News & Updates

Amid continued challenges and opportunities at the border, I am grateful to be able to pause and reflect on the importance of Hispanic Heritage Month, a national celebration that runs from September 15 to October 15 annually. At ProBAR, nearly 95% percent of our staff identify as Latinx and about 70% grew up in our binational, culturally rich community in the Rio Grande Valley.

As people served by ProBAR are released from federal custody while awaiting removal proceedings, ProBAR staff offer information and support to help them safely reach their destinations. Our donor’s generous in-kind contributions of basic hygiene items, clothing, and related items will afford us the necessary resources to also provide crucial supplies for their travel.

During Summer 2023, ProBAR was excited to implement a paid law student fellowship program for the first time, and five law students studying at institutions across the country joined our team in the Rio Grande Valley. This 10-week program offered our summer fellows a unique opportunity to practice law alongside our team of advocates at the U.S.-Mexico border.

At the end of August, ProBAR joined the rest of the ABA in celebrating colleagues who have amplified our mission for 5 and 10 years, respectively. Sixteen staff members were honored whose combined work totals 95 years of service in “orchestrating justice,” as ABA Commission on Immigration Director, Meredith Linsky, poetically noted in her remarks.

In mid-August, I joined our team at Port Isabel Detention Center to assist with our services and learn more about the current needs of the people we serve. I watched our talented team member provide a detailed Know Your Rights presentation when it quickly became apparent over half of the group of approximately 20 men had been transferred into ICE custody from a state jail run by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). They had been detained, pre-trial, under state misdemeanor criminal trespass charges as part of Texas Governor Abbott’s Operation Lone Star Program (OLS).