From the newsroom

Immigration has been in the national spotlight this year even more than usual as President Donald Trump's administration has ramped up enforcement efforts.

For many immigrants and their loved ones, this has meant living in a state of constant fear. In August, one young woman told CDN she and her family "hardly leave the house." What is it like for attorneys who are on the front lines trying to support clients? I wanted to find out. 

Back in September, I began speaking with immigration attorneys in Whatcom and Skagit counties about what they're seeing in their work. I also spent a day with Gabe Harrison, one of the few local immigration lawyers who handles removal (deportation) defense cases. He traveled to Seattle for a court hearing with a client whose case had been closed for years — the federal government has been reopening previously closed cases, seemingly at random.

Lawyers are facing heightened pressure and an uncertain future as they try to gain a foothold in policy that's frequently changing. Harrison's firm has more detained clients —at one point earlier this year, he was driving to the detention center in Tacoma multiple times per week.

"Sometimes I feel like now I'm moving in slow motion," said Hannah Stone, an immigration attorney and Bellingham City Council member.

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Sunday read

Immigration attorney Gabe Harrison meets with a client in the lobby of the Henry Jackson Federal Building on Nov. 14 in Seattle. Since January, immigration attorneys have had to work in an environment of heightened pressure and fear. (Santiago Ochoa/Cascadia Daily News)

Immigration attorneys 'in the trenches' amid changing policy, heightened fear

Bellingham attorney Gabe Harrison used to tell his clients that "administratively closed" cases would likely remain closed. "It's as good as a grant, to a degree," he would reassure them. But that hasn't been true in recent months, as the Department of Homeland Security has been reopening these closed cases amid a push for tougher immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. 

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