In recent months, a wave of anxiety has rippled through immigrant communities across the United States. The fear is not just of deportation \u2014 but of being watched, of being targeted, and of being forgotten by a system that once promised due process.<\/p>\n
As an immigration attorney in Brooklyn, the calls and consultations in my office have taken on a distinctly emotional tone in recent months.\u00a0I represent asylum seekers, professionals, and families from around the world, I hear the same trembling question again and again: \u201cWill they come for us next?\u201d<\/p>\n
Many of those concerned are not recent arrivals\u00a0\u2014 they are longtime residents, working and raising children, who have suddenly been made to feel unsafe again.<\/p>\n
In a calculated effort to drive up self-deportation, the government has begun issuing generic \u201cNotices of Termination of Parole\u201d giving migrants just seven days to leave. Lacking names or identifying details, the notices warn of enforcement and legal consequences. Separately, the government has launched the CBP Home app, a new tool that allows individuals to self-report their departure. This reflects a troubling shift from due process to a fear-based removal system, pressuring people to leave without ever seeing a judge.<\/p>\n
In New York, Natalia Travilina, the founder of TranaRelief, which provides aid to recently arrived immigrant families, particularly those from Ukraine, said the fear among her clients is rising \u2014 especially as the temporary protections many of them rely on begin to expire \u2014 or carry the constant fear of being revoked at any moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese families have been through war, trauma, and displacement,\u201d Travilina said. \u201cNow they\u2019re terrified again \u2014 not because they\u2019ve done anything wrong, but because they\u2019re unsure what will happen when their parole ends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Travilina warns that the expiration of parole status will not make people disappear \u2014 it will simply create more undocumented immigrants, many of whom had arrived legally and with permission to work and rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be working toward stability and integration, not pushing people into the shadows,\u201d Travilina adds.<\/p>\n
Yet even as fear rises, so does resistance. Across the country, lawyers and civil rights organizations are pushing back. In April, I joined dozens of immigration attorneys in Washington, D.C. for a National Day of Action, meeting with lawmakers to advocate for policies rooted in legal standards and human dignity \u2014 not political theatrics.<\/p>\n
We offered real solutions. As immigration attorneys, we bring on-the-ground experience that lawmakers need. We see firsthand how policies affect real people. We work within the system every day, and we know what needs to change to make it more just and effective.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s unfolding now is not just a legal issue \u2014 it\u2019s a test of the country\u2019s commitment to fairness, decency and the rule of law. Behind every notice and headline are families trying to build a future, children going to school, and workers contributing to their communities.<\/p>\n
Fear may be the tool, but it does not have to be the outcome.<\/p>\n
Immigrants and their advocates across the country \u2014 are refusing to be silent. They are standing up, showing up, and insisting that dignity must remain at the heart of American immigration policy.<\/p>\n
The post Fear Is Not Immigration Policy<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n In recent months, a wave of anxiety has rippled through immigrant communities across the United States. The fear is not just of deportation \u2014 but of being watched, of being targeted, and of being forgotten by a system that once promised due process.<\/p>\n As an immigration attorney in Brooklyn, the calls and consultations in my office have taken on a distinctly emotional tone in recent months.\u00a0I represent asylum seekers, professionals, and families from around the world, I hear the same trembling question again and again: \u201cWill they come for us next?\u201d<\/p>\n Many of those concerned are not recent arrivals\u00a0\u2014 they are longtime residents, working and raising children, who have suddenly been made to feel unsafe again.<\/p>\n In a calculated effort to drive up self-deportation, the government has begun issuing generic \u201cNotices of Termination of Parole\u201d giving migrants just seven days to leave. Lacking names or identifying details, the notices warn of enforcement and legal consequences. Separately, the government has launched the CBP Home app, a new tool that allows individuals to self-report their departure. This reflects a troubling shift from due process to a fear-based removal system, pressuring people to leave without ever seeing a judge.<\/p>\n In New York, Natalia Travilina, the founder of TranaRelief, which provides aid to recently arrived immigrant families, particularly those from Ukraine, said the fear among her clients is rising \u2014 especially as the temporary protections many of them rely on begin to expire \u2014 or carry the constant fear of being revoked at any moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThese families have been through war, trauma, and displacement,\u201d Travilina said. \u201cNow they\u2019re terrified again \u2014 not because they\u2019ve done anything wrong, but because they\u2019re unsure what will happen when their parole ends.\u201d<\/p>\n Travilina warns that the expiration of parole status will not make people disappear \u2014 it will simply create more undocumented immigrants, many of whom had arrived legally and with permission to work and rebuild their lives.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should be working toward stability and integration, not pushing people into the shadows,\u201d Travilina adds.<\/p>\n Yet even as fear rises, so does resistance. Across the country, lawyers and civil rights organizations are pushing back. In April, I joined dozens of immigration attorneys in Washington, D.C. for a National Day of Action, meeting with lawmakers to advocate for policies rooted in legal standards and human dignity \u2014 not political theatrics.<\/p>\n We offered real solutions. As immigration attorneys, we bring on-the-ground experience that lawmakers need. We see firsthand how policies affect real people. We work within the system every day, and we know what needs to change to make it more just and effective.<\/p>\n What\u2019s unfolding now is not just a legal issue \u2014 it\u2019s a test of the country\u2019s commitment to fairness, decency and the rule of law. Behind every notice and headline are families trying to build a future, children going to school, and workers contributing to their communities.<\/p>\n Fear may be the tool, but it does not have to be the outcome.<\/p>\n Immigrants and their advocates across the country \u2014 are refusing to be silent. They are standing up, showing up, and insisting that dignity must remain at the heart of American immigration policy.<\/p>\n The post Fear Is Not Immigration Policy<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In recent months, a wave of anxiety has rippled through immigrant communities across the United States. The fear is not just of deportation \u2014 but of being watched, of being targeted, and of being forgotten by a system that once promised due process. As an immigration attorney in Brooklyn, the calls and consultations in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123022\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}