In an informative episode of the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice’s How Things Work: The Legal Edition, Professor Emerita Stacy Brustin, a member of the ABA Commission on Immigration and Director of the Immigration Law & Policy Initiative at Catholic Law, joined Luvia Quinones, Senior Director of Health Policy for the Illinois Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, to address the devastating impact of mass deportation policies. The discussion, titled The Human Cost of ICE Raids: Impact on the Community & Families, explored the far-reaching consequences of the Administration’s executive orders mandating large-scale apprehension, detention, and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Brustin and Quinones highlighted how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has abandoned long-standing enforcement priorities, leading to indiscriminate arrests in workplaces, schools, places of worship, and even medical clinics. Families are torn apart as those detained are often denied bond or humanitarian release, leaving communities in turmoil. With the passage of federal legislation H.R. 1, which funds an unprecedented expansion of these enforcement actions, the speakers underscored the urgent need to address the human and societal costs of these policies. Their discussion serves as a critical call to action for legal professionals and advocates to confront the injustices faced by immigrant families.