A Message from the 2023 DHBA President, Carla Green

DHBA Familia,

We are officially off to a new year and I am truly honored to be serving as President of the DHBA in 2023!

I want to start by saying that I know I have some big shoes to fill following Elsa Manzanares, our 2022 fearless, hard-working President. Elsa’s dedication to the DHBA has been an inspiration and I hope to carry on and grow the already wonderful momentum, initiatives, and support Elsa was able to garner for the DHBA this past year. I am thankful Elsa will continue to serve on our Board as Immediate-Past President and we look forward to working with her. I also want to acknowledge and give many thanks to some of our outgoing Board members that have given their service and (for some) several years of their time—many thanks to Jake Torres, Tyrone Valdivia, Fabiola Segovia, and Javier Perez. I want our members to know that the DHBA would not be the organization that it is without you. Without your support, your time, and yes, even your donations—the DHBA would not be able to accomplish the wonderful work that it does. We are grateful for each of you and encourage you to participate, become involved, and socialize with your familia. The DHBA is only growing, getting stronger—we’re excited that we’ve seen substantial increases in our membership numbers, we’ve raised record-setting donations for our incredible initiatives, including for the DHBA’s pipeline initiative, the Dallas Latina Leadership Program, and our Judicial Externship Program.

Throughout my years of service on the DHBA Board, I’ve had the honor of meeting and having long discussions with our DHBA members. In those discussions, I often hear about how the DHBA has impacted our members, many times in different ways. For some, the DHBA has been an organization that has introduced them to other attorneys with similar backgrounds that have resulted in long-lasting, inspiring friendships/mentorships. For others, the DHBA is an organization that has rallied behind causes and initiatives that inspired our members to participate and become more involved in our Dallas-Hispanic community.

For me, the DHBA has always felt like home, like family. My first introduction to the DHBA was in law school when I attended Texas A&M University of Law. I was a single mother, juggling raising an 8-year-old son, trying to get through my law school courses, and keeping up a comfortable household for the both of us. Scholarships were game-changers. The DHBA awarded me one of my first scholarships in law school—and to this day—I remember how excited I was to receive those funds. It was a relief. I needed and the DHBA responded. That’s familia. After graduating and moving to Dallas, the DHBA became an organization of support and comfort. I’ve met so many life-long friends/colleagues through this organization that I consider familia.

It is truly inspirational to hear (and experience) how the DHBA has impacted our members’ law practice and lives. We want to continue to do so. So, join us! Come celebrate with us! We are excited about this upcoming year and look forward to working with our members to reach our goals and continue our mission.

Carla Green 

2023 DHBA President

Border Crisis Volunteer Opportunities

Monday, July 02, 2018 7:48 PM | Matthew Phillips

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The Dallas Hispanic Bar Association continues to strongly condemn the Trump Administration’s separation and detention of more than 2,000 children seeking entry into the U.S. along our southern border. Our members have responded to this alarming and unacceptable injustice with compassion, seeking ways in which volunteer attorneys can assist immigrants and their children. The DHBA issues this list of volunteer opportunities, both here in the DFW area and near the border, to assist members who are seeking to help.

DFW Area Volunteer Opportunities

Our local non-profit immigration legal services providers have been assisting immigrant families and unaccompanied children seeking protection from harm for many years. Please consider volunteering your time or your resources locally.

  • Human Rights Initiative provides legal and support services to refugees and immigrants who have suffered human rights abuses. This includes representing immigrants in applications for asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, U visas, and VAWA. HRI also serves a local shelter for unaccompanied minors, where the agency has already seen children separated from their parents. Volunteers (particularly bilingual individuals) are needed to assist with administrative and translation work, and to accept pro bono cases for vulnerable clients, particularly children. Please contact Layne Faulkner at lfaulkner@hrionline.org.
  • RAICES provides free and low cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees in Texas. The organization has also recently created a National Families Together Hotline to assist families who have been separated in reuniting. The local office needs volunteers, particularly bilingual volunteers, to staff regularly held asylum clinics. Additionally, the local office needs volunteers to assist with the cases of parents and children who have been released at the border and relocated to the Dallas area. Attorneys can take a case pro bono or assist with research or briefing for ongoing RAICES cases. RAICES also has volunteer opportunities with its south Texas offices, which serve the family immigration detention facilities at Karnes and Dilley. Please call 214-295-9554.
  • Catholic Charities provides free and low cost legal services to immigrants in need of legal representation in wide range of immigration matters. Catholic Charities is currently seeking both non-immigration attorneys (once trained) and immigration attorneys to accept pro bono, limited representation of immigrant detainees in Custody and Bond Redetermination applications. For attorneys with immigration experience, Catholic Charities is also seeking volunteers to accept pro bono cases for removal defense, particularly asylum, in the Dallas Immigration Court.  Please contact Lacy de la Garza at ldelagarza@ccdallas.org.

Additional Volunteer Opportunities

The Texas Civil Rights Project is seeking Spanish-speaking attorneys to represent immigrant families at risk of deportation, primarily in South Texas. The Mexican American Legislative Caucus is organizing pro bono attorneys to volunteer with this organization. Potential volunteers can register here.

The Texas State bar has compiled an excellent list of opportunities for volunteer attorneys in Texas, including several opportunities for attorneys who are able to travel to the border to provide services to immigrant families and unaccompanied children.

Suggested Organizations for Donations

Many attorneys may want to help, but have limited time. Please consider supporting our immigration non-profit organizations in the vital work that they do every day on behalf of vulnerable children and families.

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