SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (Border Report) — It took Nabeel Younis just three semesters to graduate from Cuesta Community College on California’s Central Coast.
Younis, originally from Pakistan, received her diploma on Friday, about a year after a judge granted her asylum and several years after she began her journey to the United States.
Younis, a Catholic, and his friends say they fled Pakistan after being assaulted and persecuted by Islamic extremists.
They eventually arrived in Panama for a youth conference attended by Pope Francis.
In 2021, Younis and friends left Panama and headed to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Their journey took them on foot through northern Panama, Central America, and Mexico, where they were robbed, assaulted, and imprisoned.
After staying at a migrant shelter in Tijuana, they left for Mexicali, about 190 miles east, where they entered the U.S.
The group was apprehended by Border Patrol agents, and Yunis was eventually taken to the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. He will be separated from his friends.
But last May, after several court appearances and wearing an ankle monitor, a judge granted him asylum.
During the asylum process, Eunice lived with her sponsor, Fitzgerald Kelly, in San Luis Obispo, where she began taking college courses.
“Ever since I came to the United States, it has always been my dream to study in the United States,” Younis said. “When I moved here, I remember the first thing I asked was how I was going to go to college.”
Eunice enrolled at Cuesta Community College, which takes four semesters to graduate, whereas most students take three semesters to graduate.
“San Luis Obispo has become a second home to me, and it’s all because of Fitzgerald Kelly,” Younis said.
Kelly gave him a place and stability, but he stepped away from that role when a judge granted Younis asylum a year ago.
“His biggest advantage was that his English was very good, which gave him a huge head start over other immigrants,” Kelly said.
With asylum granted and a work permit in place, Younis was able to get two jobs instead of one, including a night shift at a hardware store.
“I was riding my bike everywhere. I was working two jobs and going to school. I was very tired,” Younis said.
Eventually, Eunice saved enough money to buy a car and become more independent.
But the first thing he bought with his savings was a pair of expensive tennis shoes he had always wanted.
“The first money he got, as soon as he had enough money, he bought Air Jordans,” Kelly said.
Although I didn’t wear them at the graduation ceremony, I was definitely walking on air.
“It feels like a dream. I still remember the day we were trying to enter the U.S. and all the hardships we went through, being beaten by the cartels and being held in Mexico as well as the U.S.,” Younis said. “I just wanted to find a sanctuary where I could practice my religion and live a very peaceful life, let alone go to college and graduate.”
He says that whenever he tells people his story, they always have the same idea in mind.
“They always ask me why I haven’t written a book yet. When I tell them what happened to me, they say they can’t believe it at all.”
The next chapter of Eunice’s life will be written at California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo, California, about a two-hour drive south of San Luis Obispo.
“I decided to attend there to continue my studies.”
