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On February 8th 2022, I took a break after many meetings that day for work and found an alert in my USCIS case tracker app which said “Advance Parole Document was produced.” I was in shock and had to know for sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. As I logged on to my USCIS account I saw the message in this picture, showed it to my husband Josh and we both were shocked! I have been waiting for this response and it finally arrived!
Why is this response from USCIS significant you may ask yourself? My story is I was brought here at the age of 3 going on 4 years old by my courageous mother who crossed the border with me in hand. Due to immigration laws, since I didn’t enter the United States with a visa, I have an illegal entry and until I receive a pardon, I can file to adjust my status of being undocumented to “in process.” It has been 30 years I haven’t traveled internationally. I have not seen my family in Peru in all this time and don’t have memories on my home country. All I’ve known is NYC. On January 2013, I received my first approval for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals which is not a visa but grants us permission to work and no deportation every 2 years. We have to meet certain specific requirements and have to pay every 2 years $495. I have had my heart on my sleeve when Trump was Cheeto in Chief as his campaign was to take down our program which he did the first year in 2017 and recently our program continues to be in court -it is always unsteady. Read more HERE. For me to have received an approval to travel is a miracle! In the summer of 2020, DACA didn’t have at all Advance Parole (travel document) completely open, it was only for extreme circumstances for dying relatives due to COVID-19. Yet in December 2020, Advance Parole was opened for its original reasons for DACA recipients of: humanitarian, educational and work purposes to travel internationally.
Guess when I received the prompting to travel? In July 31, 2020! I’ll never forget the moment I mentioned to my friend and senior pastor Cory Morgan on discerning to travel for missions as a growth experience but also the possibility of receiving a legal return which can help my adjustment of immigration status. He prayed for me and received a vision of Jesus’s hand over my passport, felt peace in supporting me as I am aware my re-entry is dependent on the USCIS agent I receive on my return. I made connections that year with great missionaries in Germany and France yet solidified my connection in Berlin which happened in the most unexpected way! I was part of the launch for the book Emotionally Healthy Discipleship and all were stating a small “about me” in comments. I felt inclined to search for a connection in Germany and came upon Pastor Scott Corwin. I met with Pastor Scott on March 18, 2021 via Zoom in which I heard his story and I shared mine. I had the year before written my story “Restaurando Esperanza” (Restoring Hope) in the book Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump & Beyond and as we spoke discovered Pastor Scott knew one of the editors and had read my story! Its a small world after all! He was open to help support me!
On June 28, 2021 I submitted my Advance Parole request as humanitarian work aka missions with the support of receiving advice from my pro bono lawyer from New York Legal Assistance Group and DACA groups who are there to support the DACAmented community. I am super thankful to Pastor Scott and Pastor Cory, along with the Evangelical Covenant Church who all promptly submitted letters of support of my trip. I’m grateful for my mentors, friends and church members who have also held me in prayer and motivated me to continually trust God. I was disappointed on September 20, 2021 on receiving the denial of my expedited request to travel in October 2020. I did not have a sick or dying relative as urgency but as clergy I work with specific timelines and am the second in command in my church so was depending on the expedite. I spoke to 4 USCIS representatives prior to the 5th, went through all protocol questions to identify need for expedite, I satisfied 2 of the four- humanitarian & hinderance for nonprofit labor. The last USCIS representative I spoke to saw & told me the decision of denial of the expedite request without knowledge of my full case & was condescending on their response of saying I would get denied my Advance Parole overall as the dates I requested would pass and IF I was granted AP it would be according to whichever USCIS timeline they wanted. Both are false statements and this representative went to their supervisor to verify this information. I have no shield, never intended to either as being clergy filing Advance Parole yet the inhumanity of USCIS agents is appalling as we all navigate this system. When I received the news, I was in the car with my future husband, soon to meet his older sister and her family, I cried my eyes out as I hung up the call. I lost hope on my October 2021 timeline to Berlin. This was also the reason why my husband and I decided to get married early prior to the trip for me to have the support if I was denied entry upon the advice of my NYLAG lawyer. After much grieving, prayer and discernment we said our vows on October 2, 2021. Today marks our 5th month of being married, we are delighted in learning and growing together more than ever and excited to be in Berlin to celebrate our 1 year anniversary!
If you are undocumented and are reading this story, have questions on my specifics of my case, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly. I am praying for us all to have a way to adjust our status and all our undocumented community to have the opportunity to see our families freely! I will continue to advocate for us whenever I can by sharing my story for others to see our humanity and not statistics or assumptions on who we are, and what is our heartbeat in the midst of the cage of such unfair immigration policies.
To all who support us, THANK YOU for being present, hopeful and great listeners of our stories. Continue to advocate for us! Sign up to United We Dream or FWD for opportunities to help. Every person’s advocacy counts!
If you’d like to support my trip, I am fundraising at the moment and will have two great friends of mine leading a prayer group – message me anytime if you’d like to join either or both!
I’ve learned not to give up hope and trust God beyond the barriers and systems of this world. I know He makes no exceptions nor has favorites. If you have an unanswered prayer, don’t give up hope, and if you do, let me know and I will hope for you. I have waited 30 years for this moment – you are far from alone in the hopelessness and uncertainty journey. Reach out anytime 🙂