This past May, ProBAR was delighted to host a delegation of volunteers from global law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as well as members and staff from the ABA Commission on Immigration (COI) and the Immigration Justice Project (IJP) who visited the Rio Grande Valley for a week of pro bono service and learning. The group provided pro se legal services to many recently arrived migrants, including detained asylum-seekers and recently paroled migrants, extending ProBAR’s reach while deepening the volunteers’ understanding of immigration in the south Texas border region.  

During the volunteer week, the team from Fried Frank dedicated much of their time to preparing asylum-seekers detained at the Port Isabel Detention Center (PIDC) for their Credible Fear Interviews (CFIs). The first step in the often long and difficult asylum process, a CFI is a screening conducted by United States Citizenship & Immigration Services to determine whether a person might qualify for asylum based on their individual circumstances. For many asylum-seekers who lack knowledge of the ever-shifting asylum process, receiving an attorney’s guidance and assistance preparing for the CFI is paramount to their success.   

While the process to seek asylum continues to change with the implementation of new policies, including the proclamation issued on June 4 this year, the need for access to protection continues. Karen Grisez, Pro Bono Counsel at Fried Frank and a longtime volunteer with ProBAR since 2003, noted that while the nationalities of the people seeking asylum have changed over the years, “the things that drive them, the concerns that they have and the issues that we’re trying to address for them, are very much the same.” 

Underscoring the importance of providing CFI preparation services, Gale Weinstein, Senior Counsel at Fried Frank and a second-time volunteer with ProBAR, said “just to be prepared for their interview and then to be on the way toward possibly a positive asylum process, it’s an opportunity to really just have an enormous impact.” 

Meanwhile, staff and members from the ABA Commission on Immigration spent their week completing employment authorization applications for recently paroled migrants and learning about the immigration landscape in the Rio Grande Valley.  

Visiting the region alongside the COI delegation was Amanda Bernardo, Deputy Director of the Immigration Justice Project, a San Diego-based project of the ABA Commission on Immigration whose work promotes due process and access to justice at all levels of the immigration and appellate court systems. When asked about her motivations for joining the Commission on this trip to support the work of ProBAR, Bernardo said that she wanted to observe the way immigration is handled at the border of South Texas, in comparison to San Diego. “Here in the Rio Grande Valley, the border is a lot more porous and layered…part of the community…and in people’s everyday lives. And I think because of that, the landscape of immigration law and immigration enforcement is very different.”  

Whether they assisted detained asylum seekers or prepared applications, all our visitors made an important impact throughout the week. Amanda reflected, “I got into this work because I’m really passionate about direct services and being able to help individual families, in my opinion, is the best way that you’re going to make a difference.” 

ProBAR sends our deepest gratitude to our Fried Frank volunteers and Commission on Immigration colleagues for their compassionate pro bono service to migrants and dedicated support for our work on the South Texas border. 

To learn more about how pro bono attorneys can support the work of ProBAR, visit our website.