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Mass. immigration attorneys ready for legal fights over migrants

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — De Novo occupies a suite of offices in an East Cambridge building so old it’s supported on giant granite blocks.

That seems appropriate. The legal services agency, which specializes in assisting asylum seekers, has a lot of weight on its shoulders now that Donald Trump is back in The White House. Monday, Trump signed numerous executive orders addressing immigration after campaigning on a promise to secure the southern U.S. border.

Some of those orders, such as altering the 14th Amendment to prevent automatic citizenship for any baby born in the U.S., seem vulnerable to court challenges. But threats to round-up undocumented individuals and ship them back where they came from are very real -- though some would argue unlikely.

At De Novo, the question that’s got everyone on edge has to do with asylum seekers who are on the path to citizenship, but haven’t yet arrived. Could they be subject to arrest and deportation?

“Is it possible it could happen to some of our clients... it could,” said Attorney Valerie Fisk, immigration supervisor for De Novo. “If you’re not a citizen you can always be removed from the country.”

But some immigration attorneys have used the interregnum between Donald Trump’s election and inauguration to bolster their client’s chances of legally staying in the country.

“We’ve been preparing for the last two months with information for our clients,” Fiske said. “Now it’s just a matter of addressing any policy changes that might affect our clients directly.”

Many of the clients De Novo deals with have escaped situations of torture and trauma.

De Novo Executive Director Mojdeh Rohani said Trump’s executive orders have forced some to relive the pain of their prior existence.

“There’s a lot of fear, anxiety about the unknown,” said Rohani. “The worst part is the uncertainty, the unknown.”

Fiske said it’s important for migrants  to know their rights if police should come a-calling.

“They have the right to not open their door unless the government has the proper documentation to be able to come in and ask them questions,” she said.

To do that, officers must have a search warrant, which should not be confused with an ICE warrant. Migrants also have the right to remain silent and to bring in an attorney.

Still, the facts are the facts when it comes to immigration.

“If you don’t have permission to be here and you don’t have any application you can make to stay, then you’re eventually going to have to leave,” Fiske said. “That’s how it works.”

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