On this episode of the Alejandra Campos Podcast, attorney Alejandra Campos sits down with Sandra Nava, a Mexican immigrant from Chihuahua who arrived in the United States at 13 years old. What followed was more than a decade of domestic violence, a criminal charge, and removal proceedings — and, eventually, a green card, a construction company, and a life she built herself.
Her story is hard to hear. It is also a roadmap of exactly which legal doors exist, and which ones too many people walk past because no one told them they were there.
From Chihuahua at 13, Into a Home Marked by Violence
Sandra grew up watching domestic violence at home. “If my father hadn’t been the way he was,” she says, “I wouldn’t have become such a strong woman.” She left home young, fell in with the wrong crowd, and entered a relationship that turned violent almost immediately — daily beatings and constant psychological abuse.
She had a daughter with him. When she finally left and went to stay with her mother, he came to the house under a pretext, said he was taking the baby to change her diaper, and left with the newborn.
When Sandra called the police, she was told there was nothing to be done: he was the father, and his name was on the birth certificate. He then told her he had been offered $10,000 for the baby and would sell her if Sandra didn’t come back. She went back.
The Legal Doors That Were Open — and Nobody Mentioned
This is the part of the conversation Attorney Campos stops to underline, because it applies to thousands of families right now.
Family court could have protected her immediately
Sandra could have gone before a family court judge and requested full custody of her daughter, plus a protective order keeping the father away. With a protective order in place, his next attempt to take the child would have meant arrest — not a shrug from the responding officer.
Parental kidnapping can qualify for a U visa
In the United States, when a parent takes a child out of the state where the child lives without the other parent’s authorization, that can constitute kidnapping — even though the abductor is the child’s own parent. Kidnapping is a qualifying crime for the U visa, the humanitarian visa for victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement. Sandra and her children could have applied years earlier than they did.
The lesson she wants other women to hear: report it, document it, and get real legal advice. “If I had known then what I know now, I would have gone straight to a judge.”
A Second Relationship, an Arrest, and Deportation Proceedings
Sandra escaped the first relationship — changing the name she used at work so he couldn’t find her — and later married again. That marriage lasted 12 years and produced three more children. It was also abusive, mostly psychologically.
After the birth of her second child, dealing with postpartum depression and having discovered her husband’s infidelity, an argument turned physical and she struck back. He called the police first. She was the one arrested.
Attorney Campos flags this pattern as one of the most common and most damaging traps she sees:
- The abusive partner calls 911 first and frames the narrative.
- The woman who has been beaten for years is booked as the aggressor.
- A criminal charge follows — and for a non-citizen, a criminal charge can open a removal (deportation) case.
Sandra’s brother posted her bond. Then the immigration consequences began.
How She Became a Permanent Resident
Sandra hired both a criminal defense attorney and an immigration attorney — two separate specialties, and she needed both. The criminal case had to be handled with the immigration consequences in mind; the immigration case had to be built on the facts of her life in the U.S.
The path that ultimately worked for her is what immigration law calls cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents. In general terms, it requires:
- More than 10 years of continuous physical presence in the United States;
- Good moral character during that period;
- A qualifying relative — a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident spouse, parent, or child — who would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if you were deported.
Sandra had all three. She had been in the country since she was 13. She was the head of household for her children. And her U.S. citizen son had been diagnosed with autism, a permanent condition requiring ongoing care. The immigration judge granted her lawful permanent residency.
Every case is different. Cancellation of removal is decided by an immigration judge, is capped in number each year, and depends heavily on the specific criminal record and evidence presented. Only a licensed immigration attorney can evaluate whether you qualify.
Building a Business in a Man’s Industry
With a work permit and then a green card, Sandra built something.
She started as a helper for an older contractor who taught her the granite and remodeling trade — installation, polishing, measuring. She worked at her brother’s granite shop until a falling-out pushed her out the door. She went back to waiting tables and studying for an HVAC license, which she earned.
Then a former client called. He didn’t want the shop — he wanted her. He taught her how to open a DBA, how to write remodeling contracts, how to price a job, how to find suppliers. “He took me by the hand the whole time,” she says. “He had enormous patience with me.”
Today Sandra owns her own shop, employs more than ten people, measures and quotes jobs herself, and has landed multimillion-dollar contracts. Her husband — the relationship she describes as respectful and supportive — runs the fabrication and installation side.
She has also learned to handle an industry that doesn’t expect her. One prospective client refused to give her a job because she showed up on her day off in regular clothes with her kids. He called back later when he was stuck, saw her work, and apologized.
Her next goal: real estate. “I want to retire with an apartment complex, or four rental houses.”
What Sandra Wants Other Women to Know
On leaving an abusive relationship: “You have to love yourself more. It can’t always be the kids, the husband, what he needs. Take your 10 or 15 minutes. Close the bathroom door. Look at yourself in the mirror. Start loving yourself.” She’s honest that it’s ongoing work: “I still work on my traumas every day.”
On young women: Attorney Campos adds a message she repeats often — too many young women believe their body is the only thing they have to offer. “You are intelligent and you have enormous potential ahead of you. Being a woman is not a disadvantage. It’s a privilege.”
On finding legal help: Sandra was defrauded more than once by people who promised her the world. “There are people who commit fraud, even some who are lawyers. They promise you the sky and the stars. We went through that several times — but you will get to the right one. Keep looking. Don’t give up. This is a country of opportunities.”
The Takeaway
Sandra broke a cycle that started with her father and continued through two partners. She did it by getting out, getting the right attorneys, and refusing to disappear into a deportation case. Many people in her position don’t fight — they stop showing up to court, they never seek advice, or they simply leave.
If you are in removal proceedings, if you have a criminal charge as a non-citizen, if you or your children have been victims of a crime, or if you’ve been in the U.S. for over a decade with a U.S. citizen child who has a serious medical condition — you may have options you don’t know about.
👉 If you need legal support, contact us at +1 (844) 922-6767. At Campos Law Firm, consultations are FREE.
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