LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - There has been heightened awareness of the immigration crisis this year, but for immigration lawyers, it's always a busy time. That's true for the many volunteers who have headed to the southern border and the ones trying to help here at home.
Miriam Ramirez started out in family law, but her family heritage led her into the very complicated and controversial facet of our American legal system.
“I've had literally hundreds of cases since I went out on my own, which was in September,” she said noting how much business has picked up. She runs her one-person practice out of a Hot Springs office. These days she finds herself zipping all over Arkansas and beyond.
“People will be detained and they'll go to Louisiana,” she said. “I’ll start to put together a motion for bond, but before I can get that bond packet in, I'll get a notice that that detainee is being taken back to Arkansas.”
A typical Monday included waiting for a call from an immigration judge, rushing to Little Rock to make a hearing that ended up lasting 10 minutes.
From there she retreated to the courthouse cafeteria. She needed to spell out to her client from India, who came here from Italy, how she would get him the documents he needs to stay in the U.S.
From there it's off to an adoption hearing. While that's not an immigration matter, the border is not far from her mind. She has family just across the Rio Grande from El Paso. She would like to join the thousands of legal experts who have flocked to that region to help.
“I wish I could do more,” she said. “I've been trying to promote the organizations that are down there that are helping.”
As a lawyer, Ramirez is all about law and order. She says she supports and understands what Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents do, but she hopes people can educate themselves beyond the current border debate. She hopes people can see that there are people in the middle of these separations, reunions and pleas for a better life in America.
“That's the human side of this that's very tough when you see those kinds of realizations come about,” Ramirez said.
Help is on the way for Ramirez. She has hired a second bilingual attorney, but first he needs to pass the bar exam.