Note: The name has been changed, but the facts have not.

Warning: This story contains potentially traumatizing descriptions of violence.

Lula had four children with a partner who was kind, responsible and a good father. They made a life together in Michoacan, Mexico, over the course of a decade. But everything changed when he joined a cartel, Caballeros Templarios, also known as the Knights Templar. 

He insisted that Lula abort her last two pregnancies. It became a habit for him to force himself on Lula and bite her when she refused his advances. He also cheated on her, and when she confronted him, he put a gun to her head and told her to stay out of his business.

His sexual assaults against Lula became more aggressive. When she confronted him a second time about another woman, he broke her middle finger and knocked out several teeth. 

Because of her partner’s cartel activities, Lula’s family was in constant danger from rival organizations. Her oldest son received threats, including a video showing a friend being tortured and killed. One night, Lula’s partner came home late with a dead body in the trunk of his car. 

Lula and three of her children eventually escaped to the United States in 2016. They lived in Portland first, then settled in the Vancouver, Washington, area because of a helpful volunteer in that community.

In 2017, LCSNW’s Safe Route Immigration program represented Lula and her children in Immigration Court and filed an asylum application. In January 2020, after several days of testimony, a sympathetic judge granted Lula and her children their asylee statuses. They all have received their Green Cards as well. 

Lula works full-time, as do two of the children; the youngest boy is still in school. As of late 2022, she and her oldest daughter were employed at a food-packing company.