Rafael Leyva was only 8 years old when his mother was stabbed by a knife and died in the little boy’s leg.
Shortly thereafter, his siblings were sent to live in California with their uncle, while Rafa or Rafa called him his siblings – still the ward of the Mexican orphanage.
Now, in the story of rising immigration tensions on the U.S.-Mexico border, Rafa’s uncle is in a tough battle, reuniting with his brother and sister at the uncle’s house in Santa Ana.
The problem is that although his siblings were born in the United States, Rafa was not.
“This is not my choice [to be separated,]Rafa told The New York Times through an interpreter. “I don’t want to be separated. I live with my brothers and sisters forever, they can cross the border, but not me.”
It has been nearly two years since Melanie Leyva, 13, and her brother Eddy Leyva, now 15. While Melanie and Eddy lived with their uncle, Jesus Leyva, 11-year-old Rafa lived in a Baja California orphanage about 10 miles northwest of Ensenada.
Rafa’s mental and physical condition has dropped so much that he has begun to grow white hair. In an interview, Jesus Leyva said that children grew up in a world marked by violence and witnessed their fathers physically abuse their mothers.
On the morning of September 28, 2022, at home in the state of Michelna, Mexico, parents fell into something that seemed just another argument, according to the authorities’ police report.
Jesus Leyva and his nephew Rafael were outside an orphanage in Mexico in early January.
(Jesus Leva)
But when the battle became violent, the mother told her children to put on their shoes quickly. According to Jesus Leyva, she had enough and was finally leaving her father.
However, according to the prosecution documents and autopsy reports, the father grabbed a knife and stabbed his mother in the throat before they escaped. She died on Rafa’s leg when his siblings asked for help.
Jesus Leyva said the children lived temporarily with a family friend in Mexico after their father was arrested, but they began to show signs of neglect. Because Michoacan has a high crime rate, it is not safe for them.
Due to their birthright citizenship, Eddy and Melanie were able to move with their uncle in March 2023.
Meanwhile, according to court documents, Rafa had to stay in Mexico, and his father was eventually found guilty of a woman and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
In April 2023, Jesus Leyva filed a request for “humanitarian parole” on behalf of Rafa, which would grant a boy a request for temporary entry into the United States, according to an application reviewed by the New York Times.
U.S. Department of Citizenship and Immigration Services, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, Grant temporary parole Based on the discretionary basis of persons who can be granted parole on “emergency humanitarian or significant public welfare reasons.”
Leyva, citing the brutal violence of Michoacan, who was still living at the time, and the fact that he had no family to take care of him in Mexico, said he was planning to apply for a special immigrant teenager status. If approved, it will provide Rafa with a green card to become a child that parents abused, abandoned or neglected.
“In addition, Raphael’s siblings Eddy and Melanie have lived with me and they are in school,” Leva wrote. “My wife and I are helping them feel safe and we are looking for psychological services for both of them. Raphael is the youngest, Eddy, Melanie misses him. The three of them need to be together as soon as possible.”
While the family awaited the Department of Homeland Security’s reply, Rafa moved to Orfanatorio Estate 29, an orphanage in the town of San Antonio de Las Minas near Ensenada.
When Rafa arrived in October 2023, he suffered from respiratory problems caused by post-traumatic stress disorder, allergies, nightmares and insomnia, according to a psychological assessment written by his therapist in the orphanage. Rafa also had difficulty breathing and stopped talking for a long time.
In her report, the therapist highlights the benefits of Rafa moving in with his uncle: better psychological care and family support.
“Raphael can be reunited with his brother and sister as long as his uncle can provide the necessary safety and support,” the report said. “It can be a significant benefit to find a psychologist specializing in severe PTSD in the United States, a major he currently resides.”
Rafael Leyva stands outside Orfanatorio Estate 29, an orphanage in the town of San Antonio de Las Minas where he lives.
(Jesus Martinez Leva)
February 7, 2024 – Nearly 10 months after Leyva submitted his application – the Department of Homeland Security told him that this was denied. The agency wrote that the application failed to “establish humanitarian reasons or a huge public interest”, which would justify allowing Rafah to cross the border into the United States.
Leva said Melanie and Eddie were shocked by the news. The trauma of losing parents and being separated from Rafa is hard for them. Sometimes they appear happy, but then they start crying, seemingly everywhere.
“What they see is very painful, so it’s very, very difficult,” Leva said. “Rafa is even worse because [some of] At 10, his hair turned gray because of all the trauma and stress. He lost the ability to speak, and we could hardly understand what he was saying. ”
A spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Services said the agency has not commented on individual immigration cases due to privacy concerns.
Leyva has already begun trying to adopt Rafa, but it may take up to two years to move to Levya, the U.S., who works as a locker room waiter at the Orange County Country Club, and will also have to raise at least $35,000 to cover adoption costs – a feat he hopes he hopes Through online donations.
An employee who has worked at the Citizenship and Immigration Services for nearly 30 years has spoken with Times on anonymity for nearly 30 years because she has no right to speak with the media. She said the grant of humanitarian parole was based on the discretion of the officer who looked at the application, which meant that the decision varies from officer to officer.
As a result, the agency does not need to provide specific reasons for rejecting the application, she said.
The employee said she would approve his application based on the facts in the Rafa case.
“I will parole him because it’s based on family unity,” she said. “He was a child and he saw his mother being murdered.”
Although the Biden administration rejected Rafa’s application, the employee said Trump’s presidency could make it more difficult for others.
While a more liberal administration could direct federal employees to explain “emergency humanitarian causes” in a more tolerant way, the Trump administration may tell employees that this reason does not exist, but she believes.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Sonja Brown, executive director of Nightlight Christian Apentions, has been consulting with Leyva’s case regarding Rafa, saying it usually takes two years to adopt a child from Mexico. First, the U.S. government needs to approve his uncle’s adoption of the child and then confirm that no one else can take care of Rafa in Mexico.
“This child is already living in an orphanage, which is a great starting point because they may have found out he is eligible for adoption,” Brown said.
Brown said Rafa would have to stay in Mexico throughout the adoption process and measures need to be followed closely or it could be abandoned. Rafa’s father will need to voluntarily waive his parents’ rights or else he must be deprived of by the judge before adopting the child.
“In Mexico, especially, it’s complicated because it’s a child, so adoption is the best way to over-legalize the child,” she added.
In early January, Leyva drove to the orphanage to visit Rafa, who looked healthier and mentally than the last time he met him.
He said Rafa was still moving to the United States firmly, and he kept in touch with his siblings via video calls.
“We used to play together,” he said. “We live in a small village and go to the river almost every day. We’re always together.”
