In 2025, Black lawyers across the U.S. are navigating a complex legal environment shaped by a surge in politically charged cases. From immigration and civil rights to diversity, equity and inclusion and family law, the demands are intense and, at times, emotionally draining.

For immigration lawyers, the pressure is especially sharp. President Donald Trump’s executive orders and rapid enforcement shifts are reshaping the legal landscape, overwhelming attorneys while heightening fear among immigrant communities.

Frontlines of immigration

Immigration law is at a breaking point in 2025. A flood of new applications, executive actions, ongoing policy challenges, and aggressive enforcement tactics has created a high-pressure, high-stakes environment.

In South Florida, home to large Haitian and Hispanic populations, legal offices are inundated. At the Miami-based Law Office of Sidrena R. Morris, which specializes in immigration, family and probate law, senior immigration case manager Jenkins Joseph said the year began with panic.

“As early as the first couple of days with his (Trump’s) inauguration, you had individuals calling, panicking, as it pertains to, first off, the Biden parole program,” Joseph said. “We had to be counselors at law at times, just to tell them to give us a couple of days to confer with other colleagues or look through the laws and give them an update and some sort of solace, to not have them jump over the ledge.”

The Trump administration has shifted nearly every aspect of immigration policy, terminating the CBP One parole process and the Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV), scaling back Temporary Protected Status (TPS), revoking student visas, and restricting asylum and refugee programs.

According to a Migration Policy Institute Analysis, the administration had taken 181 immigration-specific executive actions by April 29, nearly double Biden’s pace and six times more than Trump’s first term.

Joseph estimates a 30% spike in immigration cases since the beginning of this year, with phones “ringing nonstop.” According to a report from Grow Law, as of January 2025, more than 3.7 million cases were pending in immigration courts, marking an all-time high.

Legal advice and emotional therapy

For many clients, fear stems from uncertainty and concerns of family separation.

“The uncertainty of being separated from their families — not just adult family members, but from their children,” she said. “I’ve seen children afraid even to go to school, being pulled out, or being afraid that when they come home from school, their parents will not be there.”

Inside the courtroom, the challenges for immigration attorneys are just as daunting.

Staying abreast of the rapid policy changes has become a daily challenge for attorneys who must sift through sweeping executive orders and fluctuating interpretations of immigration law. Attorney Jackson Lubin, who works with Morris’ office and leads his own practice at Lubin Law Group, described the pace of change as disorienting. 

“Honestly, it’s really just trying to stay equipped with the current laws and seeing how much of the deviation has happened, with what’s happening overnight.”

One notable example is the abrupt removal of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelan nationals within the first 90 days of the administration, triggering legal battles involving coalitions of lawyers and judges.

“We were on the phone with a Venezuelan client who doesn’t know what her recourse will be come September 2025 when her protection ends,” Lubin said. “At this point, we have to step away from just giving legal advice, but also providing therapy in some respects because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

But the emotional toll doesn’t just hit the clients.

“It’s really just taking it one day at a time,” Lubin said. “When we have these clients and they’re in tears about what’s going on, it takes an emotional toll on us too, and it also requires us to pace ourselves because these cases are coming, and they’re coming by the dozens because people need help.”

Intimidation at the courts

Despite the growing hostility surrounding immigration law, some attorneys say they have been spared from direct attempts to silence or sanction them in courtrooms, though not all of their colleagues have been as fortunate.

“A lot of the judges we go before are minorities. I think that has an effect on how we’ve been treated when we go inside the courtroom,” Morris said. “While they still follow the law, I still feel the sense of empathy that they exhibit, which I think is very important, because we’re dealing with a very sensitive matter.”

Still, Lubin described a heightened presence by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside immigration courts, ready to detain individuals after hearings. He noted how the current administration has infused a new dose of power into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE.

“They take a very adversarial approach against us,” Lubin said. “They speak to you very curtly, dismissive, undermining, because they know they have the power.”

Practicing under these conditions, he said, requires mental preparation.

“You kind of have not to cower down so much, but really just understand that they have the power. You have to invoke yourself whether you know the law works for you. But, for the most part, we don’t find that the law is working for us or for clients.”

Lubin pointed out that some attorneys are taking advantage of the present environment, viewing it as a prime opportunity to raise their fees. Immigration lawyers generally charge a flat fee for standard cases to maintain predictability, while others may charge by the hour. Hourly rates typically range from $150 to $350, and some may even charge up to $600. In situations such as deportation defense, the fees can soar to $15,000.

Fear in classrooms

The crackdown has triggered a chilling effect beyond law offices and courtrooms, reaching universities and classrooms, too. Melba Pearson, a civil rights and criminal law attorney who teaches Ethics and Criminal Justice at Florida International University, said the administration’s targeting of student visas is reverberating across campuses.

“The revoking of student visas has been deeply alarming,” Pearson said. “You had a student visa, you applied, you went through the process, you were given a visa, and all of a sudden, we didn’t like what we saw on your social media, and now your visa is being revoked, so you’re gonna have to go back to your country.”

She added that many international students are now afraid to travel or speak up in class.

“They’re like, ‘I know I’m not gonna be able to see my child, my abuela, my partner, because I cannot take the risk of leaving the country and not being able to get back in,’” Pearson said. “Students are afraid to even open their mouths because they don’t know who’s watching or recording.”

She warned that this fear undermines both academic growth and critical dialogue. 

“If students don’t speak, how do we know they understand the material? What about when they challenge a theory and push us to think differently? That’s how policy innovation happens,” Pearson said. “We’re losing all that because students fear reprisals for simply using their voice.”

Finding humanity in the chaos

These days, Joseph says, the human connection matters as much as the legal expertise.

“I’m a son of immigrants. My mom and dad are now naturalized, but I saw the journey it took for them to get there,” he said. “I saw it as a child and as an adult working at this firm and helping out, we get to see it, I get to see it now.”

He recalled one case where a client’s citizenship approval was delayed for months due to a bureaucratic error.

“She passed her interview but never got a notice. We had to write motions, reopen it, and provide evidence. It took almost six months,” Joseph said. “One of the greatest letters that we can ever ever receive is a letter giving you your date for your oath ceremony, and then waving the American flag. That is what gives hope and shows there are still avenues and processes where you will still have a good story.”

This story is the first in The Miami Times’ series, Justice, Interrupted, exploring how local Black lawyers are navigating the 2025 legal landscape. Stay tuned a miamitimesonline.com for more.