For example, one of our lawyers served as a high-level official in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and has been an adviser on immigration, security and customs issues to the White House and Congress. Another attorney, one of our Chambers-recognized practice leaders, was a deputy assistant attorney general for immigration litigation in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and was responsible for drafting key immigration and border security legislation as a congressional staff attorney. He was the primary drafter of the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill of 2013 and serves on the Homeland Security Advisory Council’s CBP Families and Children Care Panel.

We work closely with Holland & Knight’s Public Policy & Regulation Group ^[1]in Washington, D.C., to monitor changes in immigration policy and assert our clients’ views on regulatory or other changes that may affect their operations. Our teams work together to help clients understand the volatile landscape of immigration law and regulations.

Pro Bono Commitment 

In 2018, Holland & Knight worked on 38 pro bono immigration matters and invested more than $1 million in attorney time representing children – some as young as 9 years old – who fled their homes for safety in the U.S. Many of our young clients witnessed horrific violence against close family members in their home countries, resulting in severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some were separated from their parents when they arrived in the U.S.

Holland & Knight is a founding member of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), a global organization that provides free legal help to migrant children. Since 2014, more than 260,000 unaccompanied children have arrived at the southern border of the U.S., many of them fleeing Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, three of the most dangerous countries in the world. KIND-trained attorneys represent these children in immigration court and related proceedings, usually preventing deportation that would place their lives in danger.