Nonprofit Helping North Texas Families Impacted By ICE Raid
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – The day after what is being described as the largest single work site immigration raid in the last 10 years in the U.S., many questions still loom over the future of the 280 people arrested and their families.
The exact release numbers weren't known on Thursday but some, mainly pregnant women and mothers of young children were already being released.
Felix Villalobos is a volunteer at RAICES, a nonprofit organization that offers legal counseling to refugees and immigrants.
VIDEO RELEASED OF ICE RAID IN ALLEN
Villalobos says some will of the people who worked at CVE will be released with a notice to appear before a judge at a later date, others will have to bond out, and those with prior criminal and or immigration records will more than likely remain in ICE custody and deported within a few weeks.
"That's what I want to find out is do you already have a removal order? Because if you do your chances are extremely limited," said Villalobos. There is very little I can do for you."
He says those who will be released or bond out and go through the immigration justice system could have to undergo a process that lasts several years.
"The odds of winning in immigration court are pretty low and general", about the challenges of fighting a deportation," he said.
However, Villalobos said there are current laws and policies, including asylum privileges that might apply on a case by case basis.