The firm provided pro bono legal services to 15 Southeast Michigan families with loved ones arrested by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and sentenced with deportation back to Iraq.

“Southeast Michigan is home to a diverse community of longtime residents who have always gone above and beyond to take care of one another,” said William Sider. “Our associate Justin Hanna, a member of the Chaldean community, presented us with an immediate need to mobilize our immigration practice group. With the volunteer assistance of 25 attorneys and paralegals from other specialties in the firm, the group collectively provided support for those families in need to protect their loved ones from life-threatening deportation.”

Last weekend, 140-160 Iraqi nationals from the Metro Detroit area were arrested as a part of the Trump administration’s push to increase immigration enforcement. A number of these residents have lived in the U.S. for many years – some for their entire lives. Dozens of Iraqi Chaldean Catholics were among those targeted in the immigration sweeps, with the fear of death or torture if deported to their origin country due to their religious beliefs.

“One of the firm’s foundational pillars is engaging in and giving back to the local community. This is one of many examples where the firm has provided pro bono legal services to those in need,” said Sider. “We are leveraging our immigration and legal expertise to make every effort toward helping these families navigate the legal complexities of this unfortunate situation.”

Firm attorneys and paralegals have committed a great deal of time preparing documents and interviewing family members whose loved ones are being detained by ICE. Motions were filed last Thursday for a stay of deportation, a reopening of the immigration cases of the affected individuals, and avoidance to deportation due to claims under the Convention Against Torture Act. After working through Wednesday night and into the early morning hours of Thursday, Jaffe flew an attorney to Falls Church Virginia, Thursday morning to submit before the deportations were initiated, a portion of the motions to the Board of Immigration Appeals. The rest of the motions were filed in Detroit, Atlanta, and Kansas City Immigration Courts Thursday afternoon.

“We are extremely appreciative of the extraordinary efforts made by the firm in helping us with this demanding legal challenge, said Nora Youkhana, board member of CODE Legal Aid, a local nonprofit helping those families affected by the incident. We could not have done this without their immediate help and for that, we are very grateful.”

One of our core business values is engaging in and giving back to the local community.