Care

Joining the Immigration Justice Campaign means becoming a member of a community of pro bono attorneys who, regardless of their daily practices, have come together to support the common cause of ensuring immigrants in this country—and their claims—are treated with the dignity they deserve, and which this country owes them.

Pierre* is now free and, most importantly, able to live without fear of a brutally violent government. Knowing that I had a part to play in that freedom, and that I had the support necessary to successfully fight this case and give Pierre a fair day in court is something I will carry with me all my days. *Indicates use of pseudonym

With deep and heartfelt admiration for everything they’d gone through to get to Dilley, I told these brave women that right after leaving the facility, their second most important task was to find a lawyer and start their asylum petition process, but that their first and most important task was to kiss their children and hug their relatives and friends who were eagerly waiting for them on this side of the river.

L.S.’s struggle isn’t over. Although he has been released and now resides with his family, his asylum application is still pending, and there’s still more work to be done. But I will never forget how L.S. looked as a translator explained to him that he would leave, or how he looked when I met him at the bus station the next day. He was happy, he was thankful, but above all else – he was free.

Asylum success rates aren’t great anywhere. In Atlanta, they are abysmal, somewhere around a 2% approval rate. Sometimes it’s emotionally paralyzing to realize that a life - a wonderful, clever, optimistic, teenager’s life- depends on this work and that the odds are stacked against us. I’ve cried. But the alternative to me showing up is that a teenager fights for his life alone, in a language he barely speaks, in a legal system he doesn’t understand.