Let me tell you why immigration law paralegals are great at their jobs. Imagine a world in which you were limited on  where you could go. Now think of how how privileged you are if you don’t have that concern. 

Privilege. A word taken so lightly it floats off the tips of most people’s tongue and Into the air to dissipate and disappear without care. How many people really understand how privileged they are? In my recent quest of blessing my mother with a trip overseas I ran smack into that world. I needed it. I forgot how privileged I was to have the liberty to travel freely.  I got a first hand look into unrealistic immigration laws and just like anything in life,cash rules everything around us (dollar dollar bills yall, if you know you know). 

In filling out the visa application I found myself getting angry for her. Now I wonder how she felt always watching other people travel into spaces she could not. While she could not enjoy the same luxuries of just picking any destination and going was she happy to see her children be able to do so? While I am a proud paralegal that can understand requirements and legal terminology, 

I knew immigration was not my specialized wheelhouse. I knew I could only get her but so far before I had to call in the big dogs and boy am I glad I did. The law firm of Villacorta Law Group were angels with an incredible sense of humility. While the founding partner and his wife expressed how they too had to go through the same unexpected and expensive process as El Salvadorian immigrants, they so kindly walked us through the invasive and financial steps needed to process my mother’s Visa. They expressed the same frustrations but assured us that in the end it would be worth it. From the looks of my mother’s face as she stared blankly into the lawyers faces I knew there was no way (older) people unfamiliar with law and procedures could handle this process alone. And how unfair. At that moment, the word “Privilege” solidified and began to have a concrete meaning for me. At this point, this journey with my mother now takes on a whole new meaning. Freedom. Much respect to all immigration paralegals and lawyers out there. The amount of stories and heartache you hear on a daily must be heartbreaking but how thankful are we for your knowledge and expertise.