Among the many lessons attorney Enrique F. Mesa Jr. has learned after 17 years of practicing immigration law is the extent to which the Executive Branch can affect the immigration system, a revelation that occurred during the Trump administration.
Mesa shared his experiences practicing immigration law during a recent conversation in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month moderated by Rudman Center Community Engagement Director Laura Knoy. Mesa is an alumnus of the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and managing partner of Mesa Law, PLLC.
(For a video of the event visit here. Quotes in this article have been edited slightly for clarity.)
Immigration Attorney Enrique F. Mesa Jr.
According to the Migration Policy Institute: “The Trump administration set an unprecedented pace for executive action on immigration, enacting 472 administrative changes that dismantled and reconstructed many elements of the U.S. immigration system.”
After reversing many of these changes, earlier this year President Biden toughened asylum restrictions at the border, allowing agents to turn people back quickly and leading to a decline in border crossings.
Asylum clams, often involving people “at their most desperate hour,” account for about two-thirds of the cases Mesa’s firm handles. “My first case in immigration court was an asylum case for a Venezuelan,” he said. “But at no time did I ever think this would be now 65 percent of our practice.“
“I’ve always enjoyed fighting for families to stay together. When you win for that family it’s a great feeling,” he said. “But the opposite side of that is, if you lose a case, it’s very frustrating because ultimately you don’t want this family separated. We’re talking about somebody with a wife and kids, and you don’t want them to be deported back to their country. So, when you win a case it’s a great feeling. And the whole goal is to win more than you lose.”
Mesa must sometimes tell his clients they do not meet the criteria for asylum. A migrant seeking asylum must provide evidence of persecution in their home county based on one of five “protected grounds”: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. An asylum seeker must also present some form of documentation, such as police or hospital records.
Most of Mesa’s clients are from El Salvador, Columbia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Cuba. “The majority of cases I accept are usually people that are victims of domestic violence where it’s very difficult for the woman to leave their husband, the abuser, because they’re seen as property,” he said.
The wait for resolution can be extremely long. The asylum office right now is processing cases from 2012. “There aren’t enough adjudicators, not enough immigration judges,” he said, though the situation has improved in New England, with two immigration courts now in the region, both in Massachusetts. “Because of those two offices I’m seeing they’re really tackling the backlog,” he said.
There is also a need for more immigration attorneys in New Hampshire. “People may not think that New Hampshire has that many immigrants, but we do, and I think they’re not properly represented,” he said. “We need more attorneys who speak Spanish. Ultimately, immigrants want somebody to speak their language so they can be themselves and feel like they’re being represented.”
Immigration reform meanwhile remains elusive. “I really feel that December 2005, January 2006, was the closest we ever got to immigration reform,” he said. “And where are we now? We’re still waiting.”
