Texas' law creating a state crime for illegal border crossings has drawn a challenge from the federal government and has also prompted concern from advocates. Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4 into law last month, and the measure is scheduled to take effect in March.
The non-profit Refugee and Immigration Center for Education and Legal Services says the majority of people stopped after crossing the border are deported without legal representation. RAICES said, that over the past 25 years, about four percent of people in immigration court receive some type of relief such as asylum; the group says 22% have legal representation.
"There's a direct correlation between having strong legal representation and having strong, successful outcomes in your case," RAICES' Faisal Al-Juburi said. "In the immigration system, you can access legal counsel, sure, but you're not afforded that as a right."
Al-Juburi said many people seeking asylum are pushed into expedited removal proceedings before they understand how to defend themselves.
"What I've seen with my colleagues is there's difficulty ensuring those we're here serve, that we continue to have access to them," Al-Juburi said. "There have been so many obstacles through these border militarization efforts, these expedited removal processes, our teams have had to fight that much harder just to be able to serve."
He stated that the issue is not partisan, either. Al-Juburi acknowledges not every person seeking asylum will receive it, but he said both federal and state policy currently threaten the ability for a fair hearing.
"That's not to say the current administration hasn't implemented its own very Draconian measures at the border," Al-Juburi said. "What we've seen time and time again is these deterrent practices do not work. What they do is create far more harmful, life-threatening circumstances people then face."
In one case, he says RAICES was representing a family of five. Al-Juburi said a five-year-old girl cut her legs on razor wire. He said her father carried her on his back for several hours.
The family was guided by people RAICES believes were Customs and Border Protection to an area where DPS was set up, and they were taken into custody. He says the family was planning to seek asylum.
"He was arrested for criminal trespassing. You have an injured daughter. You have family separation, nearly two months they were separated," Al-Juburi said. "It was really only through legal advocacy we could ensure he got his credible fear interview. He successfully passed his credible fear interview which means he can continue to proceed with his asylum case. He was able to be released from custody and reunited with his family, but that took about two months. And there are other stories out there that aren't as positive."
Al-Juburi said cases like that are creating "undue harm and punishment, inflicting pain upon human life." He hopes those stories can lead to more people asking what the immigration system should look like.
"If we center our focus on how to find solutions, I think we would be much further ahead as a nation," Al-Juburi said. "What we see right now in Texas is frightening because [SB 4] is ripe for abuses of power and racial profiling. What does it mean when you say you can arrest anyone who looks like an immigrant?"
RAICES' mission is to make sure people know their options. Al-Juburi stated that even in cases that lead to deportation, giving people information can lead to a resolution that includes integrity.
In one case, he says a man from Nicaragua spent 14 months in custody "without any understanding or notion of potentially being released." Al-Juburi said up to 35% of people born in Nicaragua do not have a birth certificate, so the country's government would not accept him as a deportation.
"We were finally able to get him released," Al-Juburi said. "It was continued, sustained advocacy. If you don't have that attorney calling every day, investigating every single option available, then you have an individual like this where the solution within our immigration system was essentially just to keep him in prison indefinitely."
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Tell your Smart Speaker to "PLAY 1080 KRLD"
Sign Up to receive our KRLD Insider Newsletter for more news
Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube