You Belong Here
A podcast to re-explore immigration stories, legal insights, and other interesting topics.
You Belong Here
Stephany Obradovich
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In this episode, our attorney, Stephany Obradovich, shares her personal immigration journey and the experiences that inspired her passion for helping others navigate the immigration process. Through her story, she offers a unique perspective on the challenges, emotions, and opportunities that come with building a new life in a different country.
Welcome to You Belong Here, a podcast about immigration law, real stories, and the journeys people take to build a life in the United States. Here is your host from Cambridge Immigration Law, Ellen Sullivan.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to You Belong Here, a podcast where we explore immigration stories, legal insights, and everything in between. Have you ever wondered what it's really like to take that first step in your immigration journey, reaching out for help, sharing your story and trying to understand your options? Or maybe you have done that. And that's what we're talking about today. My name is Ellen Sullivan, your host and the founding attorney of Cambridge Immigration Law, a Massachusetts-based law firm dedicated to helping individuals and families navigate the complexities of the U.S. immigration system. Our team provides experienced legal guidance on matters including green cards, citizenship, employment-based petitions, and other immigration benefits. Our goal is always to help people understand the process, feel supported by us while they're in the process, and know that they're not alone. So with that in mind, I'm really excited to introduce today's guest, my colleague and our amazing in-take attorney, Stephanie Oberdovich, who brings not only her legal experience to our team and to her work here with us, but also her own personal connection to the immigrant experience based on her roots in Peru. So let's get into it. Stephanie, can you share with me a little bit about what you do here and what your professional background is?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it's lovely to work here at Cambridge Immigration Law. As an intake attorney, I get to welcome possible new clients into the firm, and I have an opportunity to start a game plan with them, figure out how we can help them, if we're right fit, and what the next steps look like for them in this process. And usually it gives them a little bit of reassurance in such a difficult time for them.
SPEAKER_01And what did you do before you worked here professionally?
SPEAKER_02So I've been practicing law for almost 10 years, and I've done work in the business litigation area and construction law arena, and most recently I've been working here at Cambridge Immigration Law for the past six months, and I'm really feeling a deep connection to the work that we do. It feels impactful to the community, it feels important, and there's a feeling of having made a difference at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_01Great, that's good. I'm so glad you are making a difference with our clients. So tell me a little bit about your connections to Peru. What does that mean for you, you know, personally and your history, and how is that related to your perspective on US immigration?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so my father is Peruvian, my mother is Croatian, they met while my mother's family was living in Peru. And um, you know, I was born soon after in Lima. And I moved to the US when I was about five years old. Um, we had some family here in the US, so we moved to Florida. My parents spent years with various immigration attorneys to make sure that we all had the appropriate documentation from the moment that we got here. And um obviously I was so young when I came here, I was about four or five, but I do what I hear my dad and my mother saying over and over again is oh, you know, it's it's so hard to start out here, it's so hard, even if you have resources, you know, it's really tough because it's a hard area a lot to navigate. So you really need a good attorney on your side. And I know that they've said that that made all the difference for them.
SPEAKER_01So it took them years though to get things resolved. I don't know what you mean. Do you mean to to ultimately become US citizens? Yes.
SPEAKER_02So obviously, like we had to go through a process to get our green cards, and then years later, um, we became US citizens. So just to put in perspective, I came to the US when I was five, and I became a US citizen at 15. Okay. So that took some time. I remember I still remember receiving my little American flag at the ceremony, which was really nice. Like it was really nice back then, it felt good, but right now looking back, it feels like even more like emotional and impactful. So um, I'm just glad that we had people on our side to guide us because you know it's you up against the government.
SPEAKER_01And why did your family want to move from Peru to the United States?
SPEAKER_02Honestly, they wanted a better life for me and my younger brother. You know, they were very happy in Peru with what they were doing, right? They felt very well adjusted, but um, it wasn't really going to be the best life for us, you know, for my brother and I, as far as like education goes and work opportunities. And they just were hoping we would have more here.
SPEAKER_01And were your parents able to um, I mean, we've never talked about this. I assume somebody worked, either your mom or your dad, or both, were they able to transfer their professional lives from Peru to the United States? Or you mentioned starting over? Did they have to also start over professionally?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so my dad in some ways did. So my dad worked for the he was in the Air Force in Peru. And my mother was a flight attendant for the Air Force. Yeah, for um the government, I guess. You know, she's flown with like diplomats and the Pope and all that. So um, yeah, they had like great careers, and once he left the Air Force, he was in banking in Peru. And then when he got here, obviously, like, first of all, he did have to learn the language. Like maybe he had a very, very small understanding of like the English language, so he had to learn that on top of learning how to navigate, you know, finding homes and putting your kids in school. And uh he star he started in real estate when he got here because he wasn't sure how to transfer over education and things like that. You know, it's hard. And um, thankfully, with the immigration attorneys, I know like they helped him be able to have proper authorization to work here, which is obviously really really important. So they did that and he worked in real estate and slowly but surely he you know managed to build a life in in Florida. Wow.
SPEAKER_01So that's um your parents really sacrificed, as you said, your their own comfort because they wanted you and your brother to have something different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they definitely did.
SPEAKER_01With their lives, and this may not go on there, but like with with their lives being comfortable there, why did they think that you weren't gonna have a good future? Was something different from when they had grown up?
SPEAKER_02I think that so they had been to the US before. Um, both of them had been to the US like multiple times before they actually immigrated here. And they just felt like their it was going to be a safer environment you know, from a political perspective for us. Um they didn't like the way politics were the direction it was heading in in Peru. They didn't like the um gang violence and um certain groups that were, you know, um going against whatever uh administration was in at the time. I do remember like one of the last things this doesn't have to go in there, but I remember one of the last things that happened is on our street, and we lived in a very nice neighborhood, so that goes to tell you what the situation was like. Even on in a nice neighborhood, there was something called a coche bomba, which is like a car with explosives in it, and you know, to put people in fear, they would just um put a card there and like have it detonated and cause a lot of issues, obviously. And so that's um one of the things that made them say, like, okay, yeah, we're we're doing it. Yeah, and uh this also doesn't have to do it. But the um government was targeting certain people that worked in banking um to see if they could get them to turn and do you know what they wanted to do. And my dad was one of those people that they were trying to, and that's when he said, No, we're we're out of here. Yeah. And so what year was that that you came? 1992? Okay, yeah. My brother's like nine months, ten months.
SPEAKER_01So what you're telling me is you're not exactly sure how they came to the United States, but you know, um, you're pretty sure that it was that they got some status, they got they had some sort of maybe temporary visa, and then they got some status when they got here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, based on their you know, desperation, they did it that way and they were they were protected here in the United States.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. And I know that they never like had to return for this. Yeah. We did have to stay here. Yeah. I didn't go back until I was like, I think like 14 or 14. So I don't know if that makes sense as to what we assume it was. And um, yeah. Okay. Let's I remember.
SPEAKER_01Now you were a kid when all this happens, although by the time you're 15 you were a little older. Um do you remember your uh how your parents talked about immigration? Was it you know what what do you remember, if anything?
SPEAKER_02So there's a few things I remember when I was younger. Yeah. So I actually remember them shielding us from a lot of the nitty-gritty of it, like not telling us a lot of like what they were doing behind the scenes. Um, you know, they'd always be like, We have to go to the immigration attorney, we have to do an immigration attorney drive down to Miami. Yeah. We lived in Weston, which is like 45 minutes from Miami. So I always associated that process with like long drives down to an office that took forever. And we just we sat there, you know. And we just sat outside. Yeah, we sat outside and then um, you know, they they would come out and like be like, oh okay, good, like this is next, this is what we're doing next, feels good. Like they always like felt good afterwards. That's good. Yeah, and I just they more put it in a way of like, you know, this is good because you're gonna be able to do this or that. Like, I know maybe here like certain schools or colleges aren't a big deal, but like in Peru, for example, like saying like Harvard or Dartmouth or Boston College or anything is like kind of like saying Hogwarts here. So like they would talk about it like that. They're like, if you're the US, you might go to Harvard, or you might like go to University of Florida, or you you know, yeah, yeah. Like it was just like um at least coming as an immigrant, yeah, those things are like not even not even like a dream because it's not even something that's meant for you. Yeah. So they would just like talk about it like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And then you ended up going to some of those schools.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Where did you go?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I ended up doing a master's in finance after after I went to law school at Harvard. Uh-huh. And um, that was like coming full circle. Yeah. It felt it literally felt like I was at Hogwarts after everything. Yeah. Just because, you know, I was like, yeah, this isn't meant for me. Wow. You know, and I'm still like so like proud of it more than like my other friends who are like, yeah, you know, whatever. Yeah. But it's just like it's different. It's not even about the the school or the brand or anything like that. It was just something that felt like I wasn't meant to go there. Yeah. And then I did. And so when it's really just because the immigration process.
SPEAKER_01Wow, that's great. How do you see yourself in the in the stories or even in the emotions or personalities of the people that you meet here as potential clients at Cambridge Immigration Law?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I see more like I see my parents more than I see myself. Because they're the ones that like went through this whole arduous process. And you know, I was going through it, but I was complaining about sitting outside a lobby. Yeah. And they're, you know, it's like I'm seeing everything now that was happening behind the scenes back then.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And like I'm just like, I hope they had a good attorney. Like, I hope they got what we give people here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What we give people that we can give, because the laws don't allow us to help everyone.
SPEAKER_02We can't help everyone, but I know that we try to. Yeah. We try to find ways to do everything the right way for them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. And here we believe that even telling someone the bad news is helping them. Well, that's really interesting. And um, I guess with Peru, have you have you ever worked with another Peruvian attorney?
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_01I mean you were telling me yesterday, I think, weren't you?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I actually have never worked like all my life, like working as an attorney has been in Boston, right? And I've always only been the I've been the only Hispanic attorney, uh-huh, you know, in uh in a law firm. Uh-huh. And I've never had like a Hispanic counterpart, like, you know, like we have Angie here, which is so nice to have not only she's Hispanic, she's Peruvian. Like never, never have I had that. So and even that is like, you know, because because we immigrated here, I was able to be able to do something like that, and we don't get to see a lot of people get to that spot. So it's nice to see that.
SPEAKER_01Anything else you want to mention, get on here?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I just think connecting my experience as an immigrant and my work here as an immigration attorney, uh, cancer how important it is to make sure you're having a quality attorney on your side who cares and takes the time to care about your case and and really be an advocate for you. It makes a huge difference in your immigration journey.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's an investment for your future. Yes. It's expensive, it's an investment. I have one other question. So say we you know rewound the clock and we're 1991 and Cambridge immigration law is there. Would you, knowing what you know, recommend Cambridge immigration law to your parents?
SPEAKER_02That is an amazing question. Of course I would. Yes, of course I would. And it's not even, you know, it's just I know how hard everyone works here. I've seen every single person at every level, like every legal assistant, every paralegal, every attorney work so hard, and I see them on day-to-day stressing, caring for the client behind the scenes. So I would want that on my side, on my parents' side. Nice. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, thank you for joining our podcast. You belong here. If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe, follow, and share it with someone who you think might benefit from listening to it. If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover, we'd love to hear from you. Just send them our way. And we will be back soon with our next episode. And until then, remember, no matter where you are, you belong here.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to You Belong Here. To learn more about immigration options or to connect with the firm, visit temporaryimmigration law.com. If this episode was helpful, subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, or share it with the double. Until next time, remember no matter where you're from or where you're headed, you will be able to