Please help us keep our family safe.

My names is Rosa Hernández, married to Cesar Albornoz. We have 2 children, who are 7 and 13. Here is our story:

The year was 2017. Although my husband and I were each successful attorneys in our own rite, we could no longer afford food or basic necessities for our 6 year old son and 1 year old daughter. Panic began to set in. How will we provide for our family? How will we keep them safe in this impoverished country which by all standards was worsening each day? How will we provide them with an education or possibility for a decent future?

Although living conditions had been worsening for over 40 years, tied to the rise of Hugo Chavez, when Nicholas Maduro took over in 2014, the economy worsened drastically. More than 2 million Venezuelan citizens fled the country between 2014-2018.

Looking back, I don’t know how we held on as long as we did. I love my country and my people. My family and I, particularly my mother, were heavily involved in the resistance. We did everything we could to get our country, our homes and our lives back in Venezuela. By the time my sister-in-law offered for us to stay with her in the United States in 2022, I knew it was our only choice to keep our children safe and to care for their basic needs.

Humbled by going from our careers as attorneys in Venezuela, to cleaning homes, hotel rooms and delivering Amazon packages; we were still overcome with gratitude. We could now provide our children with food, a good education and a safe home.

I was able to send money to my brother when he had to flee to Spain because the government targeted him as part of the resistance. He was homeless for 1 year after he fled the country. It breaks my heart but he is now ok because of the money I was able to send him from all the jobs we were working in the U.S.

My mother is high up in the resistance and is in hiding in Venezuela for her own safety. While in hiding my step-father, a wonderful man, is in his last days, dying from colon cancer. The only way they get by affording basic necessities such as food and medicine is from the money I am earning here in the U.S.

We must stay here. If we return, we will be targeted as allies to resistance. We will not be able to afford food for our family, nor provide an education or future for our children. We will not be able to provide for my mother and other family members who are victims of the current regime and just trying to survive.

We are indebted to this country. The opportunities we have received are blessings beyond what I can express in words. As much as I wish we could go back to our original home and live in peace, that will never be the case. At least not in the foreseeable future. As such, this has become our home. We do our best to contribute to this country by working hard and being kind and generous to those around us. Our son is a skilled athlete and our daughter a budding artist. They each do well in school, have made many friends and receive good feedback from their teachers.

We ask you humbly, to help us stay and continue our lives in this country. This country that we have come to love and consider our new home.

Our Visas are up at the beginning of April. We need help in paying our legal fees so we can claim asylum in the U.S. to keep our family safe. We are humbled and grateful to ask for such help. Thank you for considering supporting us in this challenging time.

Note: While is GoFundMe was organized by Laurie Jacobs, a friend of the family, all funds are going directly to Rosa and Cesar's bank account to be applied towards their legal fees.