This week we are sharing stories of families we met at Dilley while volunteering at RAICES. Today, the last — and one that has really stayed with us.
Marco has lived in the United States since he was one year old. He has no memory of the country he was born in. He came here with his mother, Ana, who fled El Salvador after gangs threatened her family for refusing to cooperate — targeting them because of their evangelical faith.
Ana filed an affirmative asylum application and reported to ICE regularly, as required. When she showed up with Marco for a routine ICE check-in, they were detained.
Here is what the asylum process is supposed to look like: a person presents their case, gathers evidence, works with an attorney, and gets either a full asylum interview or a hearing before an immigration judge. If the government believes someone doesn't qualify, there is a process — with time, with counsel, with the ability to prepare.
Ana did not get that process. Within five days of her arrest, she was given a credible fear interview — a rapid screening designed as a threshold question, not a substitute for full asylum proceedings. She asked for time to find a lawyer. She was denied. She had no attorney. She had no time to prepare. The interview was conducted in days.
She failed.
She then faced an immigration judge review. The scope of that review is narrow — the judge can only overturn if there was a significant error in the interview. Historically, judges overturn negative credible fear findings less than 28% of the time. Ana had no attorney for that review either.
The judge affirmed the negative finding. Ana now faces deportation to El Salvador — the country she fled, where she has credible fear of persecution. There is no further appeal.
And Marco?
Under US law, no child is guaranteed an attorney in immigration court. The Trump administration cut federal legal aid funding for unaccompanied children in March 2025. Without counsel, 96% of immigrants lose their cases. Marco will stand before an immigration judge and a trained government attorney — alone — to present his asylum case.
He has lived here for twelve years. He is thirteen years old. The only life he has ever known is the one he built here.
Click on the title to see this post on LinkedIn.