The Immigration Institute of the Bay Area (IIBA) has launched a new campaign – called I’M IIBA – uplifting what we know to be the true character and positive contributions of immigrants in the Bay Area.
This week we highlight the inspirational story of IIBA Staff Attorney Laura.
I’M LAURA
My first ‘memory’ is of celebrating my last birthday while living in Guanajuato, Mexico where I was born. I remember there was a cake where instead of just frosting, there were wafer cookies.
Those small details remain with me because it’s a memory created from the actual photo from that day, which has since created a vivid memory that is now burnt into my mind. The picture is from right before we moved to Napa, so I kind of think of it as a goodbye birthday.
I’M AN IMMIGRANT
I often say I came from one valley to another: from Valle de Santiago to the Napa Valley.
The photo and memory is an interesting perspective because I feel like Napa is my home and that the house where I was born in Mexico is something I dreamed or imagined. I know it is where my dad’s from, in the main part of the municipality; and my mom’s from one of the ranchos in the nearby village. They met because my mom would commute over to the main town to work. And after nearly thirty-five years, through DACA Advance Parole, I finally got to meet the house where I was born.
I’M ROOTED IN NAPA
I grew up in Napa and this is definitely my home. I remember celebrating birthdays and holiday parties at my great aunt’s house. She’s the one that we lived with when we arrived.
My mom worked as a housekeeper. My dad stuck to working in restaurants. I grew up speaking Spanish at home and my mom taught me how to read in Spanish before I learned how to read in English. I don’t remember learning how to speak English, but I do remember learning how to spell in English. I remember my elementary teacher, Mr. Morales’ lesson: “When you are talking about yourself, you capitalize the ‘I’.” That’s one of my earliest school memories.
I always knew we (my parents and I) were undocumented. This meant when we did travel outside of Napa, we always stayed within California’s borders – going to places like Marine World in Vallejo or Knottsberry Farm while visiting our family in Riverside.
I’M AN OPTIMIST
It was around the 5th grade when I understood we faced legal obstacles. My parents taught me to be optimistic about our immigration status. My parents had immigration court hearings and I knew that if everything went well, they were going to fix their status, but that I still couldn’t.
I now understand that it was a Cancellation of Removal process granted by a judge. I remember talking with them about needing my grades, school records, things like that to show the judge. That is partly why doing well in school has always been important to my family and me. And while at that time I knew that I couldn’t benefit from that process, it still felt like it was a positive thing because we were taking some action to improve our situation. I’m the oldest of five siblings and the only one who is still undocumented.
¡SOY LAURA!
After graduating from Vintage High School I went to UC Santa Cruz where I majored in Latin American and Latino Studies with a minor in Legal Studies. I loved the campus. It’s where I learned that people were organizing, despite their immigration status; that there were these efforts to have state financial aid for undocumented students. It reinforced that within our First Amendment to the Constitution, we have the right to advocate from the government, we can petition the government by doing demonstrations, marches, and so much more. And that I too could be part of that to advocate for myself. Around this time my peers would call me Laura (with Spanish pronunciation). I reflected then, like, oh yeah, I am Laura! That was a big cultural shift for me, not only for self-advocacy, but also in my identity because after all, my first language is Spanish.
I’M AN ATTORNEY AND I’M IIBA
After Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was in effect, I saw that in our community, unfortunately, there are many unauthorized practitioners and lots of misinformation. I wanted to work to represent people so that they actually know what’s going on, whether they have a pathway so that they’re not then subject to fraud, which puts them at risk of deportation. That’s how I decided to pursue a law degree in Pennsylvania; that is the furthest I’d been from my family.
I began working in 2020 at IIBA’s Napa office as a Department of Justice accredited representative. Today, I am a California licensed immigration attorney representing my community on their pathways to immigration relief. Community organizing, education, and outreach led me to meet the great staff at IIBA who collaborate to represent permanent residents in naturalization. While not every consultation results in a remedy or benefit, I know people are receiving the right information and representation. And it brings me great joy to know that I represent asylum seekers who are granted asylum, survivors of crime who are issued work permits, and families who obtain permanent residence.