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Immigration Judge Grants Asylum to Honduran Teen-Activist Who Fled Gang Violence at 13

Thursday, March 01, 2018

Immigration Judge Grants Asylum to Honduran Teen-Activist Who Fled Gang Violence at 13

"She was robbed at gunpoint in her native Honduras, fled the country by herself at 13 to find her mother in the United States and spent several years in legal limbo, but on Wednesday, Maryori Urbina-Contreras seemed to finally find an oasis in a rough journey.

A Chicago immigration judge early Wednesday evening granted the 17-year-old’s bid for asylum — an against-the-odds plea — setting the girl on a path to becoming a U.S. citizen.

After hours of testimony about how the girl was a victim of and witness to violent gang holdups in the Central American country, Immigration Judge Jennie Giambastiani took 15 minutes to deliberate before explaining that the teen should remain in the United States..."

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