Immigrant Voices

With DACA, he could apply for the private loans he needed to finally put himself through Dental School. Jose, who graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in molecular biology, had always dreamed of giving back to his hometown of Napa as a dentist. “I want to give back to families that don’t have access to dental care or insurance, a lot like myself growing up,” Jose said.

When President Obama announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012, over 700,000 young people who had been brought to the United States as children could finally realize their dreams. DACA provided work authorization and protection from deportation, fundamentally changing the lives of these youth, including Jorge.

In 2014, Maria and Roberto finally arrived in the Bay Area to live with family after waiting sixteen years in El Salvador for their green cards to be approved. Maria and Roberto, who have been married for 41 years, came to the United States for safety and opportunity.

In the late 1980s, Jamie fled El Salvador during the country’s devastating civil war, seeking safety in the United States. Around the same time, Yolanda came to the U.S. from Mexico. They first met in an English as a Second Language (ESL) class here in the Bay Area, nearly 30 years ago. They fell in love, got married, and had a baby girl.

Imagine the United States is the only country you have ever known, but daily you fear you might be forced to leave. Imagine living with that insecurity, yet still moving forward in full pursuit of your dreams, determined to make a difference.

Fleeing violence and poverty in her rural town in Guatemala, Santos came to the United States in search of a better life for her family.In Oakland, California, Santos sought the help of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA). IIBA’s Legal Staff helped her apply for humanitarian relief, and she was granted a U Visa due to the abuse she had endured at the hands of her ex-partner.

Octavio came to the United States from Mexico in his early twenties, in search of opportunity. For nearly thirty years, he has built a life for himself and his family in Napa, where he works for Duckhorn Vineyards.

One of Catherine’s first jobs in immigration was at the International Institute in 1991. Now with nearly thirty years of experience in immigration law, she’s returned to IIBA as Legal Director, mentoring IIBA staff as they take on deportation defense cases.