For Josefina Cruz-Molina, who was 14 when her family fled increasing violence in El Salvador, moving to a new country was especially difficult. The daughter of an engineer, she had a comfortable life in San Salvador and a close-knit group of friends. But when a classmate of her younger brother was kidnapped at his school, the family realized they couldn’t stay. “Leaving everything I knew to come here and start again with a new language was really hard, but I know my parents didn’t have a choice,” she says.
Cruz-Molina’s uncle, a U.S. citizen, petitioned the government to give her family legal residency. They settled in Long Beach, where her father became a loan officer with Opportunity Fund, a microfinance organization, and her mother became a certified nursing assistant. Cruz-Molina focused on mastering English and, after high school, worked her way from Long Beach City College to the University of California at Riverside, where she majored in psychology.
I’ve met so many hard-working people who need to know how to navigate the immigration system. They just want the chance to contribute to society.
After graduating, she interned with the Community Hispanic Association, a non-profit social service agency that assists local low-income Hispanic youth and families. There Cruz-Molina found her calling: to help other immigrants become vibrant members of the Long Beach community. “I’ve met so many hard-working people who need to know how to navigate the immigration system,” she says. “They just want the chance to contribute to society.”
Last year, Cruz-Molina became a fulltime immigration case manager, guiding clients through residency and citizenship applications. She’s especially passionate about helping young Dreamers renew their work permits. “We didn’t choose our path as children,” she says. “But we have a responsibility to make a bright future. I want to help people realize their full potential.”
Cruz-Molina and her brothers, who are both engineering students, are now U.S. citizens—a testament to their perseverance. “Some people believed it would be too hard to adjust to a new country, but I proved them wrong,” she says. “I was very lucky, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given.”
