17-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras listens to her attorney Christopher Helt speak about her upcoming immigration hearing Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, in Evantson, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

Diana Ruiz, 13, left, looks at something on her phone with her 17-year-old sister Maryori Urbina Contreras at their home Tuesday, January 23, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill.

Maryori Urbina Contreras is pictured as a young child in her home country of Honduras in a photo album kept by her mother, Tania Contreras Guerro, at their home Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 in Waukegan, Ill. Fleeing violence in Honduras, Maryori travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001, having left when her daughter was still a baby. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras.

16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras rests her head on her hand as her mother, Tania Contreras, and sister, 8-year-old Valeria Ruiz, look through a photo album of pictures from Honduras at their home Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

Tania Contreras, center, prays with her daughters Diana Ruiz, left, 11, Maryori Urbina Contreras, right, 15, and Valeria Ruiz, bottom, 6, as they prepare for the journey from their home in Waukegan to an immigration hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. Fleeing violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001. Tania left their home in Honduras when Maryori was just a baby to look for work in the United States. Maryori was raised by her father and eventually her aunt, but said she spoke to her mother on the telephone almost every day. As she grew older, gang violence in Honduras rose to an all-time high and Maryori was never allowed outside alone except for school. When she was 12, she was robbed at gunpoint on her way to classes. Not long after, she witnessed three young men shoot an older man in the head over a cellphone. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras. Tania was worried her daughter might be deported. Quietly, she said, “Don’t take her from me, Lord. You know how much I’ve struggled. I don’t want to lose her, to lose my heart.”

Tania Contreras presses her hand into her face as she sits in the car of Julie Contreras (no relation), a volunteer with the League of United Latin American Citizens of Lake County, in Waukegan, before driving with her to an immigration hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. Fleeing violence in her home country of Honduras, Tania’s 15-year-old daughter Maryori Urbina Contreras travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras. Tania was worried her daughter might be deported.

Tania Contreras, center, hugs her 15-year-old daughter Maryori Urbina Contreras, left, after her immigration hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. Fleeing violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras. At this hearing, the judge postponed a decision until 2018.

15-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras stands outside after her immigration hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015. Fleeing violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras. At this hearing, the judge postponed a decision until 2018.

15-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, right, rests with her younger sisters, Valeria Ruiz, 6, and Diana Ruiz, 11 after her immigration hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 at their home in Waukegan, Ill. Fleeing violence in Honduras, Maryori travelled alone for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001, having left when her daughter was still a baby. Her ongoing immigration case will eventually determine if she is allowed to stay in the U.S. or be forced to return to Honduras. A photo of Maryori as young child with her brother, who still lives in Honduras, hangs on the wall.

15-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras holds a candle lighter and extinguisher as she acts as an acolyte during mass with her family at Lincoln United Methodist Church Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 in Chicago.

17-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, with her cousin, Erika Lamothe, leave school for the day Tuesday, January 23, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill.

A rosary hangs from the rearview mirror of Tania Contreras’ car as she picks up her daughter, 17-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, from school Tuesday, January 23, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill. Fleeing gang violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone, carrying this rosary, for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother, who has been in the United States since 2001. Said Maryori, in Spanish, “I always had it with me, and whenever I was scared, I would get the rosary and put it in my hands and I would say, ‘God give me the strength to get to where my mom is safely.'”

16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, left, prays with her sister Diana Ruiz, 13, at Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary, a Satellite of Lincoln United Methodist Church, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras looks out of the back door of her home Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

Keys dangle from a Honduras keychain before the Our Lady of Suyapa celebration at Our Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary Saturday, February 3, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill. Our Lady of Suyapa is the Patroness of Honduras.

From left, Valeria Ruiz, 8, Maryori Urbina Contreras, 17, Lidia Murillo, Melida Padilla and Erika Lamothe, stand together before the Our Lady of Suyapa celebration at Our Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary Saturday, February 3, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill. Our Lady of Suyapa is the Patroness of Honduras.

The Patroness of Honduras Lady of Suyapa is carried in a procession during the celebration near Our Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary Saturday, February 3, 2018, in Waukegan, Ill.

With her little sister Valeria Ruiz, 8, watching, Maryori Urbina Contreras blows out the candles on her 17th birthday cake at Lady of Suyapa Sanctuary, a Satellite of Lincoln United Methodist Church, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill.

17-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras asks questions about her upcoming immigration hearing with her attorney Christopher Helt at his offices Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, in Evantson, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, left, plays with her little sister Valeria Ruiz, 8, and their dog Papi outside their home Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

Tania Contreras stands outside the apartment building where she lives with her children, 16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, 13-year-old Diana Ruiz and 8-year-old Valeria Ruiz, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

16-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras, who shares a room with her two younger sisters, uses her phone at home Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, in Waukegan, Ill. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. She had risked everything when she left Honduras and traveled alone across more than 1,500 miles, in a desperate attempt to escape the gang violence of her homeland and reunite with her mother, who has been in the country since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until February 2018, when the family will hear if she is granted asylum and allowed to remain with them in the United States.

Tania Contreras, right, lays a hand on her daughter, 17-year-old Maryori Urbina-Contreras, as Julie Contreras, left, an immigration rights activist, and others say a prayer before Maryori’s asylum hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, in Chicago. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. Fleeing gang violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone over 1,500 miles for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother Tania Contreras, who has been in the United States since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until today, when a Chicago Immigration Court judge granted her asylum.

17-year-old Maryori Urbina-Contreras holds a cross as she arrives for her asylum hearing at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, in Chicago. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. Fleeing gang violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone over 1,500 miles for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother Tania Contreras, who has been in the United States since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until today, when a Chicago Immigration Court judge granted her asylum.

17-year-old Maryori Urbina Contreras is wrapped in an American flag as she stands with friends and family after being granted asylum by a judge at Chicago Immigration Court Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, in Chicago. Maryori is one of 68,000 unaccompanied children who flooded across the southwest border of the United States, causing a humanitarian crisis in 2014. Fleeing gang violence in her home country of Honduras, Maryori travelled alone over 1,500 miles for several weeks in 2014 before reuniting with her mother Tania Contreras, who has been in the United States since 2001. In 2015, an immigration court judge postponed a final hearing for Maryori until today, when a Chicago Immigration Court judge granted her asylum.