‘I am here, I am free’: how one Venezuelan refugee triumphed against the odds

Alejandro, who fled his home fearing for his life, is among a vast displaced population used as political pawns in the US

The rough floor of the immigration detention center was Alejandro's sharpening stone.

For hours each day, he scraped trash against concrete at the River correctional facility in rural Louisiana so he could make rings for his loved ones. He wore plastic Coke bottles down to an O" shape, using the cylinder to give the rings their form. He knew the bottle would leave the rings too big for the fingers he was making them for: his sister, niece, and best friend. But he had nothing else.