Fulton, N.Y. — The last time Jose and Nain Maldonado-Zavala saw their mother was when she made them pancakes for the first day of school Sept. 4. They got on the school bus, headed to eighth and ninth grade in Fulton. She went to her job at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners Factory in Cato. A few hours later, immigration agents stormed the factory. Hilda Gloria Yanez-Zavala was among the 57 workers detained. Like more than 20 of the workers who were taken with her, Yanez-Zavala was separated from her children. After a month in detention, Yanez-Zavala decided to self-deport back to El Salvador. She and the boys had a pending asylum case, and she was legally allowed to work when she was detained, according to court records. But without work, she had no money to pay the lawyer who had been handling the case. And without a lawyer, their slim chance all but disappeared, she told syracuse.com through a translator. Every day since then has been held hostage by one question: Should the boys stay or go?She brought them here three years ago to give them a better life, she said. Could they still get it? Jose, 15, wanted to stay, he says. He dreamed of being a Marine. He excelled at wrestling. He likes algebra. He has friends. “It would be a better future,” he says through a translator.Nain, 13, wanted to go. He needed his mother. He came for a better life, and this was not it, he says through a translator. He was scared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would pick him up, too, and he would disappear in this system. Brutal choices hung over the boys for months. Could they stay there without their mother? Could Nain leave his brother behind? Should Jose leave the glimmer of opportunity he still saw? Nain Maldonado-Zavala holds his certificate for completing sixth-grade the year after he came to Fulton from El Salvador. This is after a celebration with his brother, mother and sister. His mother and sister were taken by ICE.provided photoYanez-Zavala and her boys came to the U.S. three years ago from a rural town in El Salvador, she says.They never talked about why. They didn’t have to. Then, the destination meant opportunity, Nain says. Some of their family, including their older sister and brother, were already in Fulton, in Oswego County. Yanez-Zavala and the boys embarked on a journey of a little more than a week, the boys said. It was not scary or hard. They rode in a car and then in the front seat of a truck. They never hid, they say.When they reached the border, they reported to immigration authorities and requested asylum, as the law requires. They spent four days in detention, they say. It was cold, but they were with their mother. And they could play basketball to pass the time. Their application was accepted, and they were released, they say. They traveled to Fulton and began living in an apartment owned by a distant relative they refer to as their grandmother, along with their sister, brother and his partner. It was spacious and bright, and everyone had their own room. They attended immigration appointments with their mother, Nain says. But mostly, they spent their time being kids. They went to school. They learned English and tried to figure out how to fit in. They pull up happy photos of that time. In one, Nain smiles proudly with his mom, Jose, and older sister as he holds up a certificate. It was for completing his first year of school here. In another picture, Jose stands with his mother. They are dressed in their nice clothes for church. Jose Maldonado-Zavala and his mother, Hilda Yanez-Zavala dressed up for church in Fulton. Yanez-Zavala was taken by ICE in September. The family had to decide what the boys should do.provided photoFor a while, Yanez-Zavala worked watching other people’s children, her sons say. She’s one of those moms who never loses her patience, Jose and Nain both say. Then she got work at the factory. Their mother, 52, has so much energy, they say. If she was busy, she was happy. If she wasn’t at her job, she was doing her other job of taking care of all of them. Cooking, cleaning, making sure they got up in the morning and did their homework at night. She was the force of the household, and it has been hard with her gone, they say. Now, here without her, there is the matter of who really is in charge of them. They are good boys, so it’s not a matter of who disciplines them. But they are children and are required to have a legal guardian. When ICE took their mother, it was without regard for the fact that she is their sole legal guardian. Since Trump’s crackdown began, immigration advocates have been working with families like Yanez-Zavala’s to have papers filled out so someone else can step in as a guardian if a parent is taken. But in September, things weren’t moving as quickly. The Cato raid was a surprise.“It’s not good that they are separating families,” Nain says. Another relative had been watching over them, but he has his own immigration situation and could not be their guardian. The boys were, in many ways, on their own. Nain felt this deeply. After his mother was gone, it was hard for him to get up, he says. He didn’t want to go to school. His head hangs at the table as he talks about her. What was she like?He still looks down. “She was everything,” he says through the translator.He and Jose describe a good mom, in any language. They respected her; she respected them. They wanted to do well to make her proud. They knew she brought them here because she wanted better for them, they say.They miss her and she has missed so much. Jose goes into his room and comes back with a yellow ribbon. He and his team won fourth at a wrestling tournament with more than 50 schools. He holds up the award. Then he demonstrates his signature move. He grabs the opponent and lifts them up and over him. Then he pins them. As he shows, his shyness fades. What do you like here, a reporter asks Nain. But there is nothing. “I do not like it anymore,” he says. The whole country is a broken promise. From left, Jose Maldonado-Zavala, 15, and brother Nain Maldonado-Zavala. Their mother self-deported to El Salvador after she was detained in the immigration raid on the Nutrition Bar Confectioners Factory in Cato in September. The brothers were left with a choice. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.comdennis nett | dnett@syracuse.comThe danger that lives in that is what made the final decision for these boys. Both say they are afraid of being picked up by ICE, and of what happens if they stay here. Their mother decided they should come home now. Even though they still have asylum cases, there is no money for their lawyer, she says. She has no work. Each boy has packed a few bags — just clothes. And Jose is bringing his wrestling ribbons. Nain looks lighter as he talks about going back to El Salvador. “We are not bringing snow,” he jokes. Both boys finally laugh. They are leaving today for New York City and then Monday on a plane to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. A family friend has helped buy the tickets. They call their mother on video. She stands in her old house that she came here to make money to fix. The ceiling is open in some spots, exposing pipes and wiring. What will you do when you see your sons, a reporter asks her.She starts to talk but cannot get out any words. She is crying too hard.