### Immigrant Survivors of Parkland Shooting Still Waiting for Promised Visas

Bruna Oliveira was just 14 when she faced a life-threatening ordeal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day 2018. As gunshots echoed through the hallways, her geography teacher was shot and killed while trying to protect her and her classmates. Fearing for her life, Bruna huddled near her teacher's body, expecting the worst.

The tragedy, which stands as the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, shifted the course of life for many students, including Bruna and 74 other survivors who later applied for U visas—a special category for immigrant crime victims who assist law enforcement. This visa program offers a pathway to remain in the United States, a promise of safety and stability.

At the time of the shooting, Bruna’s family had no plans of making the United States their permanent home. They were in the country temporarily while her mother, Alessandra Oliveira, pursued an English immersion program on a student visa. The traumatic event, however, altered their intentions. Urged by horrified relatives to return to Brazil, Bruna and other immigrant students, bound together by their shared trauma, decided to stay and stand their ground.

Now a pre-med college senior, Bruna hopes to become an emergency medicine doctor—a career choice influenced profoundly by her tragic experience. She speaks of a bond formed not just with her fellow survivors but also with the United States itself. “It was a massive event that took a real toll on us, but it also, like, truly bonded us forever—to each other and to this country,” she reflected.

However, the well-meaning U visa program they were advised to apply for has proven to be highly dysfunctional. Mired in bureaucratic delays, the program lags even behind the much-criticized asylum system. The wait for these promised visas has left Bruna and her fellow survivors in a prolonged state of legal uncertainty, despite having met the criteria of aiding law enforcement in the aftermath of the shooting.