DECLARATION OF REDACTED

IN SUPPORT OF HIS APPLICATION FOR ASYLUM

I, REDACTED, hereby swear under penalty of perjury that the following statement is true and

correct to the best of my knowledge:

I am applying for asylum because I am afraid that I will be harmed by my family and the

gangs if I return to El Salvador. My family abused me and forced me to work since I was a little

boy. Two of my aunts hit me all the time. They hit me with belts, rocks or anything they could

When I was not able to finish a job on my grandfather’s farm land he would hit me with the whip

of his horse. Finally, I escaped to the United States in search of my mother.

Family Background

1. I am a native and citizen of El Salvador. I was born on DATE, 1998, in PLACE, El

Salvador. Both of my parents were also born in El Salvador. PLACE is a small rural

community with only one school. Most roads in PLACE are not paved and only a few

people in the community have automobiles. We only have a small clinic and there are no

police or firefighters in the town. The closest big city is CITY, which is about an hour

considered my grandmother as my mother and I always called her mom. My father never

recognized me or ever provided support.

3. My grandmother’s husband left when my mom was little and no one knows where he is.

My grandmother always said that we do not even know if my grandfather is dead or

alive; one day he just left and never came back. My grandmother never got married

again.

4. REDACTED controlled my grandmother’s house. She was the oldest of all the siblings

that lived at my grandmother’s house. REDACTED was in charge of the house when

5. REDACTED and REDACTED never listened to my grandmother and they controlled

her. Many times I saw both of my aunts raise their hand at my grandmother as if they

were going to hit her. My grandmother was getting older and she is a very quiet person.

I believe my grandmother was also afraid of REDACTED and REDACTED because she

always did everything they said.

My Aunts’ Abuse

6. During my life in El Salvador, I have memories of my aunt REDACTED always being

7. I have a clear memory of one time when REDACTED was hitting her brother

REDACTED. REDACTED was about fourteen years old at the time. REDACTED was

crying and begging his sister to stop hitting him. I was very worried for REDACTED but

my aunt was not listening to anybody and just continued beating him. I do not remember

why she was hitting him but at some point REDACTED was not crying anymore, he was

just lying on the floor while my aunt continued to beat him. When he wasn’t responding

to my aunt’s yells, she stopped. She didn’t seem worried that he wasn’t responding and

just left. My grandmother tried to wake him up and she did not know what to do, so we

just waited for REDACTED to wake up. At some point, he woke up but after that he was

8. One day when I was about 5 years old, my aunt REDACTED hit me with a belt. She was

hitting me so hard that she cut me with the belt buckle in my left arm. I remember that it

was a pretty big cut; I still have the scar. Every time I see my scar it reminds me of that

day.

10. Later, when I was about six years old I started attending elementary school at PLACE. I

walked to and from school. I really liked going to school because I played with friends

there. However, some days my aunt REDACTED would not let me to go to school

because I had to work on the farm land taking care of her children or doing errands for

her in the town. The days that I did go to school, I had to work after school. Every day

after school, I had to go find wood for the kitchen about fifteen minutes away from our

house and bring it back to the house on my back. I carried around 30 pounds of wood on

my back. My family used this wood for cooking.

11. REDACTED and REDACTED did not work. My mother often sent money to my

grandmother for my support, but REDACTED and REDACTED did not allow my

grandmother to go pick up the money by herself. She had to go with REDACTED or

REDACTED. My grandmother had to go to CITY to pick up the money and

REDACTED was the one that always arranged someone to drive them there. My

grandmother never liked to travel alone. My grandmother said that REDACTED always

kept the money and paid the driver. They used the money for themselves and never gave

me any of it or bought me things that I needed. I asked my aunts for soap, food, clothes

and shoes that I needed but my aunts always said no. I always wore used clothes and

in PLACE. I liked this house much better because we were closer to neighbors and we

had electricity. When we moved, my aunt REDACTED bought a TV and a radio.

13. After school my aunts never let me watch TV or go outside and play with the kids from

the neighborhood. Sometimes when my aunts were not home, my grandmother would let

me watch TV. I remember that watching TV made me very happy because I could

distract myself. REDACTED’s children, REDACTED and REDACTED watched TV all

the time and they were allowed to go outside and play. I was the only one who was

treated differently.

REDACTED. REDACTED usually came and picked me up at my house and from there

we would walk to the farm land, which is about an hour from where we lived. At the end

of the day, REDACTED paid me for my work but my aunts always took the money away

from me and they never let me keep any of it. With REDACTED, I worked from 5:00

and REDACTED also sent REDACTED and REDACTED to work with REDACTED

but I think she let them keep some of the money because sometimes I saw that they had

money to buy candies or other things.

15. We had a cellphone at the house and my mother called often to talk to me and to ask how

I was doing. Every time my mother called, my aunts never let me speak to her alone and

REDACTED or REDACTED was always there. REDACTED was the one that

happening to me because I was afraid of REDACTED.

16. Later, REDACTED was pregnant again and I remember that while she was pregnant she

became even meaner. After the baby was born, I had to take care of the baby and if the

it and then she would beat me.

17. Once I was around nine years old my aunt REDACTED sometimes did not give me any

food for days and when I got to hungry I usually asked the neighbors for food. At my

grandmother’s house, I was never allowed to eat good food. REDACTED would often

feed her children and husband chicken, beef, fruit and vegetables in front of me but I was

sleep in the streets. Some nights I had to ask a neighbor to let me sleep in their house or

find a place to sleep in the street. It was like my aunt REDACTED did not love me. I

don’t know why she didn’t love me.

19. My aunt REDACTED never treated me well either. She used to yell at me for no reason

or when she said that I disobeyed her. REDACTED usually would throw me against the

wall and choke me until I couldn’t breathe any more. She also would beat me if I

work at the farm land with REDACTED. REDACTED later was pregnant too, she left

the house for about a year to live with the father of her child but one day she returned to

21. REDACTED and REDACTED sometimes would fight with each other about who had

more control of the house or about money, but REDACTED seemed to always have

control over REDACTED. REDACTED and REDACTED never beat their own

children. I do not even want to imagine what would happen if someday REDACTED

attempted to beat REDACTED’s children or if REDACTED beat REDACTED’s child, I

am sure they would kill each other.

22. In the neighborhood there was a very nice lady, REDACTED, who helped me the most.

She usually gave me food and allowed me to stay at her house. REDACTED attended

23. I continued going to school but sometimes my aunt REDACTED or REDACTED would

not allowed me to go because I had to work. The teachers sometimes would ask why I

was not at school and I would tell them that I had to work with REDACTED. In El

Salvador, school is not like it is here where I need an excuse if I do not go to school or

they call my mother to ask why I am not there. In PLACE, my teachers did not care

whether I was there. I really liked school and I was very sad when I was not able to go.

because he got married. After this, my aunts REDACTED and REDACTED made me

work more and I noticed they would beat me more often. REDACTED and REDACTED

would hit me sometimes with a belt. Other times, they would throw rocks at me or

anything they could find. Sometimes, REDACTED would hit me so hard that when she

was done hitting me I would feel dizzy and my vision seemed blurred for a while.

25. Sometimes when my aunt REDACTED was very mad at me, she would say that she

wanted to kill me. I really believe that someday she was going to kill me. My

grandmother was always there when my aunts beat me but she could not do anything

because she was also afraid of my aunts and most of the times she only cried. My aunts

26. Sometimes when I got sick, my aunt or grandmother would send me to the clinic by

myself. The doctor would usually prescribed me medicine but I was never able to buy

the medicine because I had no money. My aunt always said that she had no money for

my medicine. Even when I was sick, my aunts would send me to work. When

REDACTED’s children got sick she took them to the doctor and she bought medicine for

them; she had money for her own children’s medicine but never for me.

27. One time when I was on my way to town a snake bit me in the leg. I started feeling dizzy

and I went to the clinic. By the time I got to the clinic my whole body was turning purple

28. I thought about escaping many times but I had no place to go. Everything was really far

away. There are also no police in PLACE. I knew that there was a police station in

trouble with the police. I was also afraid of REDACTED if she found that I went to the

police she would most likely kill me. I did not have anyone that could help me.

29. Sometimes, I asked my neighbors for help, but they would always say that they did not

want to have any problems with my aunts. Everyone in the town was afraid of my aunt

REDACTED. Sometimes she would fight with neighbors in the street. I believe the

whole town was afraid of my aunt REDACTED because when she is mad she beats

people for no reason. Sometimes I saw REDACTED even fighting with older men and

she always seemed more powerful.

30. One day, my grandmother told me about my father and that his name was REDACTED.

She said that my father had returned to town and that he was at a bar in PLACE that day.

recognize me as his son.

Gang Threats

31. Later when I was about thirteen years old the Mara 18 started to bother me. One day on

my way back from school, some Mara guys approached me and told me that I had to join

the gang. They told me that if did not join their gang they were going to kill me and also

kill my family. I told these men that I needed to think about it and asked them to give

more time. That day, they left me alone. I really did not want to join the gang and I only

told them that to gain time and to get rid of them.

one more week to think about it but that it was the last opportunity and next time I had to

join or they would kill me and my family. When they left, I was afraid for my life

because I knew they were going to come back and kill me. I was afraid that something

could happen to my grandmother. In the town it is known that he gangs usually take

revenge if one refuses to join. I never told anyone about this because I did not want my

aunts to become mad at me. I believe that if I told my aunt REDACTED that the gang

was offering me money most likely she would force me to join so that she could take the

money away from me.

their names. I decided to go ask them for help. I had never met them before and I did not

know if they knew about me but I felt that it was my only option.

34. I started walking in the direction of the road that takes you out of the town. PLACE is

about two hours walking. After walking for an hour and half, a truck driver came by and I

asked him for a ride to PLACE. Once I arrived at PLACE, I found my grandparents’

house. I entered their house and I told them that I was REDACTED’s son and that my

mother was REDACTED. I asked them if I could stay with them for a while and they

said yes. The first two days were great. We talked for hours and they fed me good food

35. By the third day, my grandfather took me to work with him on his land. When we came

back from work, my grandmother REDACTED called my mother and told her that I was

living with them. My grandmother only let me talk to my mother for no more than two

minutes; she asked me why I was there. She was worried about me but my grandmother

took the phone away from me. One day when I retuned from work my grandmother told

me that she had called my mother to ask her to send money for my support.

36. The town of PLACE is even smaller than PLACE. There are no roads and some people

use horses to get around. My grandparents’ house was far away from other houses and I

REDACTED was looking for me. My grandmother told me that she told her that I was

not there. My grandmother REDACTED told me that REDACTED was very mad and

that she told her that I needed to return home soon or else I will suffer the consequences.

My grandmother advised me not to return.

38. My grandparents drank alcohol all the time. They usually sent me to buy their alcohol.

They also smoke and grew their own marijuana. On occasions, they would send me to

take care of their plants.

grandfather would take his guns out and shoot. Sometimes he would shoot at my feet for

fun and I had to jump around the shoots so that I would not be shot. I was always afraid

of them when they were drunk.

40. One day my father came to visit my grandparents and he saw me there. He questioned

them about me and why I was there. My grandfather told him that now I was living with

them and that I was going to stay because he needed someone to help him to work the

land. My father did not say anything else. He came to visit other times but every time he

came, he never spoke to me, he just ignored me. He never gave me any money, not even

41. My grandfather forced me to work on his land all day and I had to work even harder than

when I was living in PLACE. I was not allowed to go to school anymore. There, I had to

wake up every day around 4:30am to go work in the land. We usually returned home

around 3 or 4. I then had to go find wood for the kitchen and go find food for the horse.

They also made me water their marijuana plants.

42. One day, when we were working on the farm land my grandfather and I were unable to

pick up all the wheat that we needed that day and he became very mad at me because he

said it was my fault. He started beating me with his whip on my back and then he left on

his horse. I walked back crying to their house. It was very painful. I regretted leaving

never said anything about it and on occasions she also beat me. No one could defend me.

REDACTED and REDACTED never said anything either. I was completely alone.

my mother. I knew that my mother was the only one that loved me and I wanted her

protection.

her that I was tired of suffering and that I wanted to be with her. I did not have much

time to talk and in a hurry I told her about the way my grandfather treated me and she

told me to go back to my grandmother REDACTED’s house. I told her that the situation

was worse there because REDACTED and REDACTED constantly beat me. I told my

mother that I was planning on leaving to the United States to be with her. Two days later,

I escaped to the United States.

47. I left PLACE in late January 2014 and I arrived in the United States on February 1st,

2014. I crossed the United States border through Texas. I was detained by an

immigration official. I was later transferred to a detention center and then to a shelter for

children. I really enjoyed staying at the shelter because I ate three times a day. I also

went to English classes. After some time at the shelter, they told me that it was time for

me to go home with my mother. They sent me to Indianapolis on an airplane and I met

my mother there.

48. The first time I saw my mother I cried because I had only seen her in pictures. She

hugged me and we cried for a while. We then went to her house. She had prepared me

my own room. I met my little brother and sister and my mother’s husband REDACTED.

engineer. I also like going to church with my parents and play the conga drums with the

church’s band.

refused to work for him, I am sure he is going to beat me again.

Maras and some police even works for them.