ASAP Member Spotlight: Daniel

“Sharing your history is not just a powerful tool for creating change and building leadership, sharing your story can also be part of the healing process,” – Daniel, ASAP member and advocate for asylum seekers

ASAP Member and national advocate for separated families goes to Washington

In December, Daniel, an ASAP member and father of two, traveled to the capital of the United States, in Washington, D.C.. Daniel was there to meet with members of the U.S. Congress and seek justice for asylum seekers and families like his, who were separated from their children at the border during the Trump administration.

Daniel’s nightmare began shortly after he arrived at the Mexico-U.S. border, when he was separated from his daughter, who was 7-years-old at that time, for nearly two months. They both suffered mistreatment, pain, and torment at the hands of U.S. immigration officers while in detention, but Daniel continued to fight to be reunited with his daughter and the rest of his family.

In Honduras, Daniel had been a successful businessman. When he began to express his political views publicly, he soon became a target and started to receive death threats. Daniel knew he had to leave with his family to find safe haven, so he headed north, planning to request asylum after crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.

Trump’s Family Separation Policy

But in 2018, former President Trump and his government officials had started an effort to separate parents from their children. Their hope was to scare families from seeking asylum at the Mexico-U.S. border. After immigration officials took their children away, parents were told they would get their children back if they accepted deportation. When parents still refused to accept deportation, many immigration officers forced parents to sign their deportation papers.

Trump’s officials thought the cruelty of the policy would scare parents, and keep other families from trying to seek asylum in the U.S. More than 5,000 families were detained and separated under the family separation policy. Approximately 1,000 children are still separated from their parents to this day.

Daniel’s Advocacy

In December, U.S Congressman Joaquin Castro welcomed Daniel and his family to Washington, D.C.

Daniel told Congressman Castro about his legal fight to hold the government accountable for taking his young daughter away from him and the trauma the family continues to experience. ASAP is representing Daniel and his daughter in court as they seek justice for the mistreatment they suffered and fight to make sure family separation never happens again.

Daniel asked Congressman Castro to push the current president, Joe Biden, to declare that family separation was illegal. That way, other U.S. presidents cannot use family separation as a way to stop people from seeking asylum in the United States. Currently, there is no law in place to prevent a future president from making family separation at the border a policy.

During his visit to Washington, D.C., Daniel also spoke with other government officials, including U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, and U.S. Congresswomen Nanette Barragán and Veronica Escobar.

Although Daniel is not a U.S. citizen, members of the U.S. Congress represent everyone who lives in their states or districts, regardless of their immigration status. They are paid to serve all community members, asylum seekers included.

Daniel on the Power of Storytelling

After reuniting with his family in the United States, Daniel became a strong voice for asylum seekers and for families who lived through family separation at the border. With support from ASAP, Daniel began to speak to the media, and his family’s story was featured in CBS News, Newsweek, and USA Today.

While in Washington, D.C., Daniel joined a group of immigrant leaders to share how he became a national voice for justice for separated families.

Daniel spoke at the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference, a gathering of more than 1,200 immigration professionals and advocates from around the United States. Daniel shared his insights, shaped by the pain, horror, and traumatic experiences he and his family lived through.

His family proudly cheered him on and there were no empty seats in the audience. Daniel spoke about the challenges and rewards of sharing his experiences, and telling his story from his own point-of-view to the media.

He also discussed the benefits of sharing his story to demand justice and bring about change. “Sharing your history is not just a powerful tool for creating change and building leadership, sharing your story can also be part of the healing process,” he said.