HOUSTON, Texas – When President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he promised to deliver “the single largest Mass Deportation Program in history.”
Since then, his administration has pushed to limit federal benefits for immigrants without legal status, sought citizenship revocations for immigrants convicted of crimes, and worked to end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented or temporary residents.
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In April, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that during the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term, they arrested 66,463 undocumented immigrants.
In June, federal agents executed search warrants authorized by a Los Angeles federal judge at four businesses suspected of unlawfully employing undocumented immigrants and falsifying employment records. This sparked protests throughout Los Angeles.
Protesters gathered outside federal buildings downtown, home to an immigration court and detention facility, holding signs that read “ICE out of LA!” The demonstrations spread nationwide after Trump mobilized the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott’s office put the Texas National Guard “on standby” in areas where demonstrations were planned, deploying troops to San Antonio, according to Assistant Police Chief Jesse Salame.
Meanwhile, in Houston, ICE announced the arrest of more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants in June who were charged with or convicted of criminal offenses after entering the U.S.
Last month, KPRC 2 reported from outside a Houston immigration court where ICE agents took three people into custody.
Immigration attorney Bianca Santorini, who assists individuals like those arrested while they await asylum claims, spoke with 2 Investigates about representing immigrants during today’s climate.
“Everything has changed in terms of what to expect when you’re going to hearings right now because of the ICE enforcements that you hear about going on around the country,” Santorini said.
Navigating this new reality means more than managing legal cases.
“I’m not only having to represent somebody and think about their case, but I have to think about what risk is there based on where we’re being required to appear,” she said. “That is kind of like handling something that has nothing to do with the case, the application, but making sure that you are aware of the risk and ready to respond quickly.”
Recent Supreme Court rulings have heightened the urgency for immigrants facing deportation, giving Santorini and her team little time to gather evidence and preserve legal rights.
“Sometimes you just don’t have a lot of time to gather information or evidence. You have to move really quickly to make sure that you preserve somebody’s right to still have their case heard,” she said.
Her firm has seen a surge of people seeking guidance.
“A lot of the calls are literally people just scared. They haven’t even gone to the grocery store; they had somebody go for them,” Santorini shared. “They’re asking, ‘What can I do? What are my options?’”
Following reports of ICE officers waiting outside Houston immigration courtrooms last month, Santorini and other advocates monitored the courts for a week.
“I actually am very happy with the response we got here in Houston,” she said. “This last week, I haven’t even heard that ICE is present in the courtroom we were monitoring.”
She credits local media pressure and complaints from other federal agency employees who “didn’t feel safe being in that environment” for ICE’s recent withdrawal.
Serving a diverse immigrant population that primarily includes Latin American clients, Santorini’s practice also prioritizes pro bono work.
“What I’m really concerned about is when you start to see due process be attacked... That’s a slippery slope,” she warned.
However, resources remain stretched thin.
“We can’t represent everybody… Budgets have been cut… Agencies can’t take cases,” she said.
To meet growing demand, Santorini is collaborating with attorneys across different practice areas to share the workload.
She also confronts common misconceptions about immigration.
“One of the biggest ones… why don’t they just do it?” she explained. “Something can take nine, 10 years for a visa to become available… They’ve been doing it the legal way but… there was no pathway for them to get any permanent legal status.”
Improvements in the system seem distant as court dates are routinely set years into the future.
“We got a trial setting in October 2027,” Santorini said.
Beyond her legal work, Santorini is also advocating for immigrants who are victims of violent crime but are too afraid to seek help.
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