Mireya’s Story
My husband said he would kill me if I left him. I believed him.
Throughout my 32 years of marriage, there were many times that I would have preferred to die than to continue suffering, but for love of my children, I put up with it, living with my husband and enduring his abuse. Casimiro* beat me for everything and for nothing—he beat me if I laughed, if he saw me having fun, if I left the house, if he saw me talking with another person. He even beat me if I went to church. He often chased me with his machete—threatening to kill me. Once, he even threw it across the dinner table, missing my hands by only a few centimeters. Casimiro also raped me, always brutally, almost every night. Afterwards, I wanted to vomit. He frequently beat me by twisting my hair around his hand and then using it to repeatedly slam my head against the wall, causing me great pain. He left me more dead than alive on most occasions. Eventually, I even cut my hair to protect myself.
Throughout the years, my children tried to protect me. Casimiro was cruel to them, too. On one occasion, he punished our son by standing on his stomach for over half an hour. On another day, Casimiro hit him in the face with a crowbar. To punish our daughter when she was a child, Casimiro would grab her by her little feet, lift her up from the ground, and drop her on her head. The full details of his inhumanity are too dark to repeat here. My children are angels for enduring what they suffered.
I tried desperately to get help from the authorities. They gave me a protective order but would not enforce it. I tried to flee to my family, but Casimiro came to find me at their home. He was carrying a machete and attempted to force his way into the house. As a result, my parents returned me to my husband. I had nowhere to go for protection. He swore to me that if I ran away, he would find me anywhere in Guatemala and Mexico. Because I had no other choice, I fled my home in Guatemala to Mexico and then to the United States. The United States is the only place I believed I might be safe.
A wonderful woman named Margaret Zak helped me find the Tahirih Justice Center. Margaret even flew down to Guatemala to get legal documents to help prove my abuse. Tahirih took up my case and found terrific lawyers to represent me: Amanda Johnson, Gabrielle Duvall, and Anne Cusick at a large law firm called Akin Gump. Akin Gump paid for my transportation to my appointments in Washington, DC and Philadelphia. Akin Gump also paid for my hotel during my court appearances. They hired expert witnesses and paid them for their time. An organization called the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at Hastings Law School also helped with information for my case and introduced us to Hilda Morales, who served as an expert witness on Guatemala.
The resources people donated to me and the efforts people made on my behalf were more than I could have ever dreamed. After a very difficult day in court on December 20, 2006, the judge granted me asylum and gave me legal protection in the United States. I am now free from violence, but think every day about my children, who have had to live with neighbors and relatives to protect themselves. I dream of being able to bring them to me, to safety.
The legal victory in Mireya’s case is particularly significant because the issue of whether domestic violence can serve as a basis for asylum is currently in debate. Mireya was granted protection by an immigration judge on assignment from the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which sends an important message about the legal validity of domestic violence as a grounds for asylum. Read more about the issue in a recent New York Times article, “Asylum for the Worlds Battered Women,” February 11, 2007.
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*Names have been changed to protect privacy. The photograph included here is not of Mireya and was generously provided by Sergio Pessolano.
