When she was nine years old, Xiomara Torres fled the civil war in her home country of El Salvador and came to the U.S. As a child she adjusted to her new life in East Los Angeles before she was removed from her family and put into foster care.
Today, Torres is a family law judge in Multnomah County in Oregon. In early 2019, a local Portland theatre company, Milagro, produced a play about her life called “Judge Torres,” which is currently touring schools and colleges nationwide.
In this edition of “How I Made It,” Judge Torres shares how she overcame the hurdles of the foster system and made her way to the Oregon Circuit Court.
(Featured image courtesy of: Office of Governor Kate Brown)
I wish I had seen this last year when it was published, but it’s such a great story that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to compliment Judge Torres. During a particularly trying time about two or three years ago, my son was dealing with a custody battle for his little boy in Portland, OR. Of course both parents need equal consideration, but the demands of the mother were definitely not for the benefit of the child. The father was motivated by providing the safety and security of the child. Judge Torres was fair and considerate, but she ultimately could see through the hype and the decision she made was fair and non-biased and provided for a safer environment for this little boy that my son was trying to protect.