If someone in your family could be detained, you have probably already played it out in your head. Who calls whom. Where the birth certificates are. Who picks up the children that afternoon.
And then the thought usually stops there, because nobody has ever told you what you are actually allowed to do next.
On August 11, 2026, the Mexico City daily La Crónica de Hoy put that question to attorney Manuel Diaz, who was born in Mexico City and has spent his career representing Spanish-speaking families in Texas courts. His answer was not complicated. It was uncomfortable, because it puts something back in your hands instead of leaving it with the government.
What to do this week
Three steps. None of them require your papers to be in order first.
- Call a lawyer before anything happens, not after. One who already works with migrant families, in Spanish, so nothing gets lost in translation.
- Find out where you actually stand. In one conversation you learn what applies to your facts and, more important, what the deadlines are.
- Act while the options are still open. Almost everything a lawyer can do for you has a clock on it.
That is the whole plan. The rest of this article explains why each step matters.
Free consultation. Hablamos español. Available 24/7. Call (855) 900-3429.
Nobody is assigned to you
Start with the part most people have backwards.
In the American legal system, certain protections attach to the person. Not to a passport. Not to a birth certificate. To the person standing there.
But in immigration proceedings there is generally no court-appointed lawyer the way there is in criminal court. The right is to hire counsel of your own choosing, at your own expense. Nobody is assigned to you, and nobody arrives to explain that to you. See how our immigration team handles cases like this.
That is the gap. It is not that migrant families were shut out of legal defense. It is that far too few have used it. As Crónica put it, the problem is “no aprovechar su derecho a contar con una representación legal”: not taking advantage of the right to have legal representation.
The right was always there. Almost nobody used it.
What Diaz says has changed
Diaz has practiced through administrations that took hard positions on immigration before. He told Crónica this one is not simply worse. It is different.
“La rama ejecutiva del gobierno estadunidense no respeta las leyes, los mismos funcionarios ignoran deliberadamente el contenido de las leyes y de la Constitución, es algo sumamente crítico y no solamente para la comunidad hispana o inmigrante, sino para el país en general.”
“The executive branch of the U.S. government does not respect the laws. The officials themselves deliberately ignore the content of the laws and of the Constitution. That is extremely critical, and not only for the Hispanic or immigrant community, but for the country as a whole.”
Defense lawyers, he said, are now working a problem they have not had to work before: finding new ways to protect a client when, in his account, officials are being directed toward decisions the law does not support.
Why some cases move to federal court
Immigration courts sit inside the executive branch. Federal courts do not.
Diaz described attorneys taking certain cases beyond immigration jurisdiction and into federal court, in front of an independent judge who does not answer to the agency.
Federal review is not automatic and it is not broad. It is available only in certain circumstances, through strict and time-sensitive procedures, and often only after the immigration process has run its course. Whether it applies to your case is a question for an attorney, and the deadlines make it a question worth asking early.
Early is the word that matters. This option does not stay open.
Ask whether federal review applies to your case. Free consultation, (855) 900-3429.
“Vamos a ver qué pasa”
Asked what matters most when someone’s rights have been violated by the state, Diaz did not name a form or a filing. He named the habit that keeps families from filing anything at all.
“Una de las cosas que nosotros tratamos de promover en los medios es que nuestra gente adopte esa cultura de que el abogado que yo contrato es la persona que, dentro de este sistema, está ahí para defenderme. Y no lo que pasa muchas veces, que lo dejan en manos del gobierno o lo dejan a las manos del ‘vamos a ver qué pasa’, porque no tengo la manera de protegerme.”
“One of the things we try to promote in the media is that our people adopt the understanding that the lawyer I hire is the person who, inside this system, is there to defend me. And not what happens so often, where they leave it in the hands of the government, or leave it to ‘let’s see what happens,’ because I have no way to protect myself.”
“Vamos a ver qué pasa.” Let’s see what happens.
Every immigration attorney in Texas has heard that sentence, usually from someone who waited too long to say anything else.
Here is what it costs. The federal court option only exists if somebody asks about it before the deadline. Waiting is not neutral. It is the thing that closes doors while you are still deciding whether to make the call.
The United States has a legal system built to hear complaints against individuals, against companies, and against the government itself. Nothing happens until somebody starts it.
What Mexico is doing, and what it does not replace
Crónica asked about the 20 actions the Mexican government has brought against the United States over the deaths of 17 Mexican nationals in ICE custody or enforcement operations, a figure Mexico announced in July 2026 and one that U.S. outlets including PBS NewsHour and NPR member stations have reported.
Diaz called it a worthwhile effort by the government. He was also realistic: the administration has broadly ignored this kind of request from other countries on other issues, and whether these actions move any individual case forward is still an open question.
That is consistent with the rest of the interview. Pressure between governments is welcome. It is not a lawyer in your case.
What attorney Diaz recommends
From the interview, in his own framing:
- Stay out of situations involving aggression, controlled substances, or heavy drinking. These are the situations that put law enforcement in front of your family in the first place.
- Respect the law. In immigration cases, a clean record is often the strongest thing you have.
- Choose a lawyer with a real history of representing migrant families. Experience with these specific proceedings is not the same as general practice.
- Do not wait for it to resolve itself. The complaint, filed with a lawyer, is the mechanism.
“Estamos buscando ese balance y para obtenerlo, tenemos que ser vocales, tenemos que pelear, tenemos que defendernos.”
“We are looking for that balance, and to get it, we have to be vocal, we have to fight, we have to defend ourselves.”
What it looks like when a family has a lawyer
The difference is not dramatic. It is quiet, and it shows up in the first 48 hours.
Instead of calling relatives to ask whether anyone knows where he was taken, someone with a bar card is working to find out his full legal name and his A-number, which facility he may be in, and getting a call placed. Instead of hunting for a birth certificate at midnight, the documents are in one folder because you put them there last month. Instead of “vamos a ver qué pasa,” there is a next step being worked, and a date on it.
Your family in Mexico is not cut out of it either. The firm keeps an office in Mexico City, so relatives there can sit down with someone in person while the case moves in Texas.
There is less to guess about. That is most of it.
What to gather now, before anything happens
Your name, date of birth, country of birth, A-number if there is one, and copies of your immigration paperwork, in one place, with one other adult knowing where. The full checklist, including what to do at the door and how to build a family plan, is already on our site: What To Do If ICE Comes To Your Door in Texas (also in Spanish).
Not sure any of this applies to you? That is what the free consultation is for. (855) 900-3429.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have legal rights in the United States if I am undocumented?
Certain constitutional protections apply to people physically present in the United States regardless of immigration status, including due process protections in court proceedings. What those protections mean in your specific case depends on your facts, and that is a conversation to have with an attorney.
Do I need my papers in order before I can talk to a lawyer?
No. People often wait to call because they think they need documents, status, or answers first. The consultation is where you find out what you have and what you are missing.
What does it mean to take a case to federal court instead of immigration court?
Immigration courts sit within the executive branch. Federal courts are a separate branch with independent judges. In some circumstances a decision made in immigration proceedings can be challenged in federal court, which is a different forum with different rules and different review standards. Strict filing deadlines apply, so this is a question to raise with an attorney early, not after other options run out.
My family member was detained during a raid. What is the first step?
Contact an attorney before anything else, and gather what you can: the person’s full legal name, date of birth, country of birth, any A-number, where and when they were taken, and any paperwork left behind.
Is it worth filing a complaint if the government was the one that violated my rights?
The U.S. system provides mechanisms for claims against individuals, companies, and government actors. Whether one is available to you, and which one, is a legal question that depends on your circumstances.
Do I have to speak English to be represented?
No. Manuel Diaz Law Firm handles matters in Spanish, and has since it opened.
Why Manuel Diaz Law Firm
When a Mexico City newspaper wanted to know how migrant families in the United States can defend themselves, it called Manuel Diaz. His full background is on our About page.
You are not just another number here. Our clients are loved and respected members of our extended family.
Talk to us
Free Consultation • Available 24/7 • Hablamos español
Dallas • Fort Worth • Denton • Mesquite • San Antonio • Mexico City
Source: Diana Chávez Zea, “Destaca defensor de migrantes que el sistema justicia estadounidense también protege a migrantes,” La Crónica de Hoy, August 11, 2026. Quotations translated from the original Spanish.
This article is general information about the legal system and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts.
