Those who work in the field of immigration law across the nation find themselves working harder than ever. Political tension has increased surrounding the topic of immigration because of President Trump's mass deportation efforts.
The deportation of undocumented individuals has increased since President Trump signed over a dozen executive orders to advance his mass deportation agenda during his first week in office. Many working in immigration law say that their clients are in a state of fear.
Nelda Johnson is a licensed immigration consultant. She established the Immigrant Rescue Center 15 years ago.
"You're not safe. You're always looking over your shoulder. So, I understand their fear that they are living in a country that doesn't protect them," she said.
The small organization helps immigrants on their journeys to gain citizenship. The rescue center does this by helping them fill out forms specific to their situation.
Austin Johnson is not currently practicing law, but now works for the Immigrant Rescue Center after practicing law for 32 years.
"Right now you can probably imagine that many people are afraid that they're going to be deported," he said.
Nelda said that there are different factors that make the immigration process complicated.
"Dealing with the bureaucracy, the government that tries to make it difficult," Nelda said.
Nelda and Austin both said that the immigration system is extremely slow to approving processes. They said the system has also denied many forms and requests. Nelda's job is to find out why and move the cases forward.
"They want to live here and they want to live in peace and they want to work. And they're very hard workers," she said.
Nelda said she draws on her experiences growing up in Mexico to empathize with immigrants.