For migrants, the Republican’s victory is a tsunami with almost immediate effect: lawyer

New York and Washington. Donald Trump’s election is a tsunami for immigrantsdeclared the lawyer specialized in this issue José Pertierra when commenting on the almost immediate impact of the victory of the most anti-immigrant candidate in modern times.

He says that on the same Wednesday that Trump’s victory was proclaimed, clients called or arrived at his office in Washington alarmed and anxious to ask him, some with tears, what would happen to them once Trump arrives at the White House.

The immigration lawyer, with more than 40 years of experience and also an analyst of relations between the United States and Latin America and the Caribbean, said in an interview with The Day that the undocumented “know very well what this implies, taking away different protections that they have [para evitar la deportación en espera de la legalización permanente]of making it very difficult to litigate asylum cases and that Trump has promised to deport everyone… who does not have papers.”

Given this, those who only have temporary protections such as the Temporary Protection Program (TPS) or the so-called DACA for those who arrived as minors in a certain period, or who have pending cases of legalization or asylum “are horrified and want to know what it can be done. They ask me if those protections can be taken away and I have to tell them: ‘well, a president who will have control of the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, along with many federal judges in the United States, because they are his judges, “That president can remove TPS or DACA with a stroke of a pen.” These programs exist by executive order and can therefore be repealed by another executive order.

Yesterday, upon arriving at a car wash, about 20 Salvadorans came out after one recognized him – Pertierra is very popular among immigrants in Washington, DC and also has a weekly program on Univision where he answers questions about immigration legal issues – to ask him what expected, what remedies there were, what will happen to their families.

In the office, an undocumented father asked him what he could do since he has a three-year-old daughter who was born in the United States, but now he is scared that Trump is going to deport him and does not want to be separated from her. These are the type of incessant and worry-filled questions he receives, and for Pertierra the worst thing is not being able to say anything to reassure them, since everyone is under threat as the few existing protections are lifted.

That fear is part of Trump’s strategy, he points out. There is already a climate of terror among immigrants, who know what awaits themunderline and repeat, It’s a tsunami for them.. He explains that Trump seeks to nourish that fear with a purpose: The thing is that he promises mass deportations, but that is going to be a little difficult with the system he has. But what he can do, if he takes away people’s TPS, DACA, work permits, if he launches raids, he is thinking that people will leave on their own. That’s the play.

Immigrants know that’s what Trump wants. “So, you ask me, for example: ‘If I run out of TPS, is there any hope for the future?’ I can only answer: ‘I don’t know’.

The problem, not only for me, but for all immigration lawyers, is that they take away our tools to be able to defend our clients. If we do not have the possibility of requesting asylum, if we do not have the TPS that protects the client while we resolve it in another way, then with what can we stop a deportation?Pertierra explained.

Additionally, it will be more difficult to proceed with immigration cases in court. Remember that Trump appointed a stack of federal judges across the United States, not just the Supreme Court, and are among those who review immigration cases after there is a ruling by the judges specialized in that matter. By stating that immigration judges, not federal ones, They are judges, I would liesince they are truly employees of the Department of Justice and work for the head of that department, who is the attorney general of the nation. Therefore, if these immigration judges do not apply the executive’s policy, their rulings can be overturned and they can be fired. Therefore, to appeal his decisions regarding immigration cases, one has to go to federal courts, but many of their heads were appointed by Trump.

I feel like those Christians that the Romans sent to fight against the lions, but nakedhe concludes.

Risk for Prince Harry

And just to illustrate how worrying all of this is, even a member of a royal family could have immigration problems in the United States. There is speculation that Britain’s Prince Harry could face problems under a Trump administration for having lied in his application for a visa to reside in the United States by not disclosing that he had used drugs (something he revealed in his autobiography), reported the Times from London. The newspaper recalls that the magnate had previously mentioned that he would consider deporting Harry, who lives in California with his wife and two children, if he lied in his application. I wouldn’t protect him, he betrayed the queenhe said in February. That’s unforgivable. Experts say that although Trump has the power to deport princes, he could leave him alone if King Charles intervenes.

Pertierra points out: if even an immigrant English prince is at risk under the Trump government, imagine what a Latin American worker faces.

For now there are 863,880 foreigners from 16 countries temporarily protected under TPS. Some 530,000 young people are supported by DACA, although there are 3.6 million in total so-called dreamers who qualify for protection under that program, according to figures calculated by the Immigration Forum.

Meanwhile, immigrant advocacy organizations around the country urged foreigners to seek legal counsel for their cases and promised to do everything possible to protect those communities from the offensive against them that is expected to begin when Trump takes office. White House, starting January 20.