Client Stories

Mabel

When Mabel, our namesake, arrived in the United States, she carried more than her luggage — she carried years of fear. Having fled Honduras and survived a harrowing journey through Mexico, she arrived on unfamiliar ground, uncertain whether safety was truly possible for someone like her. The transition was disorienting and deeply lonely. She didn't feel like she fit. But slowly, with the support of friends who coaxed her out of her comfort zone and professionals who treated her with dignity, Mabel began to find her footing — learning to drive, building community, and discovering a life she hadn't dared to imagine.

Mabel’s path to legal residency was neither simple nor painless. In immigration court, she was asked the same question seven times, forced to recount the abuse she faced each time. She held on to her faith and to the counsel of her legal team at the Mabel Center, who guided her through a process that was as emotionally grueling as it was legally complex. She never had to face it alone. When the decision came — that she had the right to remain in the country where her daughters were growing up — it was the culmination of years of perseverance and the work of advocates who believed in her.

At the center of that life are her two daughters, Olga* and Victoria*. As a single mother, Mabel structures her world around them — early mornings, Sunday brunches, church, and the small, luminous moments that make up a family. Mabel describes her daughters as blessings, and means it without reservation. "I am genuinely happy," she says. "I don't think of the past. I am happy here with my daughters." For a woman who once feared she would not survive, that joy is hard-won and fiercely protected.

Today, Mabel is a resident, a mother, a friend, and a woman rebuilding in full. She thinks about where she wants to be in five years. She tells her daughter Olga to study hard and reach for the opportunities she herself never had. She goes to the gym before the sun rises, keeps her home in order, and savors every Sunday. She has a community that embraces her. The fear that once pressed against her back has not entirely disappeared — she knows the world she came from — but it no longer defines her. She is, as she puts it, brand new.

gloria

Our client Gloria endured domestic and sexual violence for several years – abuse that caused significant trauma and long-lasting psychological and physical effects for her. Gloria reported each attack and attempt on her life to the police in her home country. She went to great lengths to exhaust every legal avenue available to her – even as she was met with misogynistic systems that repeatedly blamed her and refused to protect her. After her abuser attempted to kill her multiple times, she was able to escape to the U.S. with her seven-year-old daughter. Gloria and her daughter were fast-tracked to deportation, subjected to an array of policies and systemic barriers that deprived them of due process. Even though her case met the requirements for asylum, an asylum officer denied her eligibility before she was allowed the opportunity to find an attorney or file an asylum application.

As she appealed the asylum officer’s decision, Gloria was ordered removed from the country for “failing to appear” in court even though she was physically in the court, logged into the virtual hearing on her phone, and had spoken to the court clerk more than once. With perseverance and help from a community partner, we secured a court hearing to review her appeal and have her deportation order dismissed. All of this happened within her first month in the U.S.

In March, 2025, Gloria had her asylum merits hearing. The emotional and psychological trauma our immigration system had inflicted upon her deeply stung our team. And yet, in court, Gloria stood up bravely, and once again, recounted the most excruciating details of her abuse in the face of a system that was set up against her. The judge granted asylum.

Gloria’s case illustrates how cruel and ill-equipped systems failed to protect her time and again. Her story transcends political administrations and is rooted in her unwavering perseverance in the face of a cruel, unwelcoming, and overtly punitive system.

camila

In May, 2025, DHS attorneys across the United States, including at Boston and Chelmsford, began requesting to “dismiss” or “terminate” deportation proceedings for those seeking asylum or other forms of immigration relief within immigration courts, especially to “Pro Se” applicants appearing in court without an attorney. After the Judge dismissed the proceedings and advised the applicant they are free to leave the hearing, plainclothes ICE officers waited in the hallway to immediately arrest and detain them as they left the courtroom.

This was a coordinated campaign by DHS attorneys and ICE officers to specifically target applicants without attorneys. Our team was on the ground at immigration courts across Massachusetts, standing in solidarity with applicants and the broader immigrant community throughout this attack on due process by DHS and ICE.

On May 27, Camila appeared before an Immigration Judge to pursue lawful permanent status through a family-based petition filed by her husband, a lawful permanent resident applying for U.S. citizenship. She had consistently complied with all immigration requirements, including appearing in court to seek relief from removal and regularly reporting to ICE. Although her hearing proceeded well and her case was continued by her Immigration Judge, Camila was unlawfully arrested and detained by ICE as she exited the courtroom.

Camila was initially held at an ICE Field Office—an administrative facility not intended for long-term detention—where she was denied access to counsel and subjected to freezing temperatures, food deprivation, and unsanitary conditions.

We immediately built her case for release, and after 52 days in detention, she was finally released in July, 2025. There is no meaningful recourse for her unlawful arrest, inhumane treatment, prolonged detention, or the violations of her due process rights. While we celebrate her release and her extraordinary resilience, her experience underscores the deep systemic injustices within the immigration detention system.