Aggie DREAMer stuck in Mexico is returning home to Texas on Thursday

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - KBTX has learned A DREAMer and Aggie who has been a member of the Bryan-College Station community for nearly two decades is returning to Texas after being denied re-entry into the United States after running into problems renewing her visa in Juarez.

This was our story from April 12 after we spoke to Karumi Duran and her husband, Roberto.

Wednesday night we received the following announcement from attorneys and the family:

“After months of uncertainty, Dreamer Karumi Duran is finally able to return home to Texas and hug her family. The government granted her a humanitarian parole. Her case garnered national media attention because she is a Dreamer who after many years of residing in the US was not allowed to come back to the United States after her interview for legal permanent residence at the Ciudad Juárez consulate, separating her from her 7-month-old baby and her husband.

Karumi, arrived in the United States at the age of 7. She was raised and educated in Texas. A graduate of Texas A & M University, she worked as a teacher in Tyler, Texas. She recognizes the United States as her only home and is grateful that she can come back to her family.

This case is a good example of why DACA recipients should ensure that their cases are individually analyzed before departing the United States. One benefit of having DACA is requesting Advance Parole. A large number of DACA recipients have requested and received Advance Parole. Once they have been granted advance parole, they are allowed to re-enter the United States, but Karumi was not aware of this option.

“I thank God for the opportunity he has given me. I am very happy to be reunited with my family again. I want to thank all the people that supported me and worked on my immigration case. It wasn’t easy but I know how much you all wanted me to be with my family. I am very excited to be in Houston again and see my family, I missed them so much”! said Karumi Duran. Karumi has been a DACA recipient since 2013. in 2017, she applied to obtain her legal residency through her husband Roberto Reyes, who is an American Citizen.

Her petition was denied last March at the American Consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico because she entered the U.S. with her parents when she was 6 years old without documents. She was given a ten-year ban before she could re-enter the United States. Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and Congressman Pete Sessions from Texas were key in joining the community efforts to ask the Department of Homeland Security to allow Karumi to return to the US, where the petition was finally granted.

“We are very grateful with DHS’s grant of humanitarian parole for Karumi to come back to her family.” Lawyer Jessica Dominguez said. “She is a DACA recipient and needed to come to the only country she calls home”