From Undocumented to Documented, All Thanks to a Marine...
Henry* is a U.S. citizen and active-duty Marine; his mom, Josefina* was undocumented. She has been in the U.S. for 21 years and raised Henry and his brothers and sisters as a single mom.
Over the years, she had visited two other immigration attorneys and received little help from both. They told her there was no way that Henry could petition for her without trigging a 10-year bar and having to live those years in her native country of Mexico. Even though Henry was a U.S. citizen, they told her the pathway to legal status was not available to her - all because she had entered the U.S. without legal inspection.
Then, Josefina met Just Neighbors attorney, Tori Andrea Babington. With over 13 years of legal experience, Tori know about a little-known immigration benefit for family members of service members and/or veterans and had helped several military families with this in the past. It was a straightforward request that the local immigration office approved after only five months.
Josefina is now protected against deportation, eligible to work legally, and will be able to apply for her green card later this year. Most importantly, she no longer has to worry about being separated from her children.
While there are many people in our communities trying to help immigrants with their legal status, stories like this show how important it is to have trained and expert immigration attorneys. Just Neighbors is lucky to have immigration attorneys with years of experience and expert knowledge like Tori.
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of these individuals.
Ooh-rah!! Way to go, Just Neighbors!
This story proves how important it is to have an attorney who is both experienced and knowledgeable. Being so dedicated to keeping families together is a large part of it, too.