Our team member Alexa Rodriguez, a WWH healthcare navigator who was born in El Salvador, sat down with POZ Magazine to discuss how she helps other foreign-born friends, colleagues, and patients navigate the immigration and healthcare systems.
EXCERPTS:
Whenever Alexa Rodriguez sees a gap in the system, she fills it. When her transgender friends and colleagues encountered bureaucratic barriers while trying to update their names and gender markers on their official IDs, Rodriguez became a notary to expedite the process for others. After watching dozens of foreign-born friends and colleagues navigate the immigration system, Rodriguez got certified as a paralegal.
“I saw a gap when this administration started again,” Rodriguez says. “Immigrants were afraid for not having U.S. citizenship. They have a green card, but they were still afraid. So, I was like, How do I support my people? And so, I paid for a course to become a paralegal to fill out forms for USCIS [U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services].”
All the while, the Maryland-based Rodriguez, who was born in El Salvador, remains devoted to helping others living with HIV in and around Baltimore and Washington, DC. “My dream is to become an immigration lawyer,” she tells POZ.
In the meantime, Rodriguez works as a healthcare navigator at the Whitman Walker Health Center, a venerable AIDS service organization that provides primary healthcare for the LGBTQ community in the greater DC area.
Rodriguez also serves on the board of the national TransLatin@ Coalition, a grassroots, trans-led organization that empowers trans people. As a trans Latina who has been living with HIV for 16 years, she is uniquely suited to address the needs of her foreign-born clients who are HIV positive.
Read full article in POZ: https://www.poz.com/article/bridging-gaps
