Written by Henry Fernandez
Maria Diaz has helped people for as long as anyone can remember.
A Venezuelan native, she was a local court clerk for a number of years before settling into retirement. In retirement, she helped her community through her church. The congregation put on food drives and held Sunday school classes. They found helping the community to be one way to spread love amidst Venezuela’s ever-growing turbulence.
After a Sunday mass in 2012, Maria and the rest of her church group went about their normal post-mass service of distributing food to those in need. A burst of sudden violence interrupted their charity, as young men who were fanatics of Maduro’s regime interrupted the food drive, shooting in the air to cause the people to disperse.
In 2015, another incident occurred. Except this time, Maria was injured. Members of Maduro’s party interrupted, destroying the event with physical violence. Maria was bashed over the head with a baton. The partisans accused Maria of being a supporter of the opposition party.
Maria was subsequently harassed with threatening phone calls for years, and physical violence at these kinds of events continued.
In the midst of the pandemic, Maria and her church group went out to another neighborhood to hand out food. By this point, Venezuelan inflation had hit astronomic numbers, leading to unprecedented amounts of food insecurity.
The violence Maria faced at this food drive would be the reason she left Venezuela.
During the distribution event, members of SEBIN, also known as the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, grabbed Maria, beating her and questioning her about members of the Nuevo Tiempo party, which the government associated Maria with.
After the beating, Maria was driven to an undisclosed rural location and was dumped off. It took her hours on her feet to find her way back home. After this assault, Maria developed post traumatic stress, leading to anxiety and agoraphobia. She would only leave her home with family members, never alone. “Venezuela became a nightmare, I had to leave.” she said.
This incident led Maria’s family to coordinate her migration to the United States. Her son, Jose Pault Andrade, lived in the United States; he helped coordinate her journey.
It was not a simple journey, Maria could not tell anyone of her departure. After multiple flights and a miles long walk to the border, Maria made it to Arizona, where her son picked her up.
“I was so relieved to leave the nightmare of Venezuela, I was happy that I was going to see my son after so long, but I was sad to leave my family behind.” Maria recalls.
In New York City, Maria faced the asylum system with only her son by her side. This mountainous system seemed impossible, at one point the government told Maria that she needed a lawyer, something out of Maria’s reach.
Successfully finishing the process seemed a lost cause until she was alerted to a local workshop for undocumented Venezuelans by a local Whatsapp group. When she went to the event, she met Nneka Okpara, Immigration Law & Justice New York’s Asylum Attorney.
Nneka helped Maria through the asylum process, much to the amazement of Maria and her son: “My son says Nneka is so very patient, because she listens… even though I talk so much!”
With Nneka’s help, Maria won her case and successfully received asylum. Nneka even helped Maria file documents with the Venezuelan government to receive back pension.
“Nneka did everything!” Maria exclaimed.
Maria is expected to receive her green card after her application in November.
*Names have been changed in this story to protect friends and family in Venezuela.