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00:00Well, we can speak now to co-director of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic,
00:06Miss Jean Rees.
00:07Thanks for being with us and giving us your time.
00:10Looking there, just at one example of Florida, where laws are becoming much, much tougher
00:13when it comes to migrants there.
00:16Is this something we're seeing reproduced elsewhere in the US?
00:18Can you give us an idea of what exactly the Trump administration, what impact have they
00:22had on migrants in the US at this stage?
00:26Well, the Trump administration has really polarized the debate about immigration with
00:32states who are clamping down on immigration laws and anti-sanctuary laws and other states
00:39trying to beef up their protections for immigrants within.
00:43The president has kind of expanded his authority and many, there's a lot of litigation regarding
00:50his violation of immigration laws and constitutional protections for immigrants within the US.
00:56Is it up to each state, does each state, if you like, have control?
01:00I mean, these sanctuary states, will they ultimately be able to provide that or does
01:05Trump have the final say?
01:08Trump has the final say.
01:10Sanctuary is a bit of a misnomer.
01:12No state can actually prevent the federal government from entering its state, arresting
01:18and deporting immigrants who are in violation of immigration law.
01:22All that states can really do is make it harder for the Trump administration to do that by
01:29not voluntarily cooperating with this enforcement efforts as, you know, contrary to that is
01:35Florida, which is beefing up its voluntary cooperation.
01:40I am hearing that some legal support representation, for example, for children that enter the US
01:47alone, that the Trump administration has pulled that so children now are being brought
01:51to court, what, with no lawyer by their side?
01:54Yes.
01:55Under American law, people who can't afford attorneys in immigration court, including
02:01children, have to represent themselves.
02:03And we have received stop work orders for some of the largest funders of representation
02:09for children.
02:10And I have to say, we're talking two-year-olds, five-year-olds, up to 17-year-olds that are
02:15going to have to represent themselves in immigration court.
02:19Has any of that happened yet?
02:20Is this just something, you know, that looms ahead?
02:22Do you see that as likely?
02:23I mean, it just seems impossible.
02:25Well, there has been a history of children having to represent themselves in court.
02:30A lot of organizations are being funded to provide representation at no cost to the children.
02:37So it has happened before, but we're really seeing wide scale layoffs of attorneys who
02:43provide pro bono representation of children.
02:46I anticipate that there's going to be a lawsuit to try and stop that from happening.
02:51I mean, when it comes to Trump's promise of mass deportations, you know, do you see that
02:56being the future?
02:57And, you know, could he even bring the military in?
02:59Is that actually an option?
03:00Well, the military has been brought in under previous administrations to do administrative
03:06tasks, stock warehouses, mend fences, so that more immigration officials can be out
03:13on the street making arrests.
03:16The president has the authority to deport every single person present in the U.S. in
03:21violation of immigration law, but there's just not enough personnel, immigration judges,
03:28you know, immigration officials to do that.
03:31The military has always helped in the background, but it would be very problematic if the military,
03:36if the military starts patrolling streets and arresting people and enforcing immigration
03:41law.
03:42We did see recently Guantanamo Bay be, you know, be reopened, if you like, or reused
03:48as a place where asylum seekers or people wanting to make applications to live in the
03:53U.S. would be held.
03:56What kind of people could be sent there and where are they left illegally?
04:01Well, the question about whether certain United States protections can be afforded to people
04:09in Guantanamo Bay has made it a more desirable place.
04:12I believe there have already been some Venezuelan immigrants who have been transported to Guantanamo
04:17Bay, and I know there's been litigation to prevent certain people in detention from being
04:23transported while they have cases here in the U.S. because the jurisdiction of those
04:28cases might go away.
04:30It's really an effort to, well, I think part of it is show, but also a lot of it is to
04:37make it harder for immigrants to have access to attorneys, resources to isolate them and
04:46make it easier to deport them.
04:47Finally, before we leave you, Ms. Reese, how worried are you for migrants in the United
04:51States?
04:53Well, I see a lot of, I see a lot of morale that's falling.
05:00I feel like there's a lot of tension regarding just the treatment of immigrants and the dehumanization
05:08of immigrants.
05:09I think that there's going to be a lot of litigation.
05:14I think President Trump might be prevented from doing some of the things that he wants
05:19to do, like end birthright citizenship, but I think that he's also going to get away with
05:24some of these very draconian measures.
05:27And he's really amplifying kind of the authority of the president over immigration.
05:32Ms. Jean Reese of the USC Gould School of Law Immigration Clinic, thanks very much indeed
05:37for your time.