04/23/2026
Responding to the unprecedented surge in ICE detentions of union members in Minnesota, the AFL-CIO helped set up a multi-state network of pro bono attorneys, including our colleague and firm partner, Clara Bustamante, to assist with habeas corpus filings in federal court. Through Clara’s efforts, two union members from Minnesota - who were transferred to, and detained in, New Mexico and Texas, respectively – were released from ICE custody while their immigration cases proceed to their final conclusion.
Today, Clara shared her clients’, and her own, story about these cases during a continuing legal education class sponsored by the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance. The webinar gave attendees (most of whom have no prior immigration law experience) a brief background on current trends in immigration detention and the legal claims challenging it, with a focus on the nuts-and-bolts of filing petitions.
Clara, who is on the Board of Directors of the AFL-CIO Union Lawyers Alliance, is admitted to practice law in all of the state and federal courts in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.