‘I’m not going to back down.’ Immigration attorneys fight back over Trump’s legal threats
Since Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, a blog dubbed “Nerdy Immigration Lawyers” has been frantically sharing information in defense of migrants being targeted by his administration for deportation to Venezuela, Cuba and other countries.
Over the weekend, the blog blew up as Trump declared a widening war on lawyers across the country. In a memo posted late Friday night, Trump threatened Justice Department sanctions against law firms and attorneys who attempt to thwart his aggressive campaign to deport millions of foreign nationals in the United States along with migrants with criminal records.
“Nerdy” legal bloggers did not take Trump’s threats on the chin.
“Reach out to your local and state bar associations to take a stance against it like [the American Immigration Lawyers Association] and the [American Civil Liberties Union] have,” one lawyer posted on the blog, which was founded in South Florida nearly a decade ago and has 8,885 members nationwide.
“Obviously document everything,” the post added. “And in case this makes someone sound crazy, have an officer security system/plan” in place if the feds make a surprise visit.
In his presidential order, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi “to seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable, and vexatious litigation against the United States or in matters before executive departments and agencies of the United States.”
The president’s memo, which called for “accountability” to protect national security, especially alarmed immigration attorneys but also other lawyers. They called Trump’s ramped-up retaliation a violation of the Constitution, saying it aims to empower the Republican president and weaken his government’s adversaries.
“When you’re an immigration lawyer, you’re always going up against the federal government,” said South Florida immigration attorney Regina de Moraes. “I’m not going to back down, but now I’m going to have to be even more careful.”
‘Every lawyer in America should be scared’
Brian Tannebaum, a notable South Florida criminal defense attorney and ethics expert, said that while Trump’s latest threats seem to be targeting lawyers who practice civil, regulatory and administrative law, the president is aiming to undermine the entire legal system, including federal judges who are blocking some of his recent edicts on immigration enforcement and government job cuts.
“I think every lawyer in America should be scared, and every lawyer in America should take a stand,” Tannebaum said, noting that Trump’s new order applies to potential legal “misconduct” dating back eight years as well as in the future.
“He wants to have control over the lawyers and judges,” Tannebaum said, pointing out that motions for sanctions over “frivolous” legal claims in federal court are handled by judges — not presidents. “He wants to destroy the separation of powers in this country.”
After losing the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020, Trump repeatedly complained about the “weaponization” of the Justice Department and the appointment of a special counsel that brought two criminal cases against him related to his speech before the Jan. 6, 2021 right-wing mob attack on the U.S. Capitol and his alleged withholding of classified documents at his Palm Beach estate.
During his re-election campaign, Trump accused certain law firms and attorneys of “lawfare” by collaborating with Democrats to back politically motivated investigations and lawsuits against him.
Since being sworn in as president, Trump has zeroed in on major law firms firms, including Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, which cut a deal with his administration last week. After the president issued an order suspending security clearances for Paul, Weiss lawyers and limiting them from getting government jobs, the law firm agreed to a series of commitments to persuade the president to cancel the order, according to the New York Times.
As part of the deal, which has drawn significant criticism, Paul, Weiss said it would provide $40 million in legal services to causes Trump has championed, including his task force to combat antisemitism.
Another law firm targeted by Trump, Perkins Coie, chose instead to fight him in federal court.
In his executive order, Trump attacked one lawyer by name, Marc Elias, who previously worked at Perkins Coie and has long represented Democrats in voting rights cases. Trump has accused Elias, along with others, of being behind a dossier of unsubstantiated allegations about his links to Russia that were investigated by the FBI during his first campaign for president in 2016.
“President Trump’s goal is clear,” Elias said in a statement. “He wants lawyers and law firms to capitulate and cower until there is no one left to oppose his administration in court.”
The president’s memo, titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” took a broad shot at attorneys who practice immigration law, accusing them of “unscrupulous behavior.”
“For instance, the immigration bar, and powerful Big Law pro bono practices, frequently coach clients to conceal their past or lie about their circumstances when asserting their asylum claims,” the memo reads.
In a statement, the American Immigration Lawyers Association condemned the Trump Administration’s accusations of “rampant fraud” being committed by immigration lawyers.
‘Chilling directive’ against immigration attorneys
The bar association, citing Trump’s recent calls for the impeachment of certain judges who have blocked his orders, called the president’s memo a “chilling directive” to Attorney General Bondi and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem “to act against immigration attorneys, law firms and the immigration bar.”
“The memo, in short, orders sanctions, reviews, and stricter oversight of attorneys in asylum and immigration cases,” the bar association said. “The broad assertion that immigration attorneys are acting improperly in their efforts to represent individuals against an increasingly complex and restrictive immigration system is both unfounded and dangerous.”
De Moraes, the Miami attorney, said the “vast majority of immigration lawyers play by the rules,” but she warned that Trump’s order indicates “immigration lawyers now face the risk of being sanctioned.”
She also said Trump’s increased targeting of immigration attorneys is likely “to make it harder” for migrants to find one to represent them because of the intensifying climate of fear and intimidation.
Tannebaum, the ethics expert, said that’s the main goal of the president’s threats.
“He wants to sanction lawyers for doing their jobs,” Tannebaum said. “This is going to permeate the entire legal system.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM.
