After Years of Brutal Persecution, a Mother and Her Children Find a Safe Haven

Thanks to APA’s intervention and a mother’s perseverance, seven members of a Central American family received asylum in March of 2024.
As “Sofia” learned only after she married, her husband was involved in drug smuggling. Other drug traffickers from whom he had stolen threatened to kill him, Sofia, and their children – and did kill other relatives of his. Because police in the country take a hands-off approach to violence by drug traffickers, police protection was not an option. Once the family fled to Mexico, however, not only did the husband’s double dealings again endanger the family, but due to his penchant for domestic violence, his wife and children ended up going from shelter to shelter seeking protection. They obtained short-term help from Mexican authorities but ultimately suffered such extreme cartel violence that they had to flee Mexico as well.
In 2022, APA volunteer attorney Erika Kreider helped the family, interviewing the mother at length and preparing asylum applications and other documents. In 2023, Mo Goldman accepted the case on a low bono basis, with APA funding. In March of 2024, based on hours of tearful testimony, an immigration judge granted asylum to Sofia and six children. Without APA’s legal and financial help, such a result would have been all but impossible.