On Valentine’s Day 2018, Bruna Oliveira, a geography teacher, was shot dead at her feet as she led her students into the classroom to protect them from an oncoming gunman. The girl crouched near the body and held her breath, fearing that she would be killed next, that she would die at the age of 14. But the gunman moved through the hallway in a rampage.
At the time of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Oliveira’s Brazilian family had no intention of staying in the United States and was living there temporarily. Her mother was an architect enrolled in an English immersion program and had two children with her on student visas.
But the worst high school shooting in U.S. history made Oliveira an American, or an aspiring American. It was a baptism not only for her, but also for the many immigrants and international students who attend her school. Many have left their homelands to escape violence, and now their journeys have changed forever. Bonded by trauma, the teens persevered as their terrified relatives urged them to return to their home countries.
“It was a massive event that hit us hard, but it was also something that forever bonded us to each other and to this country,” said Scott, who is now pursuing medical school. said Oliveira, a fourth-year university student. Her experience led her to become an emergency medicine physician.
Oliveira and 74 other survivors of the genocide applied for so-called U visas after being advised that the government would issue special visas to victims of serious crimes who cooperate with law enforcement.
Little did they know then that the well-intentioned U visa program is the most dysfunctional of the entire troubled immigration system, with benefits delayed much further than the notoriously backlogged asylum program. There wasn’t.
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