From TIME authored by Maya Rhodan:
“When the Trump Administration started separating families at the U.S. border, Jodi Goodwin all but stopped working as a private attorney in Texas to do pro bono work for people who had been affected. Even though the Administration ended the policy over two months ago, her work isn’t finished.
In June, U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw ordered the Trump Administration to reunite the more than 2,000 families separated under a policy aimed at deterring illegal immigration. According to a federal filing last week, 565 children remain separated from their parents, some of whom have already been deported.
Goodwin has personally reunited 32 moms and dads with a total of 34 children, but at least a dozen of her clients remain in federal detention, separated from their children for various reasons: some have not passed the “credible fear” interview about conditions in their home countries, while others have not yet been granted bond. One case has been blocked because her client is the child’s aunt and legal guardian, but not her biological parent.
“I still spend half of the day doing separated parents stuff and follow up,” Goodwin told TIME.
While the political conversation has moved on from the now-defunct family separation policy, the real-world effects continue to be felt, and lawyers remain on the front lines of the fight, especially in border towns like McAllen, Texas. It’s a similar dynamic as other Trump policy changes, such as the travel ban, which were announced unexpectedly, leading to an intense scramble among private lawyers followed by months of follow-up work.”
