Local immigration attorney Naiara Leite da Silva said it’s never been like this before. That this month, for the first time in her 19 years of legal practice, she watched ICE detain a man as she defended him at immigration court.
Despite his pending asylum claim – a legal avenue protecting persecuted refugees – and despite his compliance with immigration authorities, he was detained. Leite da Silva said that the officer admitted her client hadn’t violated any laws and that the officer wasn’t aware of any particular reason for the detention.
“My team has been prepared to witness this,” she said, “but no amount of preparation can really meet the devastation that it is.”
As the on-staff attorney at Casa Marianella, a local shelter for displaced immigrants, Leite da Silva works on a daily basis with people who have pending asylum claims and others seeking protective status. But as the Trump administration continues to subvert the legal mechanisms once relied on to provide due process and humane treatment to immigrants, her hope in the system has dwindled.
“My expertise is in law, and laws are not being observed anymore,” Leite da Silva said. “So what really can I do?”
Leite da Silva is not alone in her concern. Even before the administration formally took office, organizations like Casa Marianella began preparing for change. With the president’s campaign promise to lead the largest deportation effort in the United States’ history, the next four years did not bode well for those working to protect immigrants in our communities.
Now, after six months of the Trump administration attempting to make good on this promise, the consequences of rapid deportation for immigrant legal defense groups have come to the fore. With the need for legal support increasing, the resources available decreasing, and the guarantees of due process gutted, groups like Casa Marianella have been forced to adapt to a new normal.
The New Normal
Edna Yang, co-executive director at American Gateways, an immigrant advocacy organization, said that since January, immigration lawyers and advocates have witnessed the widening of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security’s discretion, part of what has become the new normal under Trump. She said that this expanded discretion from federal law enforcement means more people need to worry about deportation, and old norms don’t apply.
Before the current administration, the DHS primarily targeted recent arrivals, individuals with criminal records, and those who may pose a threat or danger to the community in some way. Now, Yang said, “We’ve seen a lot of that pushed to the side.”
Instead, longtime members of the community and even those who have entered the country lawfully face a threat from ICE and the DHS. Now, those once protected under claims of asylum, pending or granted, face deportation like that of attorney Leite da Silva’s detained defendant. Now, cases once thought closed are reopening.
“My team has been prepared to witness this, but no amount of preparation can really meet the devastation that it is.” – immigration attorney Naiara Leite da Silva
In the wake of these changes and as enforcement actions have ramped up across the country, the need-level for immigration legal expertise has skyrocketed. Elissa Steglich, clinical professor at UT-Austin’s law school and co-director of the Immigration Clinic there, said that as soon as the election ended, from the beginning of the spring semester through early March, their clinic received an influx of calls and questions from both former clients and community members.
“There was definitely a lot of concern, anxiety, and uncertainty as the new administration started,” Steglich said. “[Immigrants] absolutely and now more than ever need quality advice and orientation.”
Support Bottoms Out
While the need-level has increased, the resources have not. The Trump administration has slashed federal contracts supporting groups like American Gateways that provide education and resources to those navigating the immigration process.
Yang said American Gateways lost 30% of its entire operating budget due to federal contract cuts, forcing the organization to make difficult decisions regarding layoffs and programs. Now, with a much smaller staff, the organization struggles to help 20% of those requesting help, compared to the 25-30% it met before.
Yang said the administration has focused on cutting government contracts that provide education for detained people, including Gateways’ Legal Orientation Program and Immigration Court Help Desk.
“Both of those programs were cut,” Yang said. “It is really a signal of what this administration believes about our justice system, that access to the courts, access to information and education, and due process are not important.”
Eroding Due Process
Like Yang, many area immigrant advocates have raised alarm over the weakening of due-process rights, the legal guarantees protecting immigrants from deportation without fair trial. Priscilla Olivarez, senior policy attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said that nearly 80% of individuals in Texas will not have representation at immigration proceedings when in detention. With funding cuts targeted at legal support, even more people, including children and those deemed incompetent, must enter legal proceedings without the resources or understanding of their due process rights needed for a fair trial.
“It shocks the conscience when you see not only adults but children having to defend themselves in immigration court,” Olivarez said. “See it for yourself. See the lack of due process. See the individual’s rights being violated.”
Even with legal support, the changing norms have made due process rights harder to protect. Steglich explained that compared to previous administrations, changes in immigration policy under Trump happen on the ground with little notice. “That again makes it much more chaotic, much harder to follow, even as an attorney,” Steglich said.
Detaining people at immigration court has further complicated the issue of due process. While immigrant legal defense groups typically encourage clients to attend their court dates and comply with immigration authorities, this heightened risk of detention deters immigrants from relying on the courts and from demanding a fair trial.
Recently a witness to what she calls a baseless detention of her own client, Leite da Silva said immigrants are scared to engage with the system. “Now we can’t reassure people anymore,” she said. “It’s devastating.”
While these Trump-era changes to funding, DHS discretion, need-level, resources, and due process have altered the immigration law landscape, immigrant legal defense groups persist in their missions.
“It’s pretty clear and blatant that this administration is trying to criminalize providing a humane response to immigrants in our communities,” Olivarez said. But these organizations are not willing to give up the fight to protect immigrants anytime soon.
“In many ways, we’ve been here before, and we’ve responded. We’ve come together to support communities and demand that our rights be respected,” Olivarez said, “and we’re going to continue doing that.”
This article appears in June 27 • 2025.