Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
Not for the faint of heart
Two Social Workers and a Paralegal walk into a room….no, this isn’t the beginning of a joke, but there is a hefty punch at the end of the story. In my nine years as an immigration worker I have been told stories that make me shake my head in wonder at what people can endure and achieve. There is a new such story unfolding.
This one starts at the burn unit of a local hospital. About 10 days ago I got a call from a social worker at the hospital about a young girl who is a patient on the unit. It took a lengthy phone call to start unraveling the details of this situation. The more I learned, the more I hoped we would be able to help the girl get some kind of immigration relief amid her tragic circumstances.
Her story of how she got here is not uncommon. Her family in Central America was able to borrow enough money to get her a bus ticket to our Southern border. She is the youngest sibling of four and was determined to get to the United States, find a job, and start sending some money home. Her father is still paying off the debt whose terms are probably outrageous. Anyway, she left home at age 16 and began the several thousand mile journey to what she hoped would be a place where she could flourish. When she got to the border she crossed over it by getting through the Rio Grande on her own. She “Entered Without Inspection”, which is the term we use. Yes. She is here illegally.
Her father had made arrangements with a couple to allow her to live with them. However, it didn’t take long for the wife to decide that she didn’t want this young, attractive girl in her house. They made her leave and she was out on the street, not speaking our language, not having money or means to support herself. Turns out that there is a young man in Saint Louis from her village. Out of desperation she asked if she could stay with him and he agreed.
Then started a cycle of abuse of all kinds – physical, sexual and psychological. The man, several years older than her, demanded sex and frequently beat her. Last year she gave birth to her son, who will soon become a one year old toddler. The girl had to call the police several times because she was being beaten so badly. The police came and told them to separate themselves and “cool off”. That was the extent of the “help” she got from law enforcement. She lives in a part of Saint Louis County that isn’t particularly welcoming to brown people who don’t speak the language.
Almost a month ago this story came to a tragic head. He started arguing and beating her and this time she had enough. She found a can of gasoline, poured it on herself, and set herself on fire. She now has second and third degree burns over 56% of her body. When the police came, they accused her of child endangerment because the little boy got a small burn on his hand trying to get to her. The police want to come get her when she is discharged from the burn unit and presumably take her to jail. She will need treatment for the burns for months to come and the hospital is determined to keep her safe and getting treatment for as long as possible.
So, yesterday the burn unit social worker, the Department of Family Services social worker, and I met in a small room. We gave the DFS worker as much information as we had. I have spoken to the girl twice and both times she has told me she wants to go to a shelter to get away from her abuser. She wants her baby to be with her. According to the DFS worker, however, it will be a very long time, if ever, before the girl is allowed to have any contact, let alone get custody of her baby. There is a virtual court hearing coming up, and the DFS worker’s responsibility is to tell the court as much as she can about the condition of the girl and the circumstances that led her to do what she did.
I looked around the room at the three of us, meeting in tragic circumstances, and told my colleagues that we might possibly have some of the hardest jobs on the planet. We each took a deep breath and carried on.