Help Zimbabwean asylum seeker pay for an immigration lawyer

(no photos of Primrose in the interest of her safety)

Primrose’s journey to the United States began in Zimbabwe where her political views made her a target for threats and harassment. Leaving her home, she fled to South Africa, but the threats and the harassment followed her. With no way to find safety in Africa, she decided to make the long, dangerous, and expensive journey to the United States in the hope that she could finally settle down and raise her daughter in a country where they could be respected as women and speak freely without fear of oppression.

Like many migrants, Primrose and her daughter went through enormous difficulties on their journey to become Americans. Primrose thought that, once she was here, she would be safe, something that would never be the case in Zimbabwe. While most US citizens come to their citizenship by birth, Primrose came to the USA by choice. To get here she had to climb mountains, cross rivers, and risk robbery, kidnapping, and assault. Whenever she and her daughter felt they couldn’t go on, they would lean on each other for the strength to continue.

Now that Primrose is here, she must undertake the legal challenge of the asylum process, for which she has no money left. This fundraiser is to cover her legal expenses, the final hurdle she faces at the end of her exhausting journey. Even in the darkest points of the migrant trail, Primrose and her daughter were rays of light to those around them, always striving towards their end goal. Now, hopefully, despite the rhetoric we often see on television and online, people in the US can show Primrose and her daughter that they are welcome here, and that we want them to be our neighbors.

Immigration attorneys in the USA are more over stretched and emotionally and professionally overwhelmed than they have ever been. Public funding for refugees and asylum seekers has been slashed. This means that communities have to step up to fill in these gaps and support people, both in financial and practical ways. There are still pathways to residence, and while these still exist we should all support our migrant friends in their struggle to attain them. We know there are a lot of causes that need your support right now, but we hope you can spare a few dollars to help Primrose and her daughter. Every dollar gets Primrose closer to a safe and permanent home in the US and a chance to raise her daughter in a place where she can be whoever she wants to be.