When news broke about families being detained and separated at the Texas-Mexico border, 29 lawyers from five different Hogan Lovells offices traveled to the state for a week in July to offer pro bono legal services at one of the family residential centers.
Our days were long and exhausting, both physically and emotionally. We walked through the metal detectors each morning at 7 a.m., wary of what the day would bring. Over the course of a 13-hour shift, we listened to a seemingly unending stream of stories recounting shockingly graphic violence. And we listened again the next day, and the next. The days went on, but the room never cleared. There were always women and children sitting in chairs, looking up as we walked by, hoping we’d call their names.
