Winston-Salem immigration attorney says clients are on high alert as Trump presidency begins

With Donald Trump’s second presidency underway, many immigrants are wondering what’s next. 

Helen Parsonage, a Winston-Salem-based immigration attorney has seen this first-hand, as clients have reached out in search of answers and reassurance during a week marked by continued anti-immigrant rhetoric from the highest office in the land.

Parsonage didn’t watch Monday’s inauguration ceremony. Instead, she spent a large part of the day speaking at different events attended by some of the groups feeling most threatened by the new administration — women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants. 

"People are concerned, people are hungry for information," Parsonage said. "They’re hungry for facts, which is hard this early. They’re trying to keep ahead of what’s coming. I don’t blame them.”

Like many of the people she spoke with, Parsonage is unsure about what’s to come.  

Because an executive order can’t override a constitutional amendment, she said she’s optimistic Trump’s attempts at ending birthright citizenship won’t come to pass. 

In fact, a U.S. District Judge temporarily blocked the president’s executive order to end birthright citizenship on Thursday. 

On the other hand, she’s also confident actions like collateral arrests will increase. 

These happen when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest any undocumented immigrants they come across in search of one specific individual. 

Any leniency given to undocumented immigrants without a criminal record could also disappear, Parsonage says.

"For years, ICE has had a policy of ‘Well, we know we could deport you but we’re not gonna deport you yet if you like come in and check in with us once a year. And as long as you keep checking in and you don’t get in any trouble, we’re just gonna leave you alone,’" Parsonage said. "I think those kinds of arrangements are going to become few and far between."

In the days since the election, Parsonage says even her clients who have a legal immigration status have called her expressing concern for their future in the United States.