Groups provide legal advice at immigration clinic

The Trump Administration says it’s committed to building a border wall and removing those who enter the country illegally. President Donald Trump says it’s an effort to keep the U.S. safe from drugs and crime.

However, immigration attorneys say applying for citizenship can be a complicated and expensive process. That’s why local advocacy groups hosted a free legal clinic Saturday in El Paso.

At the clinic, attorneys helped fill out paperwork and gave advice for DACA recipients and also those who were lawful permanent residents working to become citizens.

Immigration Attorney Casey Williams says the citizenship application is about $725.

“Some attorneys will charge anywhere between $1,000 and $2,000 in addition to that, to help prepare the form because it does require a great deal of legal expertise,” Williams said.

But at Saturday’s event, people received that legal advice for free.

During a recent trip to Las Cruces, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said there was a crisis on the border, and that he had asked federal prosecutors to be harsher on punishments for illegal crossings.

“Last week we saw a significant increase in illegal border crossings so we’re going to step up our efforts to achieve zero tolerance,” Sessions said.

Williams said the recent crackdown on immigration has prompted more questions.

“From people who have no legal status but are married to a citizen and have citizen children,” Williams said. “They’re concerned about if now they’re considered a priority for deportation even though they have these strong ties.”

Some of the local groups providing assistance at the event were the Queer bar Association, Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, Labor Justice Committee, Las Americas, A.Y.U.D.A., and Las Americas.