East Texas volunteers help Tyler families amid increased immigration enforcement

Published 5:30 am Friday, February 28, 2025

Volunteer Gilbert Urbina Jr. came out to help people at the Power of Attorney event on Sunday, Feb. 23. (Raquel Villatoro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

As fears of deportation and uncertainty affect the immigrant community, local organizers worked together to organize a one-stop shop with lawyers and notaries to help educate and prepare families at St. Peter Claver Church.

Over 30 volunteers, including law firms and notaries, recently gathered to help families fill out Power of Attorney forms to help children of undocumented immigrants.

“We want to make sure that parents have peace of mind that their U.S. citizen children are going to be cared for by the person of their choice,” said Nick Pesina of Pesina Law Firm.

When people walked in at the Feb. 23 event, they checked in at the front with volunteers. Tyler resident and community organizer Paulina Pedroza was one of multiple volunteers working at the event. She greeted families in Spanish and walked them through the process.

Afterwards, families filled out intake forms with the help of a volunteer. The forms were looked over to verify the information is accurate. Families were then taken to a document prep area, where they completed additional documents such as a caregiver resource form. Next, families met with a lawyer and then a notary.



Lawyers volunteered their time to help the community. The lawyers present were Longview area immigration lawyer Jose Sanchez, Eric Antunez of Antunez Law Firm, Melannie Cuellar of the Hammond Law Firm, and Lisa Moran of the Moran Law Firm.

At the event, Pedroza noticed mothers come with tears in their eyes because they never thought they would be in a situation where may have to give their children to someone else.

“This is hurting our kids,” Pedroza said. “The kids in school, they’re going to show up in classes having the anguish of their family; (going to) work, our immigrant community that’s driving is going to have accidents because we’re not focused. One thing comes with the other. It’s like a domino effect.”

In the first three hours of the event, volunteers saw 30 families. The goal was to impact 100 families. They were able to do 60 Power of Attorney forms and reach 314 people. The main reason the event was organized was to protect children. Many have seen the worries of family members regarding deportations.

“They should be worried about being children and learning and doing good in school and playing and doing whatever it is that the kids do,” Pesina said. “But making sure that we can at least give them that peace of mind even if it’s through the parents. That there’s a lot of people in this community that support them and that want them to be OK and look out for them.”

Tyler is home to a growing Latino community from Mexico, Central America and South America. Many have businesses and families. However, many live in uncertainty due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“We just need a pathway, one opportunity to let us demonstrate how beneficial we are to this country and what we are ready to show for the ones who have been well behaved,” Pedroza said.

In the future, volunteers hope to do more events such as this. Pedroza hopes to see church leaders step up.

“This is the opportunity for our church leaders, pastors (to do something),” Pedroza said. “Fathers, here was the first event. May it be the same in all your congregations.”