Indianapolis attorney reflects on border work with asylum seekers
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An immigration lawyer from Indianapolis spent last week volunteering in southern Texas with families seeking asylum in the United States.
Sarah Burrow said some of her clients crossed the border illegally, while others went to the government checkpoints.
She said she was inspired to volunteer after seeing images of children separated from their families earlier this year. She decided to volunteer with a group called CARA, which provides pro bono work on immigration cases. CARA is composed of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Council, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. According to the group’s website, the four organizations joined forces in 2015 in response to expansion of the family detention capacities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Burrow wanted to spend her Fourth of July in southern Texas.
“The personal and professional fulfillment to do something that is so meaningful to me,” she said.
During the 15 years Burrow has worked as an immigration attorney, she said has seen hundreds, if not thousands of clients. But she told News 8 she still was not prepared for what she heard from clients at the southern U.S. border.
“A person who goes down there to volunteer comes back with an entirely different perspective,” she said.
She blogged every day on her Indianapolis law firm’s website, where she wrote about the work she was doing and the clients she met. One woman was a political activist from Honduras who left with her 6-year-old daughter after someone threw a grenade into her home.
“It did give me reason to reflect and be really, really grateful for what we have here in the United States and for what I personally have in Indiana,” she said.
She spent nearly 100 hours last week preparing around 30 people, all women and children, for their asylum-seeking interviews with U.S. officials. Burrow said asylum seekers get one chance to interview, and it’s important for them to be prepared to speak with government officials.
Just this week, the Trump administration issued new guidance to officers who interview asylum seekers at U.S. borders. Under the directive, claims based on fear of gang and domestic violence will be immediately rejected.
The newly issued directive also says officers should consider whether an immigrant crossed the border illegally and weigh that against their claim.
“Border security is a national security problem, and in the United States we are working very hard to get the Democrats to give us a couple of votes so we can pass meaningful and powerful border security,” said President Donald Trump.
Burrow said she thinks about her clients and the battles they face now that she has returned to Indianapolis.
While Burrow said she understands many Americans are not as sympathetic to those asylum seekers who crossed the border illegally, she thinks everyone should be able to agree on something: “We owe it to each other as human beings to treat each other well.”
The president has been calling on Congress to pass legislation to crack down on people crossing the border illegally.
U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks was in Texas earlier this week to visit federal immigration facilities. She said she was encouraged to learn more about the process and the family reunification efforts.
“I was overwhelmed by the number of children who have come to our borders, some with families, but the large majority are unaccompanied children under the age of 18,” said Brooks. “I remain committed to ensuring children are reunited with their families as quickly as possible and will continue to advocate for an immigration system that is fair and reflects American values.”
The Trump administration is working to reunite those families separated at the border. A judge has put in place a July 26 deadline for those reunifications.