Mission Action’s Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Program (DDLAP) began representing John (name has been changed to protect the client) in immigration court in 2017. John fled El Salvador at 18 after years of severe abuse. From a young age, he endured brutal mistreatment from his parents and was bullied at school. The local gang, preying on his vulnerability, forced him to sell small amounts of marijuana when he was still a child. If he refused, they beat him and threatened his life. The Salvadoran police mistakenly assumed that he was a gang member and tortured him, frequently kicking him and beating him with their batons, tasing him, inciting their dog to bite him, and submerging his head in water.
John is still deeply traumatized and easily triggered. To reduce the number of questions he would have to answer in court, the DDLAP team spent months preparing his detailed declaration and gathering nearly a thousand pages of evidence. They also worked with a psychologist, who testified that the abuse John suffered was extremely damaging and had long-lasting effects.
In June 2024, after hours-long hearings in October 2022, June 2023, and March 2024, an Immigration Judge granted John protection from deportation. This grant was a team effort. Almost all of the DDLAP team worked on John’s case over the years. His case highlights the difficulties in seeking asylum in the U.S., where applicants must repeatedly recount their past trauma and face harsh scrutiny for their past actions that often overshadows the horrific torture they endured. The DDLAP team strives to remind Immigration Judges that individuals are not just case numbers but human beings with significant and complex histories.
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