Message from Meredith Linsky, Director of the ABA Commission on Immigration

This year marks a decade since I left my position as the ProBAR director and assumed the role of Commission on Immigration director in Washington, DC. Working at ProBAR made an indelible impact on my life and career, and I am grateful for the ability to maintain a connection to ProBAR and its services in my current position. Now, not only do I study new immigration policies that are announced in our nation’s capital, but I am able to observe how those polices impact migrants at the border, and the critical difference ProBAR’s services can make for those who seek safety and protection.  

During the month of May, I worked in the Rio Grande Valley and spent several days at ProBAR’s Harlingen office. One Friday afternoon I volunteered at the Access to Work clinic, a program ProBAR established in early 2024 to assist recently paroled migrants to immediately apply for their employment authorization documents. I observed a staff member’s detailed work with a migrant family and then dove into assisting a Venezuelan family with their applications, learning about their unique circumstances and experiences through the immigration process, including the several months that they waited in Mexico prior to their CBP One appointment. I was gratified to hear that they had a positive experience living in Mexico City while waiting to secure a CBP One appointment, in contrast to the many stories of kidnappings and violence we hear about in the border region. Our work that day resulted in completed applications, and I hope it also contributed to a sense of humanity as they arrived in our country.   

At the end of the month, I served as an interpreter and mentor to volunteer attorneys from the Fried Frank law firm. We traveled to local ICE detention facilities where we provided information and legal advice about the asylum process to detained adults, mostly men from Central and South America. The volunteers quickly noted the harsh realities of the asylum system, that many people come to the United States for compelling reasons that will likely not qualify them for asylum or other humanitarian protection, and that others, who may qualify for relief, will likely have to represent themselves from the confines of detention. Now, with the latest asylum ban announced by the White House on June 4, 2024, even fewer individuals will have access to this vital protection unless it is successfully challenged in the courts.  

In this context, ProBAR’s work is critical. Each day, ProBAR’s team of advocates provide crucial information, legal representation, and social services to migrants who otherwise might not have access to counsel, empowering them to navigate the system and – above all – offering a sense of dignity and hope to the people we are called to serve.