A Life-Changing I-601A Waiver Experience

Guest blogger: Marissa Herrera, law student, University of San Francisco:

            Last Summer I was able to intern at Catholic Charities of the East Bay. Before this internship I had absolutely no immigration law experience, I had no idea how people were able to receive visas, I had no idea as to how the citizenship application worked, and most importantly I had never worked with helping immigrants adjust status or complete paperwork. With my internship I was thrown straight into adjusting status and right into citizenship clinics where I was finally helping people. Although I learned to fill out N-400’s and met every type of immigrant with different backgrounds from different country of origins, the most challenging experience that I learned the most from was completing two different I-601A waivers. The most touching of the two cases was a woman who had escaped to the United States from Mexico, fleeing from intolerable living conditions her husband had left her in. Without the help of Catholic Charities and other nonprofits like Catholic Charities this woman would not have known of the waiver, this case brought to light the importance of these nonprofits in immigrant communities because with our help she was given a chance to stay with her family that needed her. Not only did this experience illuminate the importance of nonprofits but also ignited my desire to practice immigration law, to become a welcoming and helpful face on the other side of the table.

            This client fled Mexico with her son; she had been left by her husband who was in the United States. After a terrible storm that left her town in shambles, her home was flooded with mud and water, and she decided that her only option was to leave and find her husband. She could not stay with her child in this desecrated town. She had been waiting day in and day out for her husband, so she packed up everything and crossed the border with her child. The years following her initial entrance into the United States were tumultuous, her husband had become abusive, an alcoholic, and had started a second family in the United States. The client completely rebuilt her life once she left her husband. She met and married another man and they then started their own business. Her story, although vastly different from my own family’s, still reminded me of my parents because sitting across from her and her U.S. citizen husband reminded me of my own parents. She took care of her husband, managed their business, and took care of her two citizen children who had been born with autism. Every interview we had leading up to the completion of her I-601A waiver made me realize more and more how much people need organizations like catholic charities. This woman was more of a U.S. citizen than many people I knew. She had taken her strife and struggle and parlayed it into success and created a wonderful life for her husband and her two children that needed her.

            This client was the reason I decided to enter into immigration law. I saw the need for attorneys and representatives who can sit across the table during interviews and comfort their clients, and empathize. This client opened up to me about her experiences, as painful as they were and as shameful as they were, so that I was able to write a compelling declaration that would allow her to stay and be with her family that needed her and she needed them as well.

            I do not know what happened with this client’s I-601A waiver, I finished my internship before we submitted the application. However, knowing I was able to give her a fighting chance to stay in this country with her family gave me hope that it would get approved. My last day of my internship I completed her declaration and her form. I had to take a break and walk around the neighborhood – just feeling the emotional exhaustion of writing the client’s declaration in first person and filling paperwork left me reeling. I can only imagine how difficult it has all been for her. Knowing the trauma this client faced along with many more like her was when I knew I had to help. The least I can do — and we can all do — is treat people with kindness when helping, trying to make their process smoother and as effective as possible.

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