Deaf and unable to communicate in standard sign language, Andres arrived in Brownsville in March 2020 fleeing persecution in his home country of El Salvador. He had traveled to the U.S. with his sister Alessandra and his 1-year-old niece. With Andres’ disability, Alessandra is the only person in the world with whom he can converse.
Andres, Alessandra, and baby Maria* were detained by ICE for over a week before being placed into the “Migrant Protection Protocols” program and unceremoniously dumped onto the streets of Matamoros. They were not given any food, water, or services from the American or Mexican governments. They were simply told to wait until the US was ready to hear their asylum claim. So they joined the thousands of others waiting for months and even years in the refugee camp in Matamoros.
Click here to donate to help the thousands of asylum seekers waiting in Matamoros.
Fearing for his safety due to his disability, Andrews never left the Matamoros encampment. The past 11 months living in a tent with a toddler and only his sister to communicate with has been hard, to say the least.
Last week, L4GG’s Project Corazon filed a parole request for Andres and his family, advocating with Customs and Border Patrol for his immediate release into the US.
Late Friday night, our request was granted.
Project Corazon Director Charlene D’Cruz and coordinator Karla Rosario rushed to the border to receive Andres, Alessandra, and Maria and welcome them into the United States. They took them to HEB for a fresh meal and thanks to generous donors, we were able to put them in a hotel for the night and pay for their transportation. Andres, Alessandra, and Maria are now in Oklahoma with their family, where they’ll wait until their asylum claim is heard.
We are so thrilled at the outcome of Andres’ case, an outcome that couldn’t have happened without the help of our industrious volunteers and our generous donors.
We are currently working to request humanitarian parole for the most vulnerable of the asylum seekers in our system, and hope to have new success stories to share.
If you’d like to enable us to help future clients like Andres, please donate to support our programs directly. Hotels in Brownsville cost an average of $96 a night and flights an average of $305.
Can you donate $96 or $305 to us today?
Note, if you can’t support us financially, we also appreciate pledges of miles to our travel fund.
With gratitude,
Traci
Traci Feit Love
Founder & President
Lawyers for Good Government Foundation
*Pseudonyms used to protect the identities of our clients.
