021, Teresa enrolls in the Honor's seminar run by Prof McGee.
=== Eyewitness News ===
Teresa Valdez was a writer for EWN in Spring term, 2016 when Emily started. On May 27, 2017 she returns to her family in Yakima WA(3:222/726). 
Teresa is smart - even smarter than Ryan. She and Ryan took classes together, and arguing over coffee had been as important to him as making love.
==== Book 3: Don't Go ====
Teresa arrives at EWN with Rafael at 4pm on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, and leaves him with Ryan, where she knows he will be safe.
== Physical Appearance ==
Teresa Valdez is a young Latina woman. She is shorter than Emily, and a bit curvier. She has beautiful brown hair, worn loose, or kept pulled smoothly back in a clasp at the back of her neck.
== Personality ==
=== Book 3: Don't Go ===
Ryan thinks Teresa is smarter than he is. 
== Relationships ==
=== Family ===
==== Immigration Status ====
===== Book 2: Choose =====
Her grandfather was born in Morelia, Mexico, and first visited the US with his own parents when he was very young, following the harvest. In the early 1980s, when he was 20, he didn't return to Mexico with the rest of his family when the harvest season ended. He bought expensive forged documents before meeting Teresa's grandmother. Although he already had children in Mexico, they married and raised a family. 
On turning 16, his eldest son decided to travel north to be with his father, but was caught at the border and returned to his mother in Mexico. where he joined the police. Eight years later, when he was 24-years-old and Teresa was one-year-old, he traveled north legally on a work permit, following the harvest, but didn't return to Mexico. His father had forged documents ready for him. He found work, married, and had more children. 
Teresa is unaware of her family's immigration issues until May 2017 when she leaves Portland. Teresa's step-mother needed her, Teresa was pregnant, and her relationship with Ryan was troubled, and so she went home to her extended family in Yakima, Washington. After she arrives, she learns that her grandfather has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as an illegal immigrant, and released on bail pending a hearing. On June 5, 2017, ICE raid the family company during a staff meeting to arrest Teresa's father, who will be held in a detention center pending deportation to Mexico. 
On August 22, 2017, Teresa leaves home in the middle of the night to stay with her mother's college friend in Idaho to evade arrest by ICE until her child is born on November 10, 2017. Teresa was unaware that her mother is not her biological mother, and that she was actually born in Mexico. 
On February 13, 2018, Teresa is arraigned for the misdemeanor of being without documentation, and released on bail. 
By October 30, 2018 Trump is threatening to end birthright citizenship, so Teresa has documentation prepared to transfer custody of Rafael to Ryan. She decides she will fight for citizenship for as long as she can. Her family is already under considerable stress from the long-term incarceration of her father who is still being held by ICE pending deportation. 
By September 22, 2020, Teresa has exhausted all appeals. While she would have been eligible under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) as a pathway to permanent residency in the US, DHS are rejecting new applications. Teresa is a third generation of a family allied with police against a Mexican drug cartel. While her grandfather and father fear for their lives if they return to Mexico, no one knows what will happen to Teresa. Although she has a birth mother and half-siblings in Mexico, she has never met them. She shows Rafael photos of Ryan, and tells him stories about his father, to prepare him so he will not be afraid, as she knows it will only be a matter of time. 
On October 19, 2020 a court orders that Teresa be arrested and imprisoned in an ICE detention center until she can be deported to Mexico, so on Tuesday October 20, 2020 she leaves Rafael with Ryan, and goes into hiding. 
===== Book 3: Don't Go =====
On Wednesday, October 21, 2020 Teresa joins a group of 3 migrant families working as fruit pickers in Idaho, with the assistance of her attorney. Teresa shares a tent with two teenage girls, and home-schools the younger children in exchange for meals while the adults and older teens pick fruit. None of the adults have the written language skills to use the curriculum pack they have been given. The meals are simple - homemade tortillas and beans, sometime with a little chicken, pork, or rice - but plentiful. For safety, she speaks to no one, never leaves their campground, and is known only as 'the teacher'.
By noon on Friday, October 23, 2020 the group is in Nampa ID heading toward Utah and New Mexico, before crossing the border at El Paso to return to their homes in Mexico by Christmas. Teresa misses Rafael, and hopes that giving him to Ryan was the right thing. Her own family are in turmoil, and she's not sure the family company will survive. Her uncle is threatening a lawsuit, and her family tells her there was something weird about how she was discovered. After lunch, Teresa has the children reading from a picture book in English, then translating the words to Spanish. She's determined to teach the children both English and Spanish, as she had no written Spanish language skills until college herself. After supper, she helps the older children to read their own books, helping them with words and concepts they don't understand.
Teresa has been teaching the children rhyming words, leading to examples from music in both English and Spanish. On Monday evening, the migrant camp leader tells her she has been good for them, but there are rumors that ICE are in town and there may be a raid. They will all need to leave Nampa, but he is willing send her ahead with two young men to set up the campsite with their next employer, and along the way she can call her attorney.
When they reach a wildlife preserve an hour from Nampa the following morning, Teresa phones Vic Ruiz and updates him on the camp leader's concern. Vic tells her Ryan has been to see him, and that Rafael is in good hands with Ryan, with both being taken in by Rev Washington. He tells her what they know about Ian Black, and that Ryan wants to come after her with Rafael, and Vic wants her to be sure that's what she wants. Teresa says she doesn't need a hero to rescue her, and Vic says perhaps Ryan needs her to rescue him? Teresa suggests they can rescue each other, and it's time for them to work out their differences and see if they can commit to each other for a lifetime. After discussing alternatives, they agree for Teresa to return to Nampa to await Ryan, who will drive with Rafael from Portland to meet her the next day.
By 2pm on Wednesday, Teresa is nervous and feels that something is wrong. The migrant family is keen to leave the US before the election, and had tried to get her to join them in Twin Falls, but she had refused. Rumors are flying in the campground, so she leaves her bag in a locker in the showers. She dresses in jeans and a t-shirt, instead of a cotton skirt and blouse, to blend in better and walks into Nampa. By the time she arrives at the taqueria, she is hot, tired and hungry. She notices she has arrived earlier than planned, so goes into the bathroom. When she sees a payphone near the door to the bar, she calls Vic Ruiz collect. Vic tells her there was a raid in Twin Falls, and they weren't sure if she had gone there. Vic assures her the migrant family is being taken care of, and that he needs to call Ryan to let him know she's safe. Teresa says she will stay in the restaurant until Ryan arrives.
==== Book 4: Hold Me ====
*Tuesday December 1, 2020 - 6pm: During Ryan's FaceTime call with Emily Andersen, Ryan says that ICE is emptying the detention centers, deporting everyone they can before the new administration takes over. Teresa's father was deported and is now staying with them, so they invited her grandfather down as well, and it's becoming an extended family reunion. Teresa has met her birth mother, and she has many half-siblings and cousins. Her father is still on the cartel's hit list, so they are staying in Mexico City.
-- 
Teresa considers enrolling for the Spring term at the Universidad in Mexico City, to take some courses in the history of the western hemisphere. She wants a degree in bilingual education. Ryan plans to get a Master's degree while Teresa finishes college. 
==== Family business ====
Teresa's family own a trucking company based in Yakima, Washington. The company has 54 employees, including Teresa's father and cousins as drivers, her mother as office manager, and an aunt as the bookkeeper. When Teresa's grandfather is arrested by ICE in May 2017, there are concerns that the ownership of the company is in jeopardy, threatening everyone's livelihood. On June 5, 2017, ICE raid the company during a staff meeting, and arrested Teresa's father, who will be held in a detention center pending deportation to Mexico. 
On June 28, 2017, the husband of one of Teresa's mother's sisters shows up at a staff meeting, demanding to be installed as president of the company. He has been paid by ICE for betraying the family's immigration issues, but also wants to take over the company for himself. He is a white man, and assuming that the men of the family own the company's shares, he argues that for the company to survive, it must have a legal American as its CEO. However, when the company was incorporated, her grandfather gifted ownership of the company to his wife who is a legal resident as. As each of her children married, the wives were gifted with part ownership. The husbands remain only employees. 
Teresa's uncle is dismissed from his position as vice president, escorted out of the business and forbidden from returning. Her aunt is mortified, and has left him. 
=== Ryan Matthews and children ===
Teresa had a relationship with Ryan Matthews, which ended on May 27, 2017 when she returned to Yakima WA to help her extended family. Ryan was her first and only lover.
She and Ryan Matthews have a 3-year-old son, Rafael Matthews Valdez, born November 10, 2017. She stays in contact with Joanna Montgomery via email, and Joanna tells her that Ryan has become clean and sober, and that the media board had chosen him twice as EIC. She's proud of him, and loves him, but won't live with a man who's not faithful.
Ryan is unaware of Rafael until Teresa brings him into the EWN newsroom on Tuesday October 20, 2020.
==== Book 3: Don't Go ====
Ryan and Rafael arrive at the taqueria in Nampa at 4pm(OR) on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 and Teresa is overjoyed to see them. They eat lunch, and Rafael clings to Teresa. Ryan says there is so much to tell her, and asks her to marry him. Teresa bluntly tells him that if they marry, there can be no other women and Ryan agrees. He tells her of his therapy, how he wants what the Washingtons have, and that Dr Clarke had helped him understand that it's not that desire ends, but that you make a commitment not to act on that desire so as not to harm your relationship. Teresa nods and says for example Cage is a fine-looking man, but she wouldn't do anything about that because of what she wants for them. Ryan tells her what J.J. passed on about Cage, Emily and Sarah, and she laughs and says they need to get home to watch that. They talk about honeymooning in Mexico while Vic gets the immigration paperwork sorted out, and that they can be married in San Francisco. She tells him she wants to finish her degree, and how she has learned what she wants to do in the future with bilingual education. Ryan tells her McShane thinks he has a future in academia, and Teresa agrees. She asks where he wants to get his doctorate? Ryan laughs and says those are long term plans, for now he wants to get to Boise to fly to San Francisco. Teresa worries about paying for everything, and Ryan says it's a long story.
Ryan's Prius is small, and Rafael's things take up most of the space, but fortunately Teresa doesn't have much stuff. Vic Ruiz calls around 6pm to say there is a change of plans, as even for an internal flight, all parties would need to show identification and Teresa is still on ICE's watch list. So they will have to drive to San Francisco instead of flying. Vic discusses the route with them, and they head for Burns OR.
When they arrive at Day's Inn at 9pm and are safely in their room, Teresa is tense and tells Ryan she's worried that he is just trying to do the right thing and will regret it later. She wants them to marry because they love each other, not because he feels obligated. Ryan says he thinks she's rescuing him too, because he's a mess. Teresa also says she's worried she won't please him, as she's not as sexually experienced as his other partners have been. Ryan says it's not about her pleasing him, it's about their pleasure together. He loves the way she touches him, and the way she feels and responds when he touches her. He kisses her, and lets her explore and know that she's the one in control. They make love quietly, without waking Rafael.
The following morning: Teresa helps Rafael get ready to leave, while Ryan repacks the Prius. They check out, and as they leave Ryan notices the clerk on the phone but looking at them. They decide to get on the road immediately, and have breakfast in Bend OR.
They get breakfast at a drive-thru Starbucks in Bend at 9am, and pull into a small park to drink their coffee. Ryan calls Vic Ruiz and tells him about the motel clerk. Vic says he'll investigate and call them back. Ryan checks different routes on Google maps, and as they drive on realizes how privileged he's always been as a white man to have always been safe when he traveled. He tells Teresa, and she agrees that's what white male privilege is - the 'not having to think about it', and assuming everything will be fine. They spend an hour talking about privilege, and what she'd learned while traveling with the migrant family. They take a short break so Rafael can play in a patch of snow, then continue on. Ryan says so much has happened, but he feels he needs to tell Teresa about his grandparents immediately. He tells her about his adoption, his rebellious teens, and how they left him in Portland with a huge trust fund provided he attend a four-year college. He hadn't wanted the trust fund to make a difference, so until recently he used it only for things covered by normal financial aid, and lived off what he made at EWN. However when he realized that he would need the money to bring them together as a family, he contacted the fund manager. So they have many things to worry about, but money isn't one of them. He doesn't think his other friends are aware, but notes that Emily is very observant.
Vic Ruiz calls around noon, when they are about an hour out of Eugene OR, to say that ICE has a BOLO for their license plates, in connection with the death of Ian Black, an ICE consultant. Teresa had not known Black was dead, and asks why ICE would be looking for Ryan. He tells her Black threatened him with a gun, fired and missed, and so McShane shot and killed Black. McShane has a concealed-carry permit, and sent Ryan off with Cage. Black had tried to kill Ryan earlier on Tuesday afternoon by running him off the road, so Ryan didn't ask and got out of there before the cops showed up. Black had said he could make a call to ICE and it would go badly for Teresa, Rafael and himself, but perhaps he'd already made that call. Ryan tells Vic that if ICE are looking for their car, then he needs a new car. Vic says he knows an attorney near Eugene and will call back. Ryan says they'll stop at a Starbucks, and wait to hear back from him. Teresa asks what else Ryan hasn't told her, and he admits there's lots, but he's trying to tell her what she needs to know first. Teresa says that's okay as long as he's not trying to protect her. Ryan says he only hopes he's as strong as she is, he's read her journal and trusts her to stand at his side, no matter what comes.
When they reach the next Starbucks around 1pm, Ryan pulls over. Teresa takes her satchel and adds Rafael's essentials, telling Ryan never to go anywhere without his papers and what he must have. Ryan hands over Rafael's ID and legal papers, and pulls cash out of a locked box under his seat refilling his wallet, but giving most to Teresa in case they are separated. They use the Starbucks bathrooms then get food and coffee. As they exit Starbucks, they see a police car parked next to the Prius, with an officer looking it over. They cross the highway to a park, and Ryan gets a text from Vic that his friend Jonathan Tremont will call. When he does, Ryan tells him they have a problem, and Tremont says he has rented a car in his own name, and will bring it to them. Soon after, he arrives and tells them that the rental company knows it's hired for a client stranded with car trouble, and Ryan is listed as a secondary driver. He has arranged for a friend to pick him up after they've left. They discuss their route to San Francisco, and Tremont recommends they spend the night in Ashland OR, and offers to call ahead and make a reservation for them there.
When they arrive in Ashland around 5pm, they check into their motel then go out for take-out and bring it back to their room. After Rafael is asleep, Teresa asks if Ryan is sure about them, as she won't marry a man who won't be faithful. She asks what has changed from last time they were together. Ryan tells her he almost died, and Cage took him to OHSU. The psychiatrist there told him he was an alcoholic and if he didn't stop he'd be dead in a year. So getting clean was the first thing, and once clean, the party scene didn't appeal as much. He'd recently started seeing Dr Clarke again, as he wanted to be Rafael's father, and the man Teresa would want. The first thing Dr Clarke asked was his earliest memories, and he told her 10, when he was adopted. Ryan takes off his shirt, and has Teresa touch the scars on his belly that he'd once told her were from a car accident, and tells her they're cigarette burns, and the ones on his shoulder from a knife. There are more, because sometime in the 10 years he doesn't remember, he was abused. Teresa is horrified and crying and pulls his head down to her shoulder. Ryan goes on and tells her that his adoptive parents never told him they are his real grandparents, and his parents served time for the death of his younger brother, and his own near-death abuse. There is still a lot he doesn't know, but when they get the chance he wants to go back and work with Dr Clarke for more therapy. He tells Teresa he is so broken, but will never betray his vows to her. Will she marry him, broken pieces and all? Teresa tells him he is hers, broken pieces and all, and if he feels needy, he is to come to her and she will help him heal those broken places, as she loves him.
Teresa marries Ryan Matthews, and her chosen name changes to Teresa Valdez-Matthews.
==== Book 4: Hold Me ====
*Tuesday December 1, 2020 - 6pm: During Ryan's FaceTime call with Emily Andersen, he passes the phone to Teresa for a few minutes. Emily asks Teresa when they are coming home. Teresa says Ryan hopes to be back so Teresa can start classes in Spring Term. But Mexico City is unexpectedly cosmopolitan, full of art galleries and museums, the shopping rivals Paris, and she loves it there, so she's considering trying a class at the Universidad in January. They will be back though, Ryan has some unfinished business and he plans to get a master's degree while Teresa finishes her bachelor's. Then they can pick a university for future study. Teresa says she wants to get a degree in bilingual education, she feels the US education system needs to change.
=== Friends ===
==== Joanna Montgomery ====
===== Book 3: Don't Go =====
Teresa lived in the residence halls the first year. In the second, she found roommates, including Joanna Montgomery. Even after leaving PSU, Teresa stays in contact with Joanna. Joanna had told her that Ryan had become clean and sober, and that the media board had chosen him twice as EIC.
Category:Character