Andrea Lino

Oh, no, I feel more like, no, this not again. I try to like to have hope in humanity, but I am feeling pretty, pretty tired. And it's not like a great feeling to start for years. And so I am ready to fight. I have the energy, but I feel, I feel sad for what is about to happen.

I represent individuals who are detained in immigration custody.

Today is January 27, Monday.

Correct.

It feels that it has been a year. It's just a lot. I don't know where to even start.

So all that I was telling him is that, well, you remain in the car. The car is your premise, so you don't open the door unless they have a warrant for your arrest. And my client was obviously pretty overwhelmed and upset, and the friend had the keys for the car. So after a lot of waiting, the friend... And my understanding is that they arrested just one person and it was because the person ran.

And it's like the first thing that we tell people is that you don't have to run because then you are giving them a reason to arrest you.

I feel that he was just moving way faster than I anticipated. But at the end of the day, there are still rights and he's not above the law and his administration is not above the law. But he's definitely making our job harder and he's making people panic.

Today is February 24th, 2025.

I think that there has been so many other distractions from this administration that is affecting also other people now, not just immigrants, but also, I mean, federal workers, you know, transgender individuals that the focus is not just immigration. So that feels kind of a relief in a weird way, because I also know that a lot of other people are like suffering.

And so that included some of your clients. That included, yeah, some of our clients, correct.

It was great. You know, it was like, OK, at least there is like we can believe I can check and balance this, you know. But at the same time, I feel like I just worried for what's going to happen once that he goes to the Supreme Court, because I do not have a lot of faith in the Supreme Court anymore.

Yeah, exactly.

What we call driving while black or brown, basically. They just follow those people, stop them, and ask them where they are from, which is illegal. So you have to have a reasonable suspicion to believe that a person is here unlawfully.

So they were arrested there while they were going to work in construction in a house.

We were honest with them and said that this could take months, you know, and it's months of detention.

It completely depends on the judge.

I think that not knowing what's going to happen, it's scary.

But at the same time, I feel that I am in the right place. So I feel pretty privileged to be able to use my work and my knowledge to make people feel safer.

I say there is going to be a lot of action. There is going to be a lot of executive orders that sound very scary. But that doesn't mean that is going to happen.

My name is Andrea Lino, and I am an immigration lawyer.

Exactly. Don't believe everything you hear. I feel that what they want is like a lot of people get self-deported because they are afraid.