Help my family

Hello my name is Carlos Cabrera. I am an immigrant from a communist island. One that is very beautiful but hard to live in. From a little boy, I knew that nothing was ever guaranteed. Getting even the most basic things like food was hard. Life only became harder as I grew but I did my best. I worked hard to get just enough to have shoes or food for a day. Then my children came. I tried to make the best of life, especially for my family. Then Covid happened and the country all but crumbled. Then the hurricanes came. No matter how much money you had you could not get anything. The meat was declared a luxury that took 60 hours to get. Rice rations were made to half. Blackouts became common too so even if you had food it would go back because of no electricity. Infections spread and life became even harder.

I made the very difficult decision to leave. It was a big risk to my freedom and life but I had to try to for my family. I traveled over 4,000 miles by boat, swimming, foot, cargo van and finally plane. The trip took 17 days and was something I would never wish on even my worse enemy. I contacted my sister in Hastings Minnesota when I was given humanitarian parole into America. My sister who I had not seen since 2005 due to the inability to talk with each other and laws. She and her husband have helped me alot. It was a very happy reunion but also a very sad day because the fight was not over yet. I knew I had a lot to do to see my children and family again.

I applied for a work permit right away in Sept. My sister helped pay the fee and we waited. For over 7 months we waited with no approval or update. No end in sight. I wanted to work but was not allowed to. Finally, on March 9 I was granted a work permit. I was very excited and happy! I started work 3 days later. While this process was happening my sister helped me fill out papers to bring the rest of my family here. My wife, 2 boys, sister, her husband and her 2 daughters.

This is my family. I miss them so much. With the help of my sister on March 23 they were all approved to leave. They must leave no later than May 12th. If they do not leave by that date they may not be able to ever leave. Once they get here they will need to also apply for permits and other required paperwork. This is all very expensive and is a heavy burden I can not pay now because I have only started being allowed to work. My sister will help as much as she can but she also has a family and can not pay such a big expense in such a short time. I am begging you for a little bit of help to see my family again. I do not like asking for help and this is not something I do easily but I have no other choice. I need money for their tickets, permits and other necessities while we wait for their work permit. I ask you please to help my family if you can. Thank you.