Hello Friends and Family!

 

As you may or may not know I have been a DACA recipient since the Obama administration set it in place in 2012. DACA has been a huge blessing to my life as it has allowed me to study, work, and live freely in the United States. While it has allowed me to do all these things DACA is not a permanent solution and can be taken away at any moment. Some of you may even recall in 2020 Trump attempted to take away DACA to the point it ended in a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in favor of keeping DACA in place. I recall my fear of knowing that if the ruling would’ve been the other way my livelihood would be taken away. I would have to give up my job, school, license, everything that allows me to be here and be successful and go back to having no legal status in this country. The reason I am giving you this context is because I have been in the process of receiving my permanent residency since 2014-2015 when I was about 17yrs old. It has been a long, arduous, expensive, and patient process. My time has finally come where my case is being handled and I am required to go to El Salvador for my US Embassy interview on April 26th. I ask you kindly for your support as it will hopefully be the last hurdle in my long journey of becoming a US permanent resident.

 

some of you may be asking, “well if you’ve been in this process so long why not have money saved?”

while yes that’s a great question to ask, I respond with this, this process has taken up to 8yrs currently. Every time we have sent in paperwork we have been able to cover the fees attached to them. This hurdle includes traveling to El Salvador roundtrip, lodging fees while I’m there, transportation fees, medical fees for my physical examination that needs to be done prior to my interview, food, and any other unknown cost that might accrue while I’m there.

also my family and I only received notice of this interview on March 22nd giving us about a 1 month window to figure this all out.

 

Cost Avgs:

Flights round trip about $500

hotels about $125 a night

transportation/car rental about $500 minimum

food about $100

medical exam: Approximately $275 per person any additional vaccines, X-rays, or follow up exams cost could be as high as $695 a person

 

If you find it in your heart to donate I just want to thank you deeply. I wouldn’t be where I am without the constant support and prayers from everyone around me. If you have any questions or want to just see what I’m up to feel free to reach me on Facebook under Rony Rivas.

 

-Rony Rivas Rodriguez