T-Visa Client, Graciela

Graciela is a young mother from El Salvador. When her three year old daughter became very sick and needed expensive medical care, Graciela decided to come to the U.S. to earn money for her daughter. Through mutual friends, Graciela met a woman named Antonia, who offered to bring her to the U.S.; although Graciela couldn’t pay the full $7,000 she would be charged for the journey, Antonia said she would help Graciela find work to pay her back when they arrived.

When Graciela arrived in Austin, Antonia brought her to a restaurant and bar, where she was to work to pay off her debt to Antonia. Graciela worked eleven hours daily, and she lived in Antonia’s house with two other women in the same situation and several other men. Antonia’s husband raped Graciela and forced her to have intercourse with men he brought to the house; Antonio and her husband kept all of Graciela’s earnings. They also beat Graciela regularly, especially when she complained about her treatment. She was not allowed to leave the house except to work, and when she tried to escape once, Antonia beat her severely and threatened to kill Graciela’s daughter, who was living in El Salvador with Graciela’s parents.

One day the police arrived at the restaurant, and Graciela was arrested, along with the other women working there. When the police interviewed Graciela and realized that she was a victim of human trafficking, they referred her to American Gateways.

American Gateways helped Graciela obtain legal status in the U.S., separate and apart from her abusers, using the law's T-Visa provisions.