As Trump and his administration continue harassing immigration attorneys, they express a willingness to sue

A group of immigration attorneys gathered Thursday morning at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles’ (CHIRLA) headquarters to call out President Donald Trump’s attack on their work.

In a memo issued on March 22, Trump accused immigration attorneys and law firms of “unscrupulous behavior” by coaching clients to lie about their past or circumstances in asylum cases to obtain “underserved relief.” 

Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to seek sanctions against attorneys they consider to be engaging “in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States.”

Los Angeles-based immigration attorneys  said Trump is trying to intimidate them to stop them defending clients. They believe Trump is working on creating a new America, where U.S. citizens and legal residents should look a certain way. Recent reports have shown how he has already deported people who have some sort of legal status in the country. 

Immigration attorney Meredith Brown said this is the first time in her 25-year career that she has seen attacks against pro-immigrant organizations such as CHIRLA, as well as individual  immigration attorneys. She said it is crucial to underline the government's three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.

 “They are coequal, and right now we're hearing so much from the executive branch and Congress, unfortunately, is in a tie, and they're very silent and not really taking leadership in immigration or other issues,” said Brown. “Thank God that we have a strong judiciary, and thank God that we have fighter immigration lawyers that will not be intimidated, that see this as a challenge to double our efforts, not only in representation, but in pro bono work, not at the behest of an administration, but at the behest of the most vulnerable people.” 

Willing to sue

Patricia Corrales, a former attorney for DHS, said during her almost 18 years in the agency, her work was fair and just, never overstepping, never violating the law and never denying an individual their due process. 

“So now that I'm here on the private side, I want to tell the president of the United States and the administration: violate the law, intimidate me or intimidate my clients, deny my clients due process and we will sue you in federal court,” she said. 

Corrales explained that individuals in the United States have the right to due process and they have the right to see a judge. 

“We are not a country where we are taken off the streets, handcuffed and sent to places unknown to our family members. That is not what this country is all about,” she said. “And if the president or his administration attempts to do that, please understand that many of us are not afraid. We will file lawsuits against the administration for violating our clients’ rights.” 

The attorneys and organizations agree this is not a partisan issue and has nothing to do with the Democratic or Republican Party. It has to do with the U.S. Constitution.

“That's just not a piece of paper. iI's a living document [and] we are willing to go out in public to denounce what's going on with this administration that ignores many aspects of the Constitution,” said Brown.

Continue seeking immigration help

Angelica Salas, CHIRLA’s executive director, said memos such as the one recently issued to DHS and the Attorney General are nothing but intimidation.

“This administration is threatening those who stand in the way of a multibillion deportation machine that he and Congress seek to fund,” she said.

CHIRLA’s director of their Legal Services Department, Karla Aguayo said her message was specifically to the immigrant community, to let them know their doors remain open and they’ll continue serving and representing them in court.

“As attorneys, we have a duty to our clients, the courts, the profession in general, to carry out our jobs in a manner that does not call into question our honesty, trustworthiness and fitness as a lawyer,” she said. 

Aguayo said CHIRLA’s attorneys are committed to continuing to submit applications for affirmative relief and educating communities about their rights, as they have been doing for 39 years.

“We will not be intimidated or forced to retreat and leave an already vulnerable population without access to direct legal services,” she said.