Standing with Adults & Families
ProBAR’s mission is to empower immigrants through high quality legal information, representation, and connections to services.
Adults in Detention
ProBAR provides group Know-Your-Rights presentations (KYRs), individual consultation sessions, and legal representation to individuals who are detained at the following facilities:
As of May 2026, the current capacity at the Port Isabel Detention Center is 1200, while El Valle Detention Facility is 980.
General Legal Information
ProBAR provides Know-Your-Rights presentations equipped with up-to-date information on immigration proceedings and helps inform individuals who are detained of their rights before, during, and after detention.
ProBAR also provides individual legal consultations to detained immigrants where they can request to meet directly with ProBAR’s legal team. The individual sessions help ProBAR understand their individual needs and gauge what level of legal or social services is needed in each case.
Detained adults and their family relatives outside detention are encouraged to call ProBAR’s hotline for more information, and to schedule individual sessions: 956-365-3775.
ProBAR may provide legal advice to adults in detention via workshops. These workshops, presented by ProBAR staff, can be hosted in the detention centers at the request of detainees if interest is present.
ProBAR specializes in providing legal services in the following types of legal relief:
- Cancellation of Removal
- Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and Relief under the Convention Against Torture
- VAWA, U Nonimmigrant Visa, and T Nonimmigrant Visas
- Release from Detention, including Bond and Parole
- Access to Due Process and Basic Services in Detention
- Credible Fear Interviews
Legal Support Services
ProBAR offers four kinds of legal representation services to adults in detention. These services are pro se assistance, limited legal advice, limited direct representation, and full-service representation. ProBAR staff assess each client‘s case before confirming which service they qualify for.
- Pro se Assistance
- Limited Legal Advice
- Limited Direct Representation
- Direct Representation
Pro Bono Partnerships
ProBAR’s Pro Bono Team specializes in the recruitment of practicing attorneys, law firms, and law students from across the United States to provide support for ProBAR’s work on the front lines in South Texas. These partnerships provide support with legal intakes,
In the event an individual is offered representation, they would become a client of the pro bono attorney or law firm that extended the offer.
To learn more about our Pro Bono team’s new Last Line of Defense program, or to refer a pro bono attorney to ProBAR, fill out this form.
Post-Release Services
ProBAR provides limited services to adults who have been released from detention and are allowed to relocate to a relative’s or sponsor’s home (in-state or out-of-state):
- Warm Referrals: ProBAR will assist the adult with connection to fellow NGOs (Non-profit Organizations).
- Information Packets: Adults are provided with information packets detailing next steps and how-to’s (for example: change of venue request, change of address, etc).
- Resources: If inventory is available, ProBAR may provide adults with backpacks, cell phones, bus tickets, etc.
Under limited circumstances, ProBAR may assess their situation and continue to provide support to adults (if released and staying locally).
