After all these years, I have wings...green wings.

A rewarding part of our job is when a client comes back to the office to pick up their file after their case is completed. Some choose to receive their case-files by mail, but many come to the office to say goodbye, and sometimes to bring treats to the team ;) One special visit last week was from our client, Ms. C-F. Her story touches on so many reasons why I am proud of our work.

Ms. C-F. came to the United States with her mother, as a child in tow. When charges were entered against her mother and her, her mother refused to go to Court and refused to bring C.F. for her removal proceedings. Both were ordered removed because they failed to appear. C.F. was unaware of all of this because of her young age, but learned of it later in life, when her mother was detained by immigration and deported because of that order of removal. Wracked with fear for her own situation, Ms. C.F. grappled with the impact of an order of removal in her life. She registered for DACA, and did what she could to live a good life. She received an education, and worked in the honorable field of nursing. She married her husband, a U.S. Citizen, and together they had children, and bought a lovely house in which to raise them.

When Ms. C.F. consulted with us, we were not sure we could help, but we committed to try. Our office prepared a full motion to reopen with the Immigration Court, which was granted. We asked for an expedited hearing and six months later, Ms. C.F. was granted permanent residency in the United States! When she came back to the office for her case-file this week, she thanked the many people who worked on her case. We took pictures, and celebrated her new lease on life. She said something that hit me so profoundly that I wrote an email to the office to share her words –

“After all these years, I have wings. Green Wings!”

Thank you, Ms. C.F., for your beautiful words and for entrusting your case to us. You are an inspiration, and a welcome resident of the United States.

*Disclaimer: No personal identification of our client is disclosed in this writing. Any photographs are stock images unless otherwise indicated.  This article is not intended to provide direct legal advice, and is merely informational. No attorney-client relationship is intended or presumed by receipt or review of this article. The information provided does not replace the need for informed counsel when immigration-related advice is needed.