Trump’s Attack on Immigration Lawyers is an Attack on Justice Itself
By Rosemary Vega | Texas Immigration Attorney
Rosemary Vega is a Houston-based immigration lawyer and adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center with almost 25 years of experience representing Texas families.
As an immigration attorney in Texas, I’ve stood beside families in courtrooms, guided young people through DACA renewals, and fought to keep parents and children together in the face of harsh enforcement policies. I've seen fear, uncertainty, and heartbreak but I’ve also seen resilience. What I didn’t expect to see was a sitting president openly targeting lawyers for doing their jobs.
President Trump’s latest executive order—directing the Department of Justice to pursue sanctions against attorneys who bring what he deems “meritless” immigration lawsuits—is more than political pressure. It is a calculated attempt to intimidate those of us who value the legal rights of immigrant families and who dare to hold the government accountable.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about “professional misconduct.” This is about silencing dissent. Attorneys are already held to some of the highest ethical standards of any profession, regulated by their state bars and boards of professional responsibility. Claims of misconduct are taken seriously—and investigated thoroughly—by independent authorities, not weaponized by political agendas.
For years, legal organizations, individual attorneys, and advocacy groups have challenged the administration’s harsh and often unlawful immigration policies—because that is what the law demands. When the government separated families at the border, we sued. When it tried to end DACA, we went to court. When it locked children in cages, we advocated for them. And when asylum seekers were turned away unlawfully at the border, we fought back.
Now, because we’ve had the audacity to win some of these legal battles, we are being painted as miscreants.
The claim that immigration attorneys are fueling “rampant fraud” is not only baseless—it’s dangerous. It puts a target on the backs of licensed legal professionals who are doing nothing more than advocating for the vulnerable and ensuring that due process is not just a theoretical concept but a reality.
This executive order threatens to have a chilling effect across the legal community. It’s meant to discourage attorneys from taking on family-based immigration cases, from representing asylum seekers, to challenging unlawful deportations. It’s meant to send a message: if you fight for immigrants, you’ll pay a price.
But here’s the truth: we’re not going anywhere.
If history has taught us anything, it’s that attempts to suppress the rule of law don’t end well. The courts are not the president’s emissaries. Rather, they are the cornerstone of our democracy. And lawyers—regardless of whether we represent immigrants, corporations, or the government itself—play a critical role in maintaining a lawful society.
As a proud Immigration Attorney Houston, I will not be intimidated into silence. My clients are human beings with families, dreams, and rights. And as long as I hold a license to practice law, I will continue to zealously advocate for them—fiercely and ethically.
We cannot allow political pressure to erode the independence of the legal profession. This is not just about immigration attorneys. It’s about every lawyer who takes an oath to uphold the Constitution. It’s about every American who depends on the courts to protect their inalienable rights.
To my fellow attorneys: keep showing up. Keep filing. Keep fighting.
To the immigrants who feel scared and unseen: You are not alone. We see you. We will keep fighting for you.
