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Deep in the Heart of Texas: How Three Immigration Attorneys in Texas Are Making a Difference

By Jeffrie B. Lewis and Soledad Valenciano

Jeffrie B. Lewis is assistant general counsel at Zachry Group in San Antonio. Soledad Valenciano practices commercial and real estate litigation with Spivey Valenciano, PLLC, in San Antonio. ©2022 Hon. Jeffrie B. Lewis and Soledad Valenciano. All rights reserved. One can hardly turn on the news without hearing something about the immigration crisis in America. How one defines crisis, however, is a matter of perspective. Texas is undoubtedly one of the key southern border states affected by the social and economic effects of immigration. For example, one in six Texas residents is an immigrant, while another one in six residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent.1 At least 1.4 million U.S. citizens in Texas live with at least one undocumented family member.2 And, Texas is home to over 107,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.3 Economically, immigrants in Texas have contributed tens of billions of dollars in taxes, and as consumers, add over $100 billion to Texas’s economy.4 According to the Brookings Institution, immigrants are essential to the U.S. workforce, and without them, the aging workforce cannot meet the U.S. economy’s capacity.5 Yet, the influx of people crossing into the United States through Texas border towns has been linked to property damage, an increase in crime, and a sense of danger.6 With immigration being such a hot-button issue, and immigration law practiced within the Department of Justice regime, it is no wonder that the good work—no, the great work—of our fellow practitioners and the reforms they seek go relatively unseen and unheard.

U.S. immigration law is based on the following principles: the reunification of families, admitting immigrants with skills that are valuable to the U.S. economy, protecting refugees, and promoting diversity.7 In line with these principles, the “transactional” side of immigration law is made up of the family-based immigration system, the employment-based immigration system, refugee/asylee protection, and diversity.

As an initial matter, once a person obtains an immigrant visa and comes to the United States, they become a lawful permanent resident (LPR). In some circumstances, noncitizens already in the United States can obtain LPR status through a process known as “adjustment of status.” LPRs are eligible to apply for nearly all jobs and can remain permanently in the United States even if they are unemployed. After residing in the United States for the required period, LPRs may apply for U.S. citizenship. The family-based immigration system allows U.S. citizens and LPRs to bring certain family members to the United States. Prospective immigrants and the relative(s) in question in the family preference system must meet standard eligibility criteria, and petitioners must meet certain age and financial requirements.

Immigrants with valuable skills may enter the United States on either a permanent or temporary basis under a program known as employment-based immigration. This process allows employers to hire and petition for foreign nationals for specific jobs for limited periods. There are numerical caps and strict requirements to follow.

Refugees are admitted to the United States based on an inability to return to their home countries because of a “well-founded fear of persecution” due to their race, membership in a particular social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin. The admission of refugees depends on numerous factors, such as the degree of risk they face, membership in a group that is of special concern to the United States, and whether they have family members in the United States. Asylum is available to individuals already in the United States who are seeking protection based on the same five protected grounds upon which refugees rely. Refugees and asylees are eligible to become LPRs under certain circumstances.

Although not currently used as often, the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 as a dedicated channel for immigrants from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Applicants from qualifying countries must have a high-school education (or its equivalent) or have, within the past five years, a minimum of two years working in a profession requiring at least two years of training or experience. There are other forms of relief, including temporary protected status, which is granted to people who are in the United States but cannot return to their home country because of “natural disaster,”

“extraordinary temporary conditions,” or “ongoing armed conflict.” Another program, deferred enforced departure, protects individuals from deportation when the home country is unstable. DACA and humanitarian parole are other options for immigrants who wish to remain in the United States.

In contrast to the systematic methods of entry into the United States described above, there is the body of immigration law that involves noncitizens who have been charged by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with violating immigration law.8 When DHS does not have the authority to administratively deport an individual, it brings the matter to the immigration court and asks an immigration judge to issue a removal order authorizing DHS to deport that individual. Immigration court is an administrative court within the Department of Justice responsible for adjudicating immigration cases, where immigration judges resolve issues such as: • Whether an individual should be allowed to remain in the United

States. • Whether an individual’s application for relief from deportation (removal) should be granted. • Whether a detained individual should be allowed to post bond or whether the bond amount should be changed.

Unlike defendants in criminal courts, immigrants—even unaccompanied children—have no legal right to an attorney in cases of indigency. Cases generally begin when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials or Customs and Border Protection agents issue a “Notice to Appear” to an individual and then file the notice with the immigration court. Appeals of immigration judge decisions can be made to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Some BIA decisions can be appealed by immigrants further to the federal courts. Both the immigration court and the BIA are part of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) within the DOJ, while criminal and civil courts are part of the United States judicial branch.9 The immigration court system employs approximately 600 trial immigration judges and 23 immigration appeals judges.10 There are over 60 U.S. immigration courts, with 13 in Texas alone.11 Approximately 1.7 million cases are now pending before approximately 600 immigration judges nationwide, which is an average of over 2,800 pending cases per judge.12

Whether one practices immigration law on the “transactional” or the “litigation” side of the law, the technical, political, and emotional complexity of this bursting-at-the-seams practice area is shocking.13 Wanting to learn more about this practice area, we interviewed three immigration attorneys located in South Texas to get their perspective on their practices, their clients, and the immigration system in general. What we heard from these attorneys was informative, heartbreaking, and inspiring, all at the same time. Each attorney is a female solo practitioner whose practice focuses primarily if not exclusively in immigration law. Their backgrounds varied, but their motivations were similar.

For Analisa Nazareno, once a journalist for the Miami Herald and the Philadelphia Inquirer, this is a second career.14 Nazareno immi-

Jaqueline Sandoval (left), Analisa Nazareno (middle), and Ofelia Delgado (right). grated from the Philippines as a child and grew up in the immigrant suburbs of Los Angeles. Nazareno’s practice focuses on affirmative family-based applications and naturalization and humanitarian relief, including asylum and Violence Against Women Applications. Her main docket currently includes assisting Afghan asylum seekers following the evacuation of Afghanistan. Jacqueline Sandoval15 has offices in deep South Texas in the area known as “the Valley,” where she primarily handles family-based applications and assists clients seeking immigration relief for family members or based on marriage, with some asylum cases. Ofelia Delgado,16 whose studies have taken her to Wisconsin, California, New Orleans, and now Texas, handles naturalizations; adjustments of status; DACA proceedings; and waivers for criminal convictions, bars to reentry, and unlawful presence charges. Delgado’s practice is primarily transactional work centered around the Department of State and U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) where she assists her clients in adjusting their status outside of immigration court. Immigration law is extremely complex and circumstance driven. Several bodies of law determine what relief, if any, can be sought. Generally, the overarching law discussed above is found in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),17 which the practitioners we interviewed referred to as the “bread and butter” of immigration law. However, immigration law practitioners must stay abreast of frequent changes from other directions (e.g., the availability or unavailability of certain relief that changes from presidential administration to administration, internal political pressure, other orders that change the priority of applications). The law on asylum applications, for instance, is primarily found outside the INA. Moreover, the federal court system issues rulings affecting the types of relief that can be sought. For example, a recent Fifth Circuit opinion regarding DACA has the potential to change the entire existence of the program.18 One of the lawyers we interviewed noted that, at a minimum, something “significant” changes every quarter. As far as processing and granting or denying relief, two avenues exist there as well. The USCIS is granted the governmental authority to process immigration applications.19 It is largely transactional and it processes the forms, sometimes with large backlogs depending on the type of relief sought. For example, according to the data maintained by USCIS, the time for processing a petition for an alien relative in Texas who is an unmarried child 21 years or older is 32 months.20 The other avenue is the immigration court system.21 Each of the immigration practitioners we interviewed expressed a general feeling that immigration court is not where a lawyer would want their client to be. In fact, at least one of their practices (Delgado’s)

is specifically focused on moving clients out of immigration court to seek relief through the USCIS transactional process.

Even if you do not specifically practice immigration law, immigration influences are bound to impact matters. For example, we discussed the overlap of immigration and criminal law, or “crimmigation” law as our immigration practitioners referred to it. The effect of a conviction for even a relatively minor misdemeanor charge can have devastating consequences on a client seeking adjustment of immigration status. In some cases, even the charge of criminal activity can have a consequence. Our practitioners described scenarios for their clients in which they are arrested on minimal criminal charges and are checked and cross referenced with ICE to determine status, where previously there was no question about their legal status. They described scenarios where family members pay a bond to get them out of county jail, only to have them immediately released from custody to ICE, which has a second detainer bond placed on them, unbeknownst to the family that paid the initial bond to have them released. The result is that they are picked up by ICE; taken to the nearest detention facility, wherever that may be (sometimes hundreds of miles away); and held there indefinitely while the detained family member awaits an immigration court date, thereby missing their court date on the underlying criminal offense and leading to convictions that all but destroy the ability to seek certain immigration relief. We all know that a basic tenet of the U.S. criminal justice system is the presumption of innocence. But how does that tenet stand when intermixed with immigration considerations?

With immigration law constantly changing and evident in different bodies of law, what is a practitioner to do who may find themselves occasionally handling matters that overlap with immigration law? First, the attorneys we interviewed suggested a USCIS listserv that will send an email update any time there is a decision affecting any application.22 They suggested that criminal law attorneys be familiar with orders and priorities issued by presidential administrations. They stressed the importance of Padilla letters based on the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Padilla v. Kentucky23 where the Court held there is a right to know the immigration consequences of entering a guilty plea to a criminal charge. A criminal defense attorney can ask their clients to obtain a Padilla letter from an immigration attorney and advise the client of the consequences of a criminal conviction on their future ability to seek immigration relief.

What cannot be understated is the emotional toll taken on attorneys specializing in immigration law. We know too well the statistics of mental health of the legal profession in general.24 In her practice assisting asylum seekers, Nazareno recounted watching her clients cry when recalling how they witnessed others being killed, including members of their own family. The process for relief for these clients often relies heavily on evidence to demonstrate they are entitled to the relief sought. Her clients are repeatedly forced to relive the most painful, traumatic events they have ever experienced, in excruciating detail. Then, they must reduce it to writing in a declaration and study it in preparation for the hearing, where they are scrutinized in order to establish the requirements needed for a waiver or for asylum.25

Delgado recounted her assignment to a children’s detention center that housed child gang members. She explained how these children, hailing from countries like Honduras and El Salvador, were stolen away from their families and forced to join gangs and commit awful atrocities to avoid their own deaths or the deaths of their families at the hand of the gang members who abducted them. Reliving these memories with her clients brought on terrible nightmares for which she sought counseling to process.

But each of these attorneys expressed their love for their job. Nazareno stated that as a second career, it was important for her to be happy. She did some research before embarking on her second career and found that amongst lawyers, immigration lawyers are the happiest. She reflects that her clients are good and humble people who need advocacy, and that it feels good to help people in need. Delgado shared a story where she assisted a survivor of domestic abuse from an ex-boyfriend and was able to get her a green card and, afterwards, the same relief for her now-husband and father of her children based on her status. After finally receiving her green card, Delgado’s client was able to go back to Mexico to see her mother after 20 years, and her mother was able to meet her grandchildren for the first time.

Sandoval states that immigration was a place where her heart laid, noting she herself is from a border town and her grandparents were migrants. It is important for her to speak up for those who do not know the language or the laws and to be the voice that her family needed for a very long time. Sandoval shared a story about assisting a Liberian client with his application under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (LRIF).26 Under the LRIF, if you are Liberian and have lived a certain number of years in the United States, you are eligible for a green card if you meet certain qualifications. She tells us this particular client had suffered unspeakable violence in his home country, witnessing his sister raped and butchered in front of him, his brother beheaded, and the rest of his family tortured and killed. Thereafter, he was taken as a slave until he escaped and was able to flee the country, eventually arriving in the United States. Putting together this client’s application required him to recount and relive all the atrocities he had witnessed. An affidavit from his wife about the effects these experiences had on him was required. After the application was submitted, all that was left to do was wait. Sandoval recalls sometime later, while on vacation, she began receiving multiple calls. Immediately thinking something was wrong, she was overjoyed to find out her client’s application had been granted. She spoke with her client, who was crying uncontrollably, and he told her he was able to save his babies and his family by being permitted to stay in the United States and was so grateful. Our interviewees recognize that their work is at times emotionally daunting and taxing, but at the same time, they all reflected that keeping families together and seeing the joy and relief they bring to their clients makes it all worth it.

What do these immigration attorneys want to see changed for their practice or their clients? Sandoval noted that the remote options COVID-19 brought to the legal profession have greatly improved her practice and her ability to assist clients in ways she could not before. Client meetings and audiences with a judge have been made easier with platforms such as WebEx and Zoom. Both Delgado and Nazareno mentioned the uncertain course of DACA and the desire for clarification as well as updates to the asylum laws.27 All three practitioners expressed frustration with the sometimes draconian nature of some immigration laws. Delgado spoke to us about the heartbreaking time she had to inform a young client that she would be ineligible for relief. The client, who sought Delgado’s assistance in adjusting her status, was a legal permanent resident who had lived in the United States since she was an infant. She spoke little Spanish and attended elementary, middle, and high school in Texas. One day, the high school she attended hosted a program to encourage students of age to vote. The client, having grown up in the

United States and mistakenly believing she was a U.S. citizen, signed up to vote. Unfortunately, a law bars individuals from naturalization if they have ever told anyone they are a U.S. citizen when they are in fact not. There is no exception for a mistake. Delgado had to explain to her young client that due to an innocent mistake she made in high school, she was not entitled to the relief she was seeking.

More generally, all three lawyers struggle with the misunderstandings, misconceptions, and misinformation surrounding immigrants and immigration law. With no signs of immigration efforts slowing down and the constantly evolving nature of immigration law, we need to be aware of the effect of immigration on our fellow practitioners, our profession, our communities, our country, and the individuals seeking entry into the United States. While the world is made better by practitioners such as Nazareno, Sandoval, and Delgado, their devotion and stamina should not be taken for granted. It takes heart to do what they do each day. So, if economic studies prove correct, the national economy could benefit from a targeted immigration reform policy while simultaneously improving the delivery of just legal services to an important population. 

Endnotes

1Immigrants in Texas, Am. Immigr. Council. (Aug. 6, 2020), https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/ research/immigrants_in_texas.pdf. 2Id. 3Id 4Id. 5The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global level. According to the May 2022 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were over 11.2 million job openings, with significant gaps in construction, retail trade, accommodation, and the food services industry. It is believed that immigration reform that facilitates an immigrant workforce will help the U.S. economy. See Dany Bahar & Pedro Casas-Alatriste, Who are the 1 million missing workers that could solve America’s labor shortages?, Brookings Inst. (July 14, 2022), https://www.brookings.edu/blog/ up-front/2022/07/14/who-are-the-1-million-missing-workers-thatcould-solve-americas-labor-shortages/. 6James Barragán, Republican county officials in South Texas want Gov. Greg Abbott to deport migrants. Only the federal government can do that, Texas Trib. (July 5, 2022, updated July 6, 2022), https://www. texastribune.org/2022/07/05/texas-migrants-deportation/. 7How the United States Immigration System Works, Am. Immigr. Council. (Sept. 14, 2021), https://www. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/how_ the_united_states_immigration_system_works_0.pdf. 8Immigration Court Primer, TRAC Immigr., Syracus Uni., https:// trac.syr.edu/immigration/quickfacts/about_ eoir.html (last visited Oct. 22, 2022). 9An Article 1 Immigration Court-Why Now is the Time to Act, A Summary of Salient Facts and Arguments, Nat’l Assoc. of Immigr. Judges (Feb. 20, 2021), https://www.naij-usa. org/images/uploads/ newsroom/Article_1_-_NAIJ_summary-of-salient-facts-andarguments_2.20.2021.pdf. 10Board of Immigration Appeals, U.S. Dep’t of Just., https://www. justice.gov/eoir/board-of-immigration-appeals-bios (last visited Oct. 24, 2022) (including biographical information for immigration appeals judges); Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, U.S. Dep’t of Just., https://www.justice.gov/eoir/office-of-the-chiefimmigration-judge-bios (last visited Oct. 24, 2022) [parenthetical]. 11EOIR Immigration Court Listing, U.S. Dep’t of Just., https:// www.justice.gov/eoir/eoir-immigration-court-listing (last visited Oct. 24, 2022). 12Executive Office for Immigration Review Adjudication Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Justice, https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/ file/1242166/download (last visited Oct. 24, 2022) (listing 1,699,636 cases pending at the end of the fiscal year as of the third quarter of 2022 based on data generated July 15, 2022). 13In Feb. 2022, the FBA announced its support of legislation introduced by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., chair of the House Immigration and Citizenship Subcommittee, that seeks to establish independent immigration courts under Article I of the Constitution. See FBA Statement on Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) Independent Immigration Courts Legislation, Fed. Bar Assoc. (Feb. 2, 2022), https://www.fedbar.org/government-relations/policy-priorities/ article-i-immigration-court/. 14Nazareno graduated cum laude from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, where she gained practical experience in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, served as an editor and writer for the St. Mary’s Law Journal, founded the Immigration Law Students Association, and earned the Women in Law Leadership Award and Pro Bono and Public Service certificate. Nazareno interned at the Executive Office of Immigration Review, serving as a clerk in the Pearsall Immigration Court, Texas’s Fourth Court of Appeals, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and American Gateways, doing asylum rights workshops for women in immigration detention facilities in South Texas. 15Sandoval graduated cum laude from the University of Texas Pan American in 2014, only two years after graduating with honors from Johnny G. Economides High School. She went on to work at the Texas State Capitol during the 2015 legislative session and subsequently attended St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio. Sandoval was a student attorney at the St. Mary’s Center for Legal and Social Justice Immigration Clinic, where she completed over 140 pro bono service hours, earning the Pro Bono and Public Service Certificate. 16Delgado graduated from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) with a B.S. in sociology, behavioral science, and law. While at the University of Wisconsin, Delgado founded La Semana Chicana Conference and the Tiahui Mentorship Program. She earned her M.A. in sociology from the University of California (Santa Barbara), where she was the recipient of the Center for Chicano Studies Graduate Research Award and the Sociology Graduate Fellowship Award. Delgado earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Prior to opening a solo practice, Delgado worked for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit agency that provides free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees. 17The Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101-1537. 18Texas v. U.S., No. 21-40680, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 27845, __ F.4th __ (5th Cir., Oct. 5, 2021). 19On Mar. 1, 2003, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially assumed responsibility for the immigration service functions of the federal government. The USCIS was formed to enhance the security and improve the efficiency of national

immigration services by exclusively focusing on the administration of benefit applications. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, components within DHS, handle immigration enforcement and border security functions. See U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Fed. Reg., https://www. federalregister.gov/agencies/u-s-citizenship-and-immigrationservices (last visited Oct. 24, 2022). 20Check Case Processing Times, https://egov.uscis.gov/processingtimes/ (last visited Oct. 24, 2022). 21How the United States Immigration System Works, Am. Immigr. Council (Sept. 14, 2021), https://www. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/ how_the_united_states_immigration_system_works_0.pdf; see also Immigration Court Primer, TRAC Immigr., Syracus Uni., https:// trac.syr.edu/immigration/quickfacts/about_ eoir.html (last visited Oct. 22, 2022). 22You can sign up for email alerts on the USCIS.gov website at https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts. 23Padilla v. Kentucky, 559 U.S. 356 (2010). 24See, e.g., Anh Kremer, President’s Message – COVID and Beyond, Fed. Bar Assoc. (Feb. 7, 2022), https://www.fedbar.org/blog/ covid-and-beyond/ (president of the FBA Anh Kremer’s message noting that an ALM Mental Health and Substance Abuse Survey in 2021 found that 31.2% of 3,800 respondents feel depressed, 64% feel they have anxiety, and 10.1% feel they have an alcohol problem). 25Asylum in the United States, Am. Immigr. Council., https://www. americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/ asylum_in_the_united_states_0.pdf (providing an overview of the asylum system in the United States, including how asylum is defined, eligibility requirements, and the application process), (last modified Aug. 16, 2022). 26For more information on LRIF see Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness, https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-eligibility/ liberian-refugee-immigration-fairness (last visited Oct. 24, 2022). 27For more commentary on the recent Fifth Circuit DACA decision see Uriel J. García, DACA remains intact as appeals court sends case challenging its legality back to lower court in Texas, Texas Trib. (Oct. 5, 2022), https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/05/texas-dacaappeals-court-ruling/.

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