The importance of representation

Since 2015, HIAS PA attorney Stephanie Lubert has been representing 8-year-old Estefani (pictured here with Stephanie, her mother, father, and little brother). In Guatemala, Estefani had been attacked by the gang Mara-18 and discriminated against because of her indigenous background. But it wasn’t a straightforward case, and the asylum officer didn’t immediately grant her asylum. So in December 2018, Estefani went in front of a judge, and with Stephanie’s representation, won. Now, she won’t have to return to the country that scarred her ever again