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Teen escapes violence in El Salvador to rebuild with family, Almeda survivors By Buffy Pollock Dec 19, 2022 12:15 AM A A Editor’s note: Light One Candle is an annual series sponsored by the Mail Tribune that focuses on an individual, group or organization who could use a helping hand during the holiday season. Once that need is filled, donations may be distributed to others in need. Having lost everything they had in the Almeda Fire, now living in a small rental trailer in Medford, a family of five didn’t hesitate to open their home to a nephew from El Salvador who escaped gang violence and a doomed future in his home country. At just 16, the young man was sent away by his family in hopes he could have a better life. Advocates at the Center for NonProfit Legal Services in Medford, who are helping the boy, describe him as kind and a good student with dreams of becoming an architect. Before coming to the United States, he lived on a coffee farm with his family. Targeting the boy on his walk to school in May 2021, gang members beat him up and told him he needed to drop out of school and rob taxi drivers to give money to the gang. When he went home and told his parents, who had recently been robbed at gunpoint by gang members, they decided he should live in the Rogue Valley with his uncle and cousins, who all have a mix of lawful temporary protected status and citizenship. When he presented himself to authorities at the U.S. border, he was taken into custody and placed into deportation proceedings. Using a special federal immigration law that protects people under age 21, immigration attorneys at the CNPLS are doing what they can to hep him attain legal permanent residency and, eventually, citizenship. Laura Lindley-Gutierrez, supervising attorney for the center’s Immigration Law Project, said she was immediately touched by the work ethic and moral compass of the teen. “When my young client told me at our first meeting, ‘My mother didn’t raise me to rob taxi drivers or anyone else. I could never do something like that to someone,’ I knew that we had to find a lawful way to help keep him safe in the United States.” Said Lindley-Gutierrez. While Lindley-Gutierrez and others work to secure the boy’s future in the U.S., she’s hoping community members will rally to bring some comfort and support to the tight-knit family after recent years’ struggles. While he’s grateful for a home to live in, the boy sleeps on a couch in the small rental trailer. The whole family could use warm clothing and basic items to make life a little easier. The family, aside from his uncle and aunt, include female cousins, ages 9 and 10, and a 14-year-old boy. The entire family would be grateful for warm winter coats in sizes small and medium (men’s) and girls’ size 10/12. The family needs help providing holiday meals and would gratefully accept gift cards to any grocery store, Target or Walmart. For his first Christmas in America, the teen would love anything related to soccer, art or to help hone his math skills at school. Checks should be made out to CNPLS, P.O. Box 1586, Medford, OR 97501, with Light One Candle #1 in the memo line. For in-person donations, drop-offs can be made at 225 W. Main St. For more information, contact Lindley-Gutierrez at [email protected] or 541-779-7292.