Alba Gonzalez left the Dominican Republic and headed for another island, Long Island, in search of something more for her family in this land of opportunity.

It was 2016, and her two sons, Fraicer Cuello and younger brother Leonardo Cuello , stayed behind in their home city of Azua in the care of their grandmother and other family members while Gonzalez got settled in Mineola. Junior Cuello, the boys’ dad, had died in 2014. Their mother was finally able to bring them here after a year.

“My mom moved here with my brother and us to have better lives in America,” Leonardo said. “We had good lives, but she wanted me and my brother to move here so we could be more successful . . . My mom settled here and did what she had to do.”

Leonardo was almost 9 at the time. Now he’s a 17-year-old Min

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