A Brownsville immigration attorney says some of his clients without a criminal record have been arrested recently.

Brownsville immigration attorney Jaime Diez says that ever since President Donald Trump’s election, 11 million of the undocumented immigrants in the country should be on the look-out.



“People should be afraid of any law enforcement contact, immigration contact because the Department of Homeland Security has stated that today, they will prioritize anyone who is out of status,” Diez said.

Every day, Diez works with and defends undocumented immigrants.

In most cases, undocumented immigrants are usually detained after probable cause is in play. However, Diez says he’s come across multiple immigrants who have been arrested, but have no criminal record.

“Then why detain that person instead of saying, ‘I’m going to send you to an immigration judge so we can correct your file’. It is mean-hearted and done with the intention to dissuade a person from wanting to fight.”

CBS 4 reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, but didn’t receive a statement or a response.

A February memo issued to Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested agents “to identify, capture and quickly deport every undocumented immigrant they encounter.”

Most of the families Diez represents are low-income families, who are often separated through deportation because they can’t afford an attorney.

Diez believes the situation will be more common if Senate Bill 4 goes into effect.

“I really hope this law doesn’t get implemented,” said Diez. “I hope there are some lawsuits that are going to stop it, because I think this is going to profile people. It will have an impact on our community of people. They will be in a situation where they will not be safe walking outside their house,”

Diez says those who are worried about their status in the country should go to an information center at immigration offices to see how to update documents.