Impact: Help a Child Find a Home

Pablo* grew up in Guatemala, where his father was an alcoholic and regularly abused and beat him, his siblings, and his mother. On many occasions, Pablo's father also forced him and his mother and siblings out of the house. As the eldest child, Pablo’s family expected him to provide for them and would no longer allow him to live at home. When Pablo was 13 years old, he left home and moved to Mexico to escape the abuse and to earn money for his siblings. He came to the United States when he was 16 years old in hopes of earning more money. After Pablo entered the United States, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him and placed him into removal proceedings. NIJC represented Pablo in the state juvenile court, which ruled that Pablo was dependent on the court due to his past abuse and granted him special immigrant juvenile status. Seven years after Pablo first arrived in the United States, the immigration court granted him lawful permanent resident status. Pablo has begun to build a life in the United States and no longer fears deportation and the accompanying threat of homelessness in Guatemala.

*Name has been changed to protect client's privacy.