Interview with Milisa Gomez
Introduction
During the semester, I understood more about immigration. I have gained a lot of new insight and a better way to analyze information during the semester. I decided for this interview to interview my best friend Milissa Gomez. I decided to interview her because our family is actually from the same area in Mexico, and I wanted to hear her journey and life around her immigration story. I knew my friend was an immigrant and would tell me little things about her, but I wanted to understand her story and how she came to Virginia. When I told her that I wanted to interview her, she was so happy and excited to talk about her life story. Throughout the interview, I learned about her hard life and how sad things are for immigrants that affect them. I am also learning very personal things, and I very much appreciate her sharing them throughout the interview. I know more about her history, culture, and family. Hearing her story has helped me gain insight into the immigration process and how life was when durning the time she was growing up. It gave me a better understanding of her immigrant journey in America.
Early life
Mellissa Gomez was born in Oaxaca, Mexico. There was nothing over there in Mexico. The place where she grew up was all farmland. No city was near her. After her mother gave birth to Milissa, her mother moved to the United States to have a better future for her children. During the semester, we learned about the push and pull factors that influence why immigrants want to come to the United States. When talking to Milissa, she informed me that her mother had crossed the border multiple times to see a family already established in the United States. One of the push factors was to start a better life for her family. She mentioned that in Oaxaca, there is little opportunity that can be achieved over there compared to here. A lot of immigrants come here and migrate to access these different opportunities that are here that are not in their homeland. Another aspect that is important to talk about is that Milissa spoke during the interview about various jobs. She informed me about the jobs that she could work and some information about her parents’ jobs. She informs me that the jobs her parents did work did provide money to afford a life here.
Transition into the United States
Milissa has yet to spend her time in Mexico. She came into the United States illegally when she was a kid and doesn’t recall Mexico as much as she wishes she did. Her mother informs her about the enormous economic difference they have over there. Her mother focused on saving money and buying territory in Mexico. Milissa’s life could have been more luxurious; she was not in the middle life class. However, even with her living life with the bare minimum, she was grateful for all the sacrifices her mother made for her family to support the family. Milissa first settled down in Lamont, California. She remembers that there were many Hispanics in that area. A social process was already established where she was living at the time. when she was talking about social networks in that area. Social networks help immigrants because they reduce the cost and risk factor of coming into the U.S. This is where migrants settle where other migrants have gone, and it shows when she says that this area was full of immigrants. Later in the discussion, she informed me that some places did support immigrants. The example she gave me was the churches that helped out when her mother was going through being a single mother, and it became harder for her to provide for her family. The churches help give food and clothes and help her family get school supplies for her brother. She also mentions that the churches made the community unite, support, and build one another. However, later on in her life, the community started to unfold the violence that would follow them.
Employment
Immigrants’ jobs are known to be Secondary jobs. These jobs would be known as dirty jobs that were paid poorly and unstable as seasonal jobs. Immigrants find these jobs perfect because they would do whatever work they can to support their families. Sometimes, they would do this work because they would hire them illegally, which is another way to support their family. Native workers do not work these jobs due to them being underpaid and lazy. These jobs are unstable, and native workers do not accept the work hours they provide. Native workers also would not do these kinds of jobs that can cause medical problems in the future. These jobs are also perfect for immigrants because they are unskilled. However, these jobs may pay low and can involve hard working conditions that can be mentally challenging for immigrants.
Milissa worked at many different jobs. She started working at a factory at age 15, but after being hired for three days, the woman who hired her told her she was too young to be able to work. Another job that she encountered was not the best for her. At the age of 16, she became a housekeeper. Unfortunately, she was sexually assaulted by her boss and ended up leaving the job due to these horrible experiences that she faced. When getting hired for those jobs, she talks about how they didn’t verify as much back then as they do now. She would show that her license was fake and her fake social security that would work when she was getting jobs. Milissa mentions that there are a lot of social connections when getting a job that comes into play. When she found another job after that, her friends informed her that the owner had not checked her identity for the server position. She talks about how the job treated her poorly and how the work she was doing was way too much, being a minor. They would overwork her and would not care if she was a minor. It drained her mentally. The place where she works also stole money from her and did not pay her. Most of the places she worked at did not provide that much money for her. They were all minimum jobs that treated her very poorly.
Another concept that was a reality to the class we talked about multiple times was the segmented labor market, which was the demand for low-wage immigrant labor. Melisa talks about her parents working these jobs when they first came to the U.S. Her father worked in the fields, and her mom worked at a poultry factory. From there, she saw how bad their work conditions were. Her mother often had it very hard due to the amount of work she had to do on her hands. Frequently at night, the pain would get worse and worse, and Milissa would see this when growing up. She never got covered with medication or saw someone who could help her with the pain. The factor cared very little for the immigrants. Other jobs that her parents work are working in the fields together. They would be under the sun for a long time to the point where they got terrible sunburns. In the field, they have to be able to carry 50 pounds of oranges. Another condition affecting them is the dust that would pick up when the wind picked up and go into their eyes and lungs. The pay was good at this time, but the conditions were not. Her father is still working at the farm and has always had trouble with his eyes being irritated, and all this time, working in the field affected her dad’s physical health.
California to Virginia
Another push factor that contributes to staying in the state instead of going back to Mexico is that Melisa’s life in California ended with a life event that a threat from her stepdad. Push them more further away from the boarder to start a new life in Virginia. This was the reason why they left California and went to Virginia instead—they came to escape the violence that was going on for years.
Stance on Immigration policy
Milissa is aware that one day, all of this may go away. There is a possibility of getting deported, and it might happen to her and her mother. She is aware that at one point in her life, she is going to get deported, and it is terrifying due to her little siblings who are legal in the U.S. She feels like she already belongs in the United States; however, due to not having papers, she knows that it will be heartbreaking leaving this country and going back to Mexico.
Membership
In the United States, it is very well known that this country gives many opportunities to grow and be something in the world. Milissa had dreams and goals that were crushed due to her status as an immigrant. In high school, she had many dreams and goals that she wanted to achieve, but that hard truth was uncovered and destroyed all hope for her. Milissa wanted to go to school and have an education. She wanted to get cross-country scholarship and planned her life to attend a college. However, that ship had sailed when her coach decided to discuss future plans one-on-one. Her couch informs her that she couldn’t get a scholarship due to her being an illegal immigrant. This affected her idea of what she was doing in the United States. She was aware that there was a chance of her getting deported. She felt like she was American but was not an actual member of the United States. Her identity was changed and shaped due to the hard truth of being an immigrant. Her goals were lost, and her passion for things disappeared; she felt like she was nothing without anything, and everything was a waste if you’re not a U.S citizen.
At this point, Milissa was pushing her mom to get her into the DACA program because she wanted to continue her education. However, her parents did not pay attention to her; they focused more on money and the bills that needed to be paid. She felt for a long time that her status as an illegal immigrant would never change, and she would live the life her parents are still stuck working in bad jobs.
Application process
In our class, we had to talk about multiple application processes and how difficult it is for immigrants to be able to achieve naturalization. Also into visa or work permits are difficult for immigrant to get. There are many No’s on this road, but one day, there is a chance that immigrants will be able to receive a yes from their applications. Milissa, at the moment, is working her way to get citizenship in the future. It was fascinating to hear about how she could obtain her visa from listening to her story, in which the legal services lady provided information that can help Milissa get a visa. Due to the situation that had occurred with the abuses with her stepdad, she qualified for a visa. This is when the threat had occurred, showing that Milissa was in danger and could get assembly from this case. In a reasonable term of events, Milissa got her work permit recently when I was interviewing her. She was delighted and felt more connected to the United States now because she felt less scared and had a chance to get those opportunities she could not have gotten before. She is not frightened of losing her job and can finally apply to a better work environment that pays much better. The best news is that she can finally return to school and get an education. She wants to get into trade school and be an interpreter in the hospital. Overall, Milissa wants to be a full member of the United States. This is one step for her, and she can’t wait til she gets her citizenship.
Conclusion
Immigrating is difficult for many people all over the world. It is a hard sacrifice for your family and scary when no support exists in a new world. Even if the application process frustrates Milissa, she will repeat everything she encounters. The experience she got shaped her into the person she is today, and I’m happy that our life was accepted and. she became friends with someone with a background in immigration. Reflecting on the interview, there was some point where I felt like I should have asked about it, but overall, I thought that I gained a lot of information about her and her family. I appreciate how open and honest she was during the interview. I appreciate the time it took to have this excellent discussion with Mellisa, and I hope that in the future, she gets her citizenship.
Interview With Milissa Gomez
[00:00:00] Jenny Leal: Okay, so I’m recording. So today I am going to be doing my interview on Milissa Gomez for my immigration class.
[00:00:08] Milissa Gomez: Hi, my name is Milissa Gomez. I am, I just turned 20. Um, I used to live in California four years ago, but just moved here recently to Virginia.
[00:00:21] Jenny Leal: All right. Um, Milissa, I just wanted to know a little bit more information and like how, like what were, like, how was your experience like crossing the border? Do you remember anything?
Or like, was it based on family issues or anything like that?
[00:00:35] Milissa Gomez: Uh, for what I know, I was eight months. Like I was just a baby when I, um, My mom crossed me over the border. I believe that it was the year 2005, so yeah.
[00:00:52] Jenny Leal: Do you know why your mom would have wanted to come to the United States or anything?
Do you think it has to
do like with family, work, relationships, or anything like that?
[00:01:02] Milissa Gomez: Well, for what I know is that my mom, it wasn’t her first time crossing the border. She’s done it like, I believe, two to three times. And at that time, I believe she went to go visit family, but came back. But I do know why she crossed over to start a better life here, I guess. And cause over there, we live in, like, So the, like, state that we live in, um, in Mexico is Oaxaca.
And in Oaxaca, it’s like, like, a lot of poverty. Especially where my mom used to live, which was in, like, um, the mountains. It Where like, like the only thing they could survive off of is salsa and plants. That’s it.
[00:01:48] Jenny Leal: Okay. So when you guys came over here, do you think like the transition period of coming to the United States was different from Mexico?
[00:01:58] Milissa Gomez: I cannot really have a saying to that because I’ve never gone to Mexico, but I have seen and what my mom tells me, her sufferings at Mexico. It was just a huge difference like economic wise and my mom really the only reason why she came here as well is just to Save a lot of money to like buy territory in Mexico and I Never really grew up in a like in like a luxurious house or like a middle class house Because my mom saved up so much money, she most likely didn’t really pay attention to us at that time.
And we used to live like in a rusty, old little house.
[00:02:49] Jenny Leal: Um, when, when you came over here, like growing up, like how was that? Like was it difficult for your mom?
[00:02:58] Milissa Gomez: It was very difficult. Cause um, what my mom did tell me is that when she got to Arizona border, She was like, coming out of the desert, and they were like, at a like, a gas station, and a man, a man that was riding a horse, came up to my mom and my dad.
And they stopped them, they were like, hey, like, did you guys just arrive to this country? And they said yeah. And that man, I believe he was American, or Hispanic between those two. But he helped my parents. And they, um, he took them back to his house and gave them water, gave them shelter. And when they were financially and like ready to like leave, they left.
[00:03:46] Jenny Leal: Also, another question about where you, like in California, were there like a lot of Hispanics there? Or was it like really like a little bit in the beginning, but later on grew more?
[00:03:56] Milissa Gomez: Uh, so where I used to live at in California, it was like, Lamont, Lamont, California. And that little area was full of Hispanics.
Like, it was full of Hispanics. I’ve lived there for uh, 13 years and there was, it was, it was pretty good in the beginning until middle school where there was a lot of gang violence and there was a lot of like, it was, there was just so much death that Apparently like two years later after I left that little town, there was like a murder like right across where I used to live at.
Like it was that bad.
[00:04:37] Jenny Leal: Um, when you were growing up, did you like, what kind of jobs did you have? Was it difficult to find jobs?
[00:04:44] Milissa Gomez: It Was very difficult, especially at a young age where I was living through poverty and At that time, my, I believe I was 13, I was 14 where my stepdad had got deported and we lived in like in a, an apartment in Ontario, California, which was like 2000.
And my stepdad got deported. My uncle, he, my stepdad uncle, he, he left our house and um. For that time, like it was very difficult for my mom because she was a single mother. She was a single mother with four kids. And what I used to do is the little, the little thing I could have done at that time was picking up bottles from the streets and like recycling them to like get money out of it.
But my first job was when I was 15. I worked there for like just three days because apparently the woman said I’m just too young to be working like eight hour shifts every day. And And she gave me the money and told me not to come back. The other time I worked was when I was 16. I was 16 and I, I was here in Virginia and decided to work, uh, as a housekeeper.
And I unfortunately didn’t leave in good terms that place, which I don’t know if I should say it.
[00:06:20] Jenny Leal: It’s, it’s up to you if you want to talk about it. It’s like, if you don’t want to put it out, it’s fine or not.
[00:06:25] Milissa Gomez: Okay, well when I was 16, I left that job because I was sexually assaulted by my boss. But then after that, that, um, that, that was really tricky.
That job was really tricky to get in because I had to give them A license that was fake and I got that license out of my dad, which he tried to find a guy to like do like a fake social security and everything like that. And the, the people, my boss, he really didn’t identify. He didn’t look at my I. D.
clearly. I just showed him a picture on my phone and he’s like, okay, you’re good. And that’s how I got my job as housekeeper, but then after that job, I was 16 again when I started working at a restaurant and I found that job out of a friend who told me that, uh, we’re hiring servers, but they’re, don’t worry, like, they don’t check you and I’m like, okay, so I went for that position as a server, but then I later found out that it wasn’t the greatest place to be at because Um, my bosses are, were horrible.
They were horrible. They, it was just immensely drained me and immensely like changed my perspective as a server. And to put it off shortly, they, they stole like more than 300 for me. They never gave me my check back. They, they made me stay over time. Knowing I’m a 16 year old and I used to pull like 12 hour shifts almost constantly.
And, um, it was just horrible, the environment, the boss. And that’s why I left. And I got another job at a bakery shop. But my reason why I left there was because a guy was stalking me. So I had to leave that place. Even though the the people were great. They were really great. Um, the owner for that bakery shop, she knew what I was going through and she, um, hires people that are undocumented, which is like a really lifesaver.
But the bad part of it is that it was just 11 the hour. Like it was, it was a nice place, but it was just not a good payment. Um, and for there, from there, I. I’m working right now at a like a really big restaurant where um, I am very lucky to say that I have been here for like two years and uh, I’m a manager which I’m very grateful of and I get really good pay.
Um, I, those are my job experiences and I just turned 20 so it was just like four years of it.
[00:09:36] Jenny Leal: Um, did you ever feel scared during those, like, when you were working because of being caught?
[00:09:43] Milissa Gomez: Being caught? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There’s this one time where I applied to a plantation and I had my fake ID with me. But when I found out that they kinda already knew that it was a fake ID, they, um, they just looked at me and said, Oh, my God.
We know this is fake, and if we allow you to work with this, you’re gonna get arrested. And that was when I was 16, so I, I, I was so afraid to reapply at another job because of, like, that situation, that traumatized me. But because of, I believe, of what, everything I went through, I try to be grateful of every little thing that comes my way.
It’s like I have a job and like, um, they pay me decently. I try to my best to be the hardest worker because I know that my, like, I don’t have so much opportunities what other people have. So that’s why, like, in every job I have, I always try to give it my all.
[00:10:55] Jenny Leal: With, um, working also, did you think, like, some of the conditions weren’t fine with it? Like, you weren’t okay with the conditions that they were making you and, like, the minimum wage that they were offering you?
[00:11:05] Milissa Gomez: Um, the only one I could say is most likely the server position. That one, they were, they were really mean.
They were really mean. My bosses, they kind of, like, always just Put out like a little threat here and there, like once in a while. And I don’t know, one of, one of them were an alcoholic and they used to come to work like, like they were wasted. And he, one time I was working and he had no beverages. This man did not order nothing.
And I had to tell my customers, I’m sorry, but we just have water like it was that bad the like the restaurant. It was really bad
[00:11:54] Jenny Leal: That’s fair. Um, I was wondering also like You like went to you lived in california for a while, but then you came to virginia like What was like some push or pull factors that was happening like reasons as to why you wanted to come to virginia
[00:12:11] Milissa Gomez: That’s that’s a really really personal question, but I mean I could answer it but The reason why I’m being is, let’s see, um, I was 15 and at that time, a family member of mine, well, let’s just say she was close to getting raped and we had to call the cops and it was my step uncle, but they got the wrong guy, which they deported my real dad, my real, my step dad.
I’m sorry. And from there, that situation messed up my whole family because, how do I put this? Um, it’s because it’s hard to talk about it. Um, from there, my stepdad, um, he basically, when he came back from our country, when he came back from Mexico, When he lived with us, he left my mom, all of us for the drugs and the alcohol.
So from there we had to move to another city in California. And then he found out where we lived and he started threatening my mom saying that, Hey, like, if, like, if you keep me separated from my kids, like I’m going to kill the fuck out of you, this and that, blah, blah, blah. So basically he threatened us that that’s going to happen.
And basically that’s why we moved from California to Virginia to escape all of that. And on our way to California, I mean, sorry, on her way to Virginia, my mom got a phone call from him. And the last thing my stepdad told my mom was that if, if all the pain that she’s giving him, I’m sorry, all the pain that she’s giving him, he’s gonna get, how do I, he’s gonna get, how do I put this in English?
Um, he’s gonna target, And my mom’s loved ones were like, so she suffers the same way he suffered, which he meant by me and my sister. So from that little threat, we came to Virginia and that was a little bit of the reason why we decided to move here to start, start a better life, you know, without my stepdad.
[00:14:44] Jenny Leal: So it was more of fear and threat that pushed you guys out. Also, I just wanted to know, like you talked about like sensitive information. Um, I just wanted to know, like when coming to Virginia, was it hard for your mom to like be able to provide your family and support you guys as a single mom?
[00:15:07] Milissa Gomez: It was especially like her raising four kids.
Um, She had a really tough job, um, poultry, where she worked there for like four years. Um, in the beginning she, it was, she thought it was really hard because she used a lot of like hand muscle and throughout time it started messing her hand up where her veins were like, like, it was just like, it got to the point where she had pain in the nights.
Where in the nights, um, her hand used to burn up or her hand got like crimpled. How do I put it? Like her hand, like was in a weird way where she could like not even bend it. And all of that, it was never covered where she used to work at. Um, she had to get massages and she had to take pills. She had to take like a lot of antibiotics.
Um, It took about a year and a half for it to finally go to normal because she got out of that job because she was going through like, I believe it’s coworker, like, um, harassment, like something like that, where the people there like talked a lot of smack about her just because like, Um, I guess there was a coworker that didn’t like her and Due to all of that, like the whole gang came at her and that got to the, to the point where the bosses used to tell my mom a lot of like, I’m sorry, a lot of like, um, they were never on her side.
They were always on the coworker side. And my mom got through like so much hate that she got home sometimes and she just cried. If not, she let the anger out on us. And, um, she also like, I don’t know if I mentioned this, but before that, before coming to Virginia, we, we lived in California, and she also had a tough job where she, um, she was working in the fields for years, like she worked in like, like the product of onions, oranges, garlic, pomegranate.
Cherry, blueberry, you name it. She did all of that. And the working conditions were really bad, where she had to be under the sun for like more than eight hours, to the point where she like got sunburns.
[00:17:46] Jenny Leal: Were there other like things that happened in your mom when she was working in the fields that occur?
[00:17:53] Milissa Gomez: Uh, she had to go through like carrying like more than 50 pound like sacks because the oranges were like heavy. The dust used to pile up in the wind like, and make like, like tornadoes where it sometimes got to her and she had to like, like she breathed that in which kind of affected her lungs. If not, the dust went into her eyes.
[00:18:18] Jenny Leal: Um, what was the like, what was the pay for your mom at the farms? Was it enough to provide or or was it like, Like anything like you want to know about that.
[00:18:31] Milissa Gomez: She worked really hard, which did get her a good amount of money out of it, but it was just not worth it. Like she suffered a lot with it.
[00:18:42] Jenny Leal: Did your dad also help in California when working?
Did he also work in the fields, or did he work somewhere else?
[00:18:48] Milissa Gomez: He also did work in the fields. Uh, he worked there for like years, so more than 20 years, let’s just say. . But for him, I feel like it did affected him because when I last visited him, uh, which was I believe six months ago, he, his face changed.
His eyes are like little, like his eyes are really little and it looks red. Like, I didn’t even recognize him. I, I felt so bad and I’m, I was like asking him like, what’s going on? Like, what’s going on with your eyes? Like, have you gone to a doctor? And he was just simply told me that everything was okay.
But I feel like during all those years and dust, like roaming around him, it affected his eyes. And it does get me worried because I’m afraid that something bad will happen to his eyes later on if he continues to work in the fields.
[00:19:45] Jenny Leal: Is he still working in the fields to this day?
[00:19:48] Milissa Gomez: He is.
[00:19:50] Jenny Leal: That’s quite unfortunate.
Um, That’s really sad. Um, they didn’t really help your families. Then like the farmers, like where they were working, they didn’t really help them out with these issues that’s going on with them.. Do you know, like when you came to Virginia, like any places like help you guys settled into like Harrisonburg or like provide information or like even try to help you guys get like things when you guys came over here?
[00:20:21] Milissa Gomez: Due to my mom being a single mother, my little brothers had the privilege of getting free food. And our church gave like little donations for like school supplies, notebooks, pencils. I believe that’s it.
[00:20:39] Jenny Leal: Um, they like, Those churches also like help your communities like the immigrants like also come along together?
[00:20:46] Milissa Gomez: They did. They did. They did a lot of fundraisers. They give out like food especially when it’s the holiday season.
[00:20:57] Jenny Leal: That’s nice. Um, so switching topics like how do you feel about like The election that just passed, like, what’s your take about the, the immigration stance about it?
[00:21:13] Milissa Gomez: It’s really funny because I am really terrified knowing the fact that I know one day, maybe the possibility of getting deported will happen to me.
And I just joke around with like my mom, like, Hey, like, are you ready? Like leave this country? Like, it’s just, we both already have been like, The knowledge that if, that it’s going to happen one day, even if one day we had, like we get the visa, we’re going to have to get deported one day. And it does, it is terrifying because my little brothers are here and it’s just, I’ve grown, I grew up in this country my whole life, which is going to be heartbreaking.
I, and my thoughts of the election is. It is what it is, you know, if I do get deported and if I don’t like it is what it is.
[00:22:08] Jenny Leal: Um, talking about like, you know, like, did you have any experiences with like ice like any interactions like of that fear or anything like that? Do you want to share?
[00:22:19] Milissa Gomez: Well, When I was, I believe, 14, uh, when the Ice was really popular at that time, and I saw videos of it, I was terrified.
I was very, very terrified. To the point where I didn’t want anyone to find out that I was an immigrant, that I, That I guess I was just terrified of people knowing that information, especially when my mom used to tell me not to ever mention that to anyone, to like teachers, to anyone, which got me even more terrified.
Something like that did happen to me in high school, though, when you know, as a kid, like, you have dreams of like, hey, like, I’m gonna get a scholarship or I want to join the army. Like you have those type of dreams. In high school, I was in varsity. I was a varsity cross country runner. Like I had, I had my life already ahead of me.
Um, where I already knew what I wanted and what I wanted was to get a scholarship at that time. Um, but my coach knew that I was an immigrant. He knew that I was, um, illegal. And one day her name was Coach M. One day she came up to me and she was like, I know that you have, like, hope and you have big dreams, but I just want to tell you this right now.
You don’t have the possibility to get a scholarship or even join the army. When she told me that, everything broke. Like, everything broke. And then she started telling me about ice. She started telling me about, Hey, I can help you with this. Hey, the school could provide you with this. And it was just a horrible,
horrible experience.
[00:24:11] Jenny Leal: So
you did crush some of your dreams of like, you couldn’t go to school. You couldn’t do certain things.
[00:24:19] Milissa Gomez: Oh, yeah, she did. She, she, she got me to the point where I just gave up. Yeah. In life, like I give up of dreams. I give up with everything. I stopped like studying in school. I stopped I stopped having dreams Because I knew it’s gonna hurt And I would have made it so far if it wasn’t for her Like I would have maybe probably gotten a scholarship.
I would have probably gone to college But it didn’t happen for me
[00:24:51] Jenny Leal: When like
Were you thinking, like, also in your head, like, applying for, like, citizenship would also, like, help you and benefit you? Like, were these reasons, like, into why you were thinking about doing it? Because you can’t, like, be able to, like, get things that a regular U. S. citizen can.
[00:25:08] Milissa Gomez: I was, I was thinking about it. And I used to ask my mom, like, hey, like, when are, why can’t I apply for DACA? Because I’m going to go to school. I could get, I could get something out of it. But my mom It wasn’t my mom’s fault. It was my dad, because my dad never paid attention to me and he always focused on his job.
That he never signed papers. He never went to interviews. He never was beside me. And because of that, I never got to get a, I never had the opportunity to get a DACA. I didn’t get an opportunity to get my, even my passport until I turned 18. . Um, I didn’t really ever believed I would get a visa or a work permit.
I always thought I was going to end up like my mom.
[00:26:00] Jenny Leal: So, like, right now, do you have a work visa or, like, residence or, like, anything? Like, are you in the process of applications or how did the application process, like, how did it, like, occur?
[00:26:13] Milissa Gomez: It was a very long process because, you know how I told you about the incident with, like, my boss?
Well, due to that incident, we called the cops and they took us to court. After the court, a lady from the legal services, Hey, like you could, you could for with this incident, you could get a visa out of this. And we were like, okay, we’ll do it. So we went to her office and we were, I was testifying everything what happened to me.
I went to therapy for two years out of it. And she told me that unfortunately this isn’t a big case because they wanted you to get raped. Or to like get threatened and that’s where they could really get something out of it. And she gave us two options. We could take, we could take the sexual assault case to like, to get a visa.
If not, we could take the abuse of years, um, with my stepdad, um, to qualify for a visa. And she told me that the. That my case wouldn’t have gotten anywhere, but with the abuse it would have. So we took the abuse case and it took, I was 16. It took, it took, how old am I? 20. It took, I believe four to five years.
And like, seriously, like yesterday I got my work permit, which is crazy, especially now that we’re recording this.
[00:27:59] Jenny Leal: That’s a really exciting. Are you excited for your like journey like for later on? Like what is your future plans to like continue the process?
[00:28:10] Milissa Gomez: I’m really excited. I’m very very excited cuz like it’s just big dreams and I guess It’s just like I finally don’t have to live in fear as much anymore.
I had the same beneficia benefits, I’m sorry, I had the same benefits as, like, like what Americans have. Like, I’m not afraid of losing my job. I could finally apply anywhere I want. And my mom also told me that I could, like, start going to school, you know? And that’s, that’s my biggest dream. was to get education and now I could get a credit card hopefully and probably like do more other stuff.
And now I could like travel across the state without worrying that I’m gonna get checked or investigated. I’m just like very happy. You know,
[00:29:03] Jenny Leal: do you think you’re gonna go back to school?
[00:29:06] Milissa Gomez: Most likely I am. I’m not gonna probably go to college or university, but my plans is to do a trade school and be an interpreter.
So that’s my that’s my dream. And I want to see how far I could go, you know?
[00:29:22] Jenny Leal: Yeah, that’s really all exciting and everything. And I’m so happy that you got your your work permit. Um, later on down the line, are you thinking about getting full on citizenship?
[00:29:33] Milissa Gomez: Oh, yeah. My my goal is to like. Complete everything and get citizenship out of it.
You know,
[00:29:40] Jenny Leal: well, I hope all the steps are all work out for you and I hope everything is goes well for you and your life. Um, do you have anything else you would like to share about or any information that you feel like we haven’t touched on?
[00:29:57] Milissa Gomez: I’m just happy that things are going like good. You know, I’m just really grateful of everything that God has put in.
into my life right now and you know, I just hope it goes for everybody. And sometimes immigrants, we have it tough. We really do. But I pray that everybody gets a chance like I did.
[00:30:20] Jenny Leal: I, well, I’m really glad that I got to interview you and I’m, hopefully you enjoyed this interview with me.
[00:30:28] Milissa Gomez: I really did.
[00:30:30] Jenny Leal: Well, thank you so much and thank you for telling your story.
I really, we all really appreciate it.
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