by Adam Delezenne
Centro Multicultural La Familia is a community service organization in Pontiac and one of our most significant community partners. Their office is across the street from our Pontiac clinic, and they refer many clients to us. Like us, most of their clients are Spanish speakers, and many of them are undocumented or navigating the US immigration system. They also work with victims of domestic violence and refer those who need help with their immigration status. Because of our partnership with Centro, we get to work on many U Visas for victims of crime who do not have residency status in the United States.
For one particular client, our help with a U visa means that she and her children might be able to live a better life, free of abuse from the father of her children. Karen met her abuser at the young age of 15 while he was in his 20s. He was her dance teacher, preparing her for her quinceanera party. The dance lessons turned into sexual assault, and she became pregnant by him soon after her 15th birthday. For the next 20 years, she was under constant emotional and physical abuse at the hands of this man. This situation started in Mexico but continued when he brought the whole family to the United States. They crossed the border in 2018 and made their way to the Detroit area. In Mexico, this kind of abuse is common and not a situation where police would provide any protection. Encouraged by the possibility that US authorities might help protect her, Karen took the difficult step of reporting her abuser to the police. She obtained a protective order against him and, with the help of Centro Multicultural, came to us to apply for a U visa.
Because her abuse took place in the United States and she cooperated with the police, she qualified, but this is a multi-part application with strict requirements. We were able to help her gather evidence, get the necessary documentation from law enforcement and submit her U Visa application. Soon, we will also be able to help her apply for a work permit so that she can be truly independent of her husband. She and her children now have hope that they can live free from abuse.
The Southwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center provides free and low-cost legal services to those who need them most in the Detroit area, with a focus on recent immigrants and refugees.
We were founded in 2014 by Kevin Piecuch, our Executive Director,
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Photo by Hanna Zhyhar on Unsplash
