Paul Hunker's Journey ICE Agent to Immigration Attorney | Immigration Nation Podcast |

Описание: Dive into an exclusive conversation with Paul Hunker, former Chief Counsel of ICE, as he shares his unique journey from federal prosecutor to private attorney. Discover his views on Parole in Place, election issues, and border challenges.
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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:02 Background
6:19 Parole in Place
10:23 2024 Elections
13:39 Reopening Cases
14:38 Consultations
22:19 Family Separation
22:53 Immigration Capacity
23:50 Contact Information
24:20 Closing Remarks
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Welcome to Immigration Nation, the podcast that dives deep into the complex and often misunderstood world of United States immigration.

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https://immigrationnationpodcast.com

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All episodes can be found on your preferred podcast platform (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more)
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Through interviews with leading US immigration attorneys, this podcast aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the policies, struggles and victories within the ever changing world of immigration. Each episode will offer fresh perspectives and valuable insight using real life stories to navigate our nation's immigration system. If you have an immigration question or an existing case, join us here on immigration nation because this podcast was made for you.
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This podcast has been prepared for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.
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Transcript:
Hello, I'm Scott Berry, your host of Immigration Nation. I'm your co-host, Lucine Aghajanyan, founder and owner of LT Global Practice Management. Today, we have a widely unique attorney, Paul Hunker, that’s joined us today to talk about Parole in Place, election issues, border issues. So we're really excited to have Paul with us today. He's a former chief counsel and now a practicing attorney. Thank you, Paul. Thank you, Lucine, and thank you, Scott. It's great to have you here. So I'm going to set this up really great for you Paul. Because you are unlike any attorney that we've ever had on the show. And we've had people from all over the U.S. There's something special about you that gives you a unique perspective and I want the legal consumers, the people who are looking for immigration attorneys. I want them to understand why what you say is something they really need to listen to. So to make that real, when you talk to us about your career and we're going to set that up that way because yours is different than virtually everybody else is. Sure, Scott. So I went to law school, graduated in ‘92 from Georgetown, and while I was at Georgetown, I interned with the Immigration Naturalization Service. I was hired through the Attorney General Honors program. So I started with the immigration service in 1992 in Dallas and had different positions ever since. And 2003, I became the chief counsel of ICE after we became the Department of Homeland Security. And so up until January 31st, 2024, I was the chief counsel of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And on February 1st, I was in private practice. I’m working for a law firm called De Mott, Curtright and Armendáriz. I'm a partner. We’re about 14 attorneys and most of our attorneys are in San Antonio. We've attorneys in Austin and Houston, and I'm the one attorney in Dallas. You just opened that office up? Correct. Just opened it up. So for the first time ever, someone that was working for Homeland Security and ICE, chief counsel, other side of the aisle if you would. Now, you're actually available for people, for non citizens that need immigration help. They can actually come to you now for the first time ever. That's correct. I remember in my last day in the office, I was finishing things up like 10:30 at night. I'd leave my credentials, leave my badge, lock the door, lock the alarm, the door closes. And I'm like, I am no longer chief counsel of ICE. And the next morning at 8:30, I had my first consultation. So to kind of just summarize that, because it's a complicated thing if you've never even heard of it, is that Paul used to be on the other side representing the United States, if you were potentially getting removed. That's correct. I was the head lawyer. I was the head prosecutor. And so we're like, maybe you could think of us... I still say us. Being with the government for 30 years, it’s hard to break that habit. I say we when I talk about the government, but we're like criminal prosecutors.