One Immigrant’s Personal Story

Rubenia Cortez gave her personal testimony at
the 3rd Annual Love in Action fundraiser
held February 22, 2019. What follows is a transcript of her speech.
Migration Resource Center exists to help people like Rubenia and
we’re very proud to have been a part of her success story.

by Rubenia Cortez
My name is Rubenia Cortez. I am from El Salvador. I left El Salvador in the middle of civil war. I came to the US to pursue a better life for my family and me. In the beginning, I engaged to work in different places to survive. I was working in a factory for five years. After the factory job, I worked as a housekeeper. It was tough to be in the United States without proper documents, but I had no choice to leave the country because of the war.

In 1997 my daughter was born. I had to work twice as much to raise my daughter. It was tough to be a single mother, without documents, and have a child to raise. I stayed for many years without seeing or meeting my family. I always was anxious about my legal status in the US.

I heard about MRC in 2017 through Channel 47 Telemundo, a Spanish Channel. When I met with Frederik, I was impressed with his work and how he made sure I understand the whole process. He guided me and explained what the outcome might be. I felt good about the experience because I was empowered with information and I was treated with respect.

As a single mother, I was happy to have MRC take care of my case because they have a comprehensive approach. They do care about your whole life. They understand that whatever happens in your life affects your status, so they try to help beyond legal papers. I received my green card now after many years since I came to the US and that was possible only with MRC’s help. Thank you, Frederik and all your team for being part of my journey!

Migration Resource Center provides affordable immigration legal services.
Call us: 646-609-8805
Visit our Website: https://www.migrationusa.org/contact/

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