News & Updates

Tragedy struck outside of the Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Enrique San Pedro Ozanam Center on Sunday, May 7, 2023, when a driver struck several migrants waiting near a bus stop. Ultimately, ten people were injured, and eight people lost their lives, including 18-year-old Jose Javier Cario-Moreno. ProBAR responded by supporting victims and their loved ones, including Jose Javier’s family.

In this piece, we share reflections and words of gratitude from Jose Javier’s father, Mr. Cario-Mijares, about ProBAR’s role during this challenging period.

In the words of Senior Paralegal Mariana Rodriguez, “ProBAR understands that for us to be great advocates, we need to be well physically and mentally.” With the Wellness Committee, we are living into this commitment and prioritizing ProBAR’s most important resource: our dedicated team of advocates.

As 2023 concludes, ProBAR would like to share a few of our memories from a tremendous year of teamwork, transition and tremendous impact.

Spanning pages 2 -11, the spotlight introduces ProBAR’s history and services, describes our work with unaccompanied children, and provides an update on our response to changing border policies, including the new Asylum Ban. We also highlight Akin’s Senior Pro Bono Coordinator Emily Heger who has collaborated with ProBAR to provide assistance to survivors of the Ozanam tragedy.

On September 20, 2023, the Department of Homeland Security announced an extension and re-designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela for the next 18 months. This information sheet provides general information in response to common questions about TPS.