She Fled Guatemala to Save Her Children

Veteran journalist Charles Fleming returns to The Raid to tell the story of Maritza, an asylum seeker from Guatemala who survived decades of abuse before finding refuge in the United States.

Host John Carlos Frey and Fleming trace Maritza's six-year journey through the U.S. asylum system: her legal border crossing to request protection, the landmark policy that first recognized domestic-violence survivors from Central America as a protected class, and the grueling process of proving her trauma to skeptical judges. Along the way, they confront the myths surrounding asylum seekers — that they're "freeloaders" gaming the system — and lay out what's actually true.

The conversation closes with a sobering update: under the current administration, officials have stated the asylum system is effectively closed, and asylum seekers today are being redirected to third countries rather than allowed to stay in the U.S. Frey and Fleming ask what a nation loses — economically and spiritually — when it turns away people like Maritza.

https://substack.com/@charlesuncounted

https://theraidpodcast.org/

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