Rosa Elena Mejía is overwhelmed with happiness since this May, International Mother’s Day, received a work permit as a gift as part of her asylum request in the United States. Along with his authorization to work in the country, came the employment permits for his three children.
And also the work permit, stops his deportation, at least while deciding whether to approve asylum .
“I am very happy and content. I feel like I’ve won a million dollars. I have fought hard to come to this country; and offer my children a better life, free of violence”, says Rosa Elena of 47 years.
This mother escaped from Guatemala in February of 2019, and after a trip of almost 2 months, she applied for asylum on 11 April of that same year.
“I left my country because of the domestic violence he inflicted on me, my husband, the father of my children. I ran away; and although we are now safe, I am still worried because my mother is almost 81 years and my brother stayed there”.
Remember that her husband threatened to destroy my entire family , if he left.
In Mexico, with a humanitarian visa issued by the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, he managed to reach Tijuana where he and his children survived in various shelters and almshouses .
She shares that the trip through Mexico to the United States was very hard especially because her children were very young.
“They didn’t want them to feel afraid. He talked to them a lot and told them that God first, we were going to arrive with his aunt”.
After his three She and her children turned themselves in to immigration authorities when requesting asylum at the Tijuana border, spending three days in detention.
“When we were released, we were received by my sister who lives in Fullerton, Orange County. She is the one who has been supporting us these three years that we have lived in this country”.
She says that the work permit could not come at a better time because her children have ever greater needs.
“They have adapted very well. They have learned English, but my children grow all the time. The clothes no longer fit and do not stretch. If I don’t work, who is going to provide for them”.
Her children José, Yhilmar and Diana now have 16, 13 and 9 years respectively.
Unable to work, She and her sister started selling food to the neighbors to help themselves. “Now that I have a work permit, I’m going to start looking for a job in whatever.”
He adds that his sister has had a bit of a bad heart, and although she has been extremely generous with them, it is time to support her.
And she explains that the fight for asylum has not been easy because the pandemic has been going through, which has made it difficult for her to obtain the evidence, but so far, she says, they have not had any problems with migration, and she has complied with everything they have asked of her.
“Unfortunately for everything you have to have money, and I don’t have a job, it’s been difficult for me. But God is with me and we are going to get ahead.”
During the three years she has been in the country, she says that her dream has always been focused on her children. “ I want them to study and I want to see them succeed. That is my fight”.
The work permit will allow Rosa and her children to obtain a social security number.
The immigration attorney, Sergio Siderman, who handles the case of this mother says that obtaining a work permit is never a guarantee of asylum.
However, she warns that in the situation de Rosa, they have a good chance of winning it, first because things have improved under President Biden in the sense that he has instructed prosecutors to focus only on priorities such as those who have committed a crime; and second, because she has a good case
“We are not only talking about domestic violence but that she has received death threats; and hitmen connected to the government and the police are involved; and other details that I cannot reveal for now due to the sensitivity of the case”, he points out.
But he points out that she has good hopes of obtaining asylum. “It will be a panel of three judges, who will decide; and if they deny it, we can appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court”.
Lawyer Siderman said that the case can be resolved in six months, but it can also take up to three years.