Immigration lawyers, border wildlife activists brace for changes under Trump

President-elect Donald Trump is anticipated to tap South Dakota governor Kristi Noem to head the Department of Homeland Security, according to reporting from multiple outlets Tuesday. This comes after former acting ICE head Tom Homan was chosen for the unofficial role of border czar.

Both Homan and Noem are expected to be amenable to helping Trump carry out the mass deportations he repeatedly promised during his campaign.

'There really aren’t enough resources'

Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman says there are still questions about how such removals would actually work and what priorities the new administration has. But he says he’s focused right now on helping people understand the rights they have while in the U.S.

“I've already talked to some folks about the possibility of having some know your rights presentation …there's been some discussion about what sort of legal remedies people might be able to have in the courts,” he said. “When you’re in the United States, you still have those rights, and as much as they may want to dismantle those rights, they’re still in the Constitution.”

Those include the right to due process and Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable searches. Goldman says over the last week, he’s received countless calls from community members wanting to help prevent deportations as non-lawyers or activists. He’s also consulting with clients like DACA recipients who are trying to do what they can to safeguard themselves.

But he says resources are limited.

"There really aren’t enough resources out there, unfortunately, who are experts in immigration law and versed in immigration law. That's gonna be one of the biggest frustrations for a lot of people,” he said. “The number of people that soon-to-be President Trump will have at his disposal is going to be far larger than the number of lawyers who are out there doing this work.”

'Walling them off is not the way to solve the migration problem'

Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator with the conservation group Wildlands Network, says it’s too early to tell exactly how the appointments will impact the border, but he’s concerned.

“Two-thirds of the border have been walled off in Arizona, and there’s only small sections of wall remaining, the majority of that being on tribal land. And then there’s other places that are crucial for wildlife migration and just maintenance of a healthy landscape,” he said. “These places specifically would be the San Rafael Valley, the Coronado National Memorial, the Patagonia Mountains — these places are national treasures and blowing them up and walling them off is not the way to solve the migration problem.”

Traphagen says that includes critical habitat for cross-border animals like jaguars and other endangered species. He says he and other researchers are only just now starting to understand how the first installation of wall construction impacted wildlife and environment.