Daniela Valladares Hernandez still remembers what she carried on her more than 1,000-mile journey from Honduras to the U.S.-Mexico border.
A small purple book bag, orange shorts and her Barbie dolls.
Valladares said the outfit was inspired by Dora the Explorer, her childhood obsession.
“They drew me a map the same way Dora had,” Daniela said, recalling the strangers she traveled with. “I knew that as I embarked on the journey by foot that the final destination and the star where I was going to be safe was the U.S.”
The then six-year-old held onto her Swan Lake Princess and Rapunzel dolls the entire trip, even after nearly drowning crossing the Rio Grande.
“My innocence and childhood, I left them at the border the moment those Barbies were dropped and I was handcuffed and put behind bars,” she said.
That was in 2004. The now 28-year-old DACA recipient has since built a life in the United States after first settling in Georgia, where she pushed herself academically to eventually attend George Washington University and graduate from Cornell University.
Valladares has lived in California for the last four years and currently lives in Sacramento, where she’s pursuing a career in finance. But a letter that arrived late last month upended her life.
The Atlanta immigration court in Georgia reopened her case and ordered her to appear in person within days of receiving the notice despite her case being administratively closed in 2014. Valladares said she was not provided a reason for her case being reopened.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review said it does not comment on cases before the agency when asked questions for this story.
Valladares filed motions to move her case to California or appear remotely, but both were denied.
That’s despite the fact that her attorney’s request to appear remotely was granted.
“She will not be able to walk in with me, but I am still expected to walk in alone,” she said. “It is quite odd and interesting that they are trying to now drag me back into a place that did not allow me to build my life.”
Valladares is referring to constant road blocks she encountered while living in Georgia, including a high school counselor who threatened to report her to immigrations customs enforcement.
DACA recipients targeted
Greg Chen with the American Immigration Lawyers Association said the organization has seen a dramatic increase of DACA recipients placed into deportation proceedings, with 300 taking place in recent months.
“It’s likely that there are more DACA recipients that are now appearing in immigration court removal proceedings just in the past several months,” Chen said.
Chen noted that the shift is part of a broader pattern of immigration courts changing how they operate. He pointed to a recent memorandum from the Executive Office for Immigration Review that removed previous guidance on change of venue requests as a likely reason for Valladares’ denial.
The memo argues such requests can be abused by people trying to delay proceedings or seek courts with higher approval ratings. But Chen said the policy change, combined with increased pressure on judges to move cases quickly and rule in favor of the government, may be influencing decisions.
“That kind of pressure impacts whether judges would be inclined to grant a change of venue … or other motions that might be perceived as slowing down the immediate proceedings,” he said. “Putting pressure on a judge to move forward on every case doesn’t necessarily make the courts more efficient and is also likely to result in highly inconsistent results that are not consistent with the law.”
Chen said it’s also important to note that immigration courts operate under the U.S. Department of Justice, not as independent courts, and that recent firings of immigration judges with higher approval ratings could be influencing judges’ choices.
The cost of a denial
When she received the letter that changed her life, Valladares reached out to NorCal Resist, a mutual aid nonprofit that assists immigrants going through deportation proceedings, for support on her case.
Giselle Garcia, the nonprofit’s program director, said the case stood out because change-of-venue requests like this are often granted.
“Daniela has been living in California for many years and it is impractical and almost impossible for her to uproot her life,” she said. “She’s being demanded to uproot her life essentially and navigate these proceedings across the country in a state where she has a history of rejection.”
Her case has also drawn support from Congresswoman Doris Matsui, who represents Sacramento. She sent a letter to the Department of Justice urging officials to reconsider the decision to allow Valladares to move her case to California.
“Daniela lost her most recent employment due to the Department of Justice’s decision to reopen her case,” Matsui stated. “By requiring unnecessary travel to Georgia, the Departmnet of Justice is creating further extreme financial hardship for my constituent.”
Data from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse shows that Georgia immigration courts have some of the highest asylum denial rates in the country with individual judge denial rates ranging from 57% to 98%.
Garcia also said if Valladares fails to appear in court, she could receive an automatic deportation order. That’s a problem for Valladares because she’s unwilling to fly due to concerns about immigration enforcement at airports, including in Atlanta.
Community members with NorCal Resist have already volunteered to drive her across the country for her hearing next month, but even that journey carries risk.
“We are going to be driving through conservative states… locations that have historically had border patrol stops,” Garcia said. “So the journey is not a given, but it is the safest route for now.”
Valladares said she came to the United States seeking safety because she faced persecution in her home country and now fears what could happen next. But she’s also determined to put up a fight not just for herself, but for the many other “Dreamers” who are also afraid.
“I’m scared that this fight ends with me losing the ability to have one more breath, but until the end, I will give it all my fight,” she said. “I want people to know who we are, the truth of who we are, and I hope that I can serve as encouragement to others that we’re strong and we have genuinely done things to the best of our abilities the right way.”
