Hello friends, family, and strangers who stumble upon this freefunder; my name is Lourdes Burgos and I'm writing this with tears in my eyes... I originally wanted to start this GoFundMe to try and raise money for my DACA/citizenship. I've been in this country my ENTIRE life - it's all I've ever known and I love it very much! 

I was adopted as a baby by two US citizen parents, one of which was a US ARMY veteran (I miss you so much, dad!), however things didn't go according to plan... something went wrong with my paperwork.

I was never naturalised due to the method in which my mom and dad obtained/adopted me. My parents did everything they could to try and help my situation, but after thousands upon thousands of dollars spent all we ever hit were dead ends... 

I did my best to live life “normally”, but normal was very hard to achieve in a country where I couldn't legally work, drive, or support my family... I had two children that NEEDED my help, and I always struggled to provide it for them because of the road blocks I've always ran into.

Then, in 2016, my life was totally flipped upside down. I met and married the “love of my life” (or so I thought) when I was 24 years old after just 6 months of courtship. I know, that sounds stupid, right? Well he had me mesmerised with his fake charm and promises of a better life with someone who truly cared about me and my children... He LIED.

After I accepted his proposal (which was more of a coercion than a proposal), the abuse began. First it was mostly mental, and then just before the wedding came the physical abuse - screaming/shouting, getting handsy and threatening me with further violence; he caused a severe injury to my hand/finger just 1 week before our wedding day and just 1 week after he punched me in the face and ripped out my nose ring... he's beat me in my back, held me against walls by my throat, and dragged me around by my hair... in January of 2017, he tried to kill me for the first time. He slammed me down to the ground with such force that it snapped my ACL, tore my MCL, and dislocated my meniscus; afterwards he proceeded to slam the back of my head into the vinyl-covered concrete floor of our apartment... I laid on the floor, begging him through my anguish and tears, for about 1/2 hour before he begrudgingly took me to the hospital. I had to lie to them about the incident otherwise he refused to take me.

“Why didn't you leave?”

I couldn't.

I had nowhere else to go.

He made me feel so worthless and broken, like no one else would ever have me because all I ever was was a burden... After the abuse he would become the sweetest human in the world, and with that manipulative behaviour he kept sucking me back into this vicious cycle of abuse and love.

He's r*ped me, chased me down in his car, held me captive in our own apartment, and isolated me from my friends and family so that he was my only source of love and support. He attempted to smother me with both a pillow and his own bare hands... I tried to leave several times within the 5.5 year-span of our marriage, but he always pulled me back some way or another... 

I finally found the courage to leave, but now I'm filled with fear and uncertainty. With the help of some wonderful friends/family members, I managed to raise enough for my DACA again (at this point I had already paid $1500 to someone else in 2016 who did NOT do my paperwork properly) and it's currently being processed. He did not like this and of course it turned into a knockdown drag out except this time, I stood my ground!!! He's currently facing jail time for an assault he did on me that he never paid for - he was sentenced and avoided his probation/parole, and then continued to hurt me even knowing he would go to jail...

I don't want this man in my life, I am DESPERATE to escape this torturous Hell that is my marriage :(

I'm asking for help to support my children - I cannot afford the rent by myself and I have 3 months left on my current lease. I am NOT going to come crawling back this time out of desperation, I am holding my ground and leaving him for good.

I need this GoFundMe to help get me through these next few months until I can legally work on my own and support my children and myself. I already have jobs lined up for when those papers come through, I just need to wait a little bit longer...

Please, please find it in your hearts to help me achieve a dream that I've been after for sooo long - I just want to be able to live a normal, happy, abuse free life with my two beautiful children! Thank you