Gilda’s story

She Knows The Journey. Now She Guides It.

I was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico. I was a little girl when my brother Gerardo left home to try his luck in the United States.

His departure left a void in our house and in our hearts. My mother felt it most. For years she wondered if she would ever see him again.

I grew up hearing all the sad stories. Weeks of work and no paycheck. Employers who threatened to call immigration when he asked to be paid. Unfair treatment he had no way to fight.

Then our grandparents grew old, got sick, and died. Gerardo could not come home to say goodbye. Not being able to see them one last time still haunts him today.

I was still really young when this happened. But I promised my brother that one day I was going to grow up and get him his immigration papers, so he could come back home.

Keeping that promise took almost twenty years.

I came to the United States after marrying an American, and I went through the immigration process myself. I had to learn English. I put myself through school. And then came the accomplishment that means the most to me. I became my brother's immigration lawyer.

I took him to his appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. I was by his side when he heard the one word our family had waited a lifetime to hear.

Approved.

“To the government, it was a decision. To us, it was the day I brought my brother home after 27 years.”

My mother got her son back. And I was his attorney when I kept my promise.

I did not just become an immigration lawyer. I became the person I once wished my brother had by his side.

Your case is not my brother's case. Every case carries its own challenges. But the fear, and the pain of being separated from the people you love, is the same in almost every one.

Gerardo is the reason I became an immigration lawyer. Today I want to help every Gerardo still out there, still dreaming of the day they can stop living in fear and finally go home to their family.