Students from St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami Gardens who spent a week at the Karnes Detention Center in Texas say the experience taught them something law books don’t usually spell out.

The group of 12 provided legal help to more than 50 different fathers and sons who’d been separated at the U.S. border. They worked in partnership with Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a nonprofit organization inside the detention center that provides free or low-cost legal aid to immigrants.