Bracing for Impact: The Traumatic Stress Facing Immigration Attorneys in Times of Mass Deportations

Secondary Traumatic Stress encompasses the behavioral and emotional responses to continued, indirect exposure to traumatic events.
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Along with a promised tidal wave of mass deportations, the legal community must brace for the impact of secondary traumatic stress on the immigration and asylum lawyers working on the front lines.

Secondary traumatic stress (STS), also known as vicarious trauma, encompasses the behavioral and emotional responses to continued, indirect exposure to traumatic events. Those who assist people directly experiencing the trauma are at greater risk of secondary traumatic stress. For immigration and asylum lawyers, there is added responsibility and pressure to rescue and protect victims while bearing witness to their trauma.

First responders, mental health professionals and medical professionals are often the first we think of when we think of professionals who experience STS. While we are finally acknowledging the mental health toll and exhaustion faced by lawyers as a whole, there has yet to be any significant research on STS and burnout in immigration attorneys. Anecdotal evidence of it, however, is readily available.

“It’s like hacking away at a cement wall with a plastic spoon. There are no words to describe how awful it is to tell a client they have to go back to the place where they are in so much danger, that the law doesn’t protect them[—]especially after we grow so close to our clients.” — An unnamed asylum attorney (Harris & Mellinger, 2022)

The Unique Stressors of Immigration Law During Mass Deportation

Many asylum and immigration attorneys still live with the impact of the travel bans and deportations during Donald Trump’s first presidency, beginning in 2017. Eight years later, President-elect Trump has stated that his administration will begin deporting immigrants — both documented and undocumented — in the first 100 days in office. Once again, asylum and immigration attorneys could face untold chronic stress, witness devastating trauma, and deal with threats to their own physical safety.

“By the time I left the border, I was extremely burned out. And I left just because of how difficult and painful the work was.” … “It was horrific, from hearing all the stories and the secondary trauma, but also just the fear that I had myself of being killed, all the time, for doing my work.” — Taylor Levy, immigration attorney (Poggio M., 2022)

The practice of law is inherently stressful, but asylum and immigration lawyers experience unique stressors. The most notable is the emotional exposure to their clients’ traumatic experiences. Lawyers are often told in detail graphic accounts of rape, murder, torture, kidnapping and any number of inhumane acts. They witness family separations firsthand. They must try to soothe and reassure their clients during prolonged uncertainty, knowing that losing their case may mean the family returns to face violence in their home country.

Immigration lawyers’ cases can mean life or death, which intensifies the pressure and sense of responsibility. Being the one to “stand in the gap” for clients who are underresourced in almost every way increases the expectation of always being on and available. All of this is amplified during mass deportation.

Mass deportations significantly heighten the risk of vicarious trauma for immigration attorneys because of the volume of cases and the intense emotional weight each one carries. Lawyers could face an overwhelming influx of clients, many of whom are in desperate situations, fearing separation from their families or return to unsafe conditions in their home countries. The heightened distress of clients can profoundly affect attorneys, as they empathize with their pain while striving to provide legal counsel under immense time pressure.

Self-care (we are talking about eating regular meals and sleeping, not candles and bubble baths) begins to feel like selfish luxuries and not minimal survival needs. Underpinning these enormous strains, the systemic challenges that lawyers face make the work unrelenting. Limited resources, complex legal hurdles, and rapidly changing policies make it difficult to support clients effectively.

“[There is] a generation of public service workers with serious [post-traumatic stress disorder] from the absolute chaos and horror of the changes in the immigration system. It feels like we are all drowning and there is no one to save us.” (Harris & Mellinger, 2022).

Identifying Vicarious Trauma in Attorneys

There are markers that immigration and asylum lawyers should be aware of.

1. Inability to disengage from work. Intrusive thoughts, ruminations, and conversations about clients and cases are omnipresent in their lives.
2. Porous boundaries. Low or no boundaries between lawyer and client can negatively affect the outcome of the case and the mental well-being of all parties. This can range from overpromising results, offering services or resources beyond professional capacity (a place to live, paying bills, etc.), to extremes like intimate relationships, or breaking ethical standards or laws.
3. Feeling emotionally numb or detached. Under extreme conditions, the brain will work to protect itself by shutting off receptors of emotional pain and suffering. Unfortunately, it also shuts off receptors to joy and contentment.
4. Increased anxiety, irritability and even hostility. This often comes with difficulty in both work and personal relationships.
5. Problems with sleep. Difficulty falling or staying asleep, nightmares that feature client trauma, and night terrors are all common with vicarious trauma.
6. Inability to concentrate or complete a task. When brains are in crisis mode, the prefrontal cortex (the thinking part of the brain) goes offline. Thinking is more difficult.

Because people who are experiencing vicarious trauma are often the least able to identify the signs in themselves, lawyers need to have someone watch for these signs and help hold them accountable for their self-care.

Coping Strategies for Immigration and Asylum Lawyers

Helpers need help, and the best time to get that help is proactively. We don’t jump from a plane and then check to make sure the parachute is buckled correctly.

While there is no way to avoid exposure to vicarious trauma, there are myriad ways to combat the worst of it.

• Seek support groups and legal networks to debrief with fellow attorneys.
• Get mental health support from a licensed therapist who can help mitigate the impact of traumatic experiences.
• Be adamant about getting proper sleep and nutrition now. Remember that one of the most effective forms of torture is to disallow sleep. Do not torture yourself.
• Take walks or engage in some form of movement and exercise. It aids in the release of stress hormones from the body.

The immigration and looming deportation crisis demands that we pay attention to the well-being of those on the front lines. Emphasis on the need for greater awareness of vicarious trauma among immigration lawyers, especially during times of heightened political stress and policy shifts, is critical. There needs to be systemic support within the legal profession. Legal organizations should acknowledge the impact of vicarious trauma and implement resources to help attorneys cope.

Resilience to vicarious trauma doesn’t happen by accident or natural inclination. It requires us to be purposeful and intentional in our efforts to sustain a vital service to those most in need.

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To learn more about how to support immigration and asylum attorneys and their staff at your firm, you can contact Renee Branson at rb@reneebranson.com.

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