TAMPA, Fla. — Some immigrants are worried that routine check-ins with immigration authorities could lead to being detained as the Trump administration ramps up deportations.

What You Need To Know

  • Milton Toro Marquez is an immigration attorney with Acevedo Law Firm.

  • Toro Marquez says several of his clients are opting out of immigration appointments.

  • He is encouraging clients to attend their appointments to avoid the impact it has.

Spectrum News spoke with an immigration attorney who shares how those concerns are affecting the community in Tampa Bay.

The number of cases Milton Toro Marquez is working on keeps growing. He is an immigration attorney for Acevedo Law Firm.

“We’re doing the best we can to really defend the most people that we can, because we're really living in a moment that’s very sad,” he said.

Their law firm has gotten so busy the past few months that they have hired more people to help.

With President Trump’s administration focused on deporting illegal immigrants, his biggest concern isn’t the workload. It is his clients who are opting out of attending their immigration and court appointments.

“I have clients telling me that they don’t want to go to the court appointments, and when they are in the court system, the only person that’s supposed to be able to deport them is a judge," Toro Marquez said.

He said his firm is working toward a successful outcome to every case.

Not showing up to an appointment jeopardizes the case altogether, he said.

“If you don’t go to your court, you’re going to automatically have an order of deportation. If you don’t go to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) they are now — it’s always been that way — but now more than ever they are knocking on doors," Toro Marquez said.

He said it has happened to several of his clients already.

When an appointment is missed, Toro Marquez is forced to appeal to a judge to reopen a client’s case. He is also encouraging his clients or others who may have pending immigration cases to stay up to date on the changing laws.

And if the immigration process has not been started, “make sure your processes are in order, make sure you have your documents.”

While he’s helping the best way he can, he also wants the immigrant community to be prepared.

ICE is continuing to make arrests of criminal illegal immigrants across the country, and those are shared on their social media pages.

As of right now, ICE has detained 22,000 illegal immigrants.