Attorney Angelina Mariano Castro's Legal Cases

Immigration

Adrift at Sea

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OUTCOME: Special Immigrant Juvenile and LPR Status Granted

My young teen client was adrift on a crowded boat for weeks at sea. Some men on the boat started to throw out the weak, the elderly, the children and the women so that they could have more food for th ... emselves. They took my client's mother and threw her overboard. Like those who perished before her, the mother tried in vain to climb back on the boat, but they hit her hands with their fists and the paddles. Eventually the young girl watched her mother slip into the water forever. A man on the boat held on to the child and fought with those who tried to throw her into the water. She came to the U.S. traumatized and without family to care for her. A church found her and found a home for her. I helped my client seek protection in dependency court and then permanent residence through the Special Immigrant Juvenile Program. She eventually finished high school, went on to college, and is now a U.S. citizen.

Immigration

A Ten-Year Road

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OUTCOME: Cancellation of Removal and LPR Status Granted

My client came here when she was 9. She was a stellar student and athlete who grew up never realizing that she was not a U.S. citizen until she applied for college. As the recipient of several schola ... rships, she soon learned that she could not go to college because she could not prove she was lawfully in the U.S. Despite the fact that she was the young wife and mother of U.S. citizens, USCIS denied her application for permanent residence because she could not produce a lawful entry document. Through repeated appeals and then litigation in immigration court, we won her case before a packed courtroom full of her peers and supporters from the community. She is now working in the medical field and securely at home with her family and similarly high-achieving children. Upon winning her case in court, a teary-eyed judge told her to "make it count," and indeed she has, and she continues to do so every single day. I could not be more proud of her and her family. It was a long and twisted journey, but they persevered, they stayed strong and they were ready when the time came. The sky is the limit for these folks!

Immigration

From Torture to Freedom

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OUTCOME: Asylum Granted

The client had been severely beaten and permanently disfigured by soldiers who took over her home town in her county. She escaped on a boat that was rescued at sea and then brought to the US. Sufferi ... ng from extreme trauma and still taunted by neighbors, children and fellow countrymen because of her disfigurement, this client wished her life would just end. Ultimately, she was at risk of being returned to her country and needed to plead her case for asylum to remain in the U.S. After hours, days, and months of preparation, my client won her asylum case based on the political persecution and torture that she had endured. She told me that it wasn't until she worked through this process with me that she finally found a reason to live. Now she thrives and has worked hard to build stability and a better future in our community.

Angelina Mariano Castro's Legal Cases (3)

Adrift at Sea

A Ten-Year Road

From Torture to Freedom