Help Reunite My Family: Bring My Mom Home

On October 13, 2009, my mother, Gloria Arellano Montoya, while attempting to regularize her immigration status, was separated from our family and barred from reentering the U.S. for ten years.

She’s lived in Mexico since then, and with two brief exceptions when the U.S. allowed her to visit my father in Arizona during his hospitalization and in the final days before his death, she has not returned.

When our mom finally completed her 10-year bar in October 2019, my siblings and I began the process of bringing her home.

On August 23, 2023, after almost 14 years of waiting, she attended a green card appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juárez. However, the consular officer informed my mom that she needed to have had a form known as the I-212 approved prior to her interview. She was denied a green card pending approval of the form.

Our lawyer had told us about the I-212 in July, a month before the appointment. Unfortunately, this did not allow enough time for the form to be filed and approved by the U.S. authorities.

We’ve experienced immense distress as a consequence of living separated, and we pray that our mom will be home by Christmas, but the reality is that we don’t know how long it’ll take for the U.S. to approve the I-212.

We have hired a new lawyer who has experience securing I-212s and working on cases like our mom’s. But we need your help. Please consider donating towards our family’s legal fees as well as the travel and accommodation costs of another visit to Ciudad Juárez, should our mom have to return for a second green card interview. Every dollar counts and will be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your generosity and support. With your help, we can bring mom home and reunite our family, once and for all.