At Waterloo Listens’ third General Assembly of 2025, local attorney Marleen Menendez Suarez delivered an impassioned and eye-opening address on her experiences supporting individuals and families facing uncertain citizenship status. Her talk can be viewed on YouTube.
Ms. Suarez shared her journey becoming a criminal defense attorney and how this led her to work in immigration law. She highlighted the mounting barriers immigrants face when seeking citizenship, emphasizing that many of these hurdles are new, and were not faced by earlier generations whose descendants now consider the U.S. home.
She clarified the differences between various visa types and explained distinctions among immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. Notably, she shed light on how a shortage of lawyers results in inadequate representation, with even basic legal protections often neglected by courts and law enforcement.
One of the talk’s most heartbreaking moments came when Ms. Suarez described how parents arrested and unwillingly deported are legally declared to have “abandoned” their U.S.-born, citizen children. These family separations happen with little process, leaving the children in the foster care system. To address this, Ms. Suarez helps clients create standby guardianships—a legal tool allowing parents to designate, in advance, trusted relatives, neighbors, or others to care for their children if the worst happens.
Ms. Suarez stressed that these are ordinary families striving for a better life, but current policies frequently inflict needless harm, breaking America’s promise of liberty and justice for all. She described witnessing the deliberate and unnecessary cruelty of ICE agents toward families, including children.
She also shared stories from her work, such as when a guardianship workshop scattered in fear after several black SUVs were spotted nearby—participants worried about an imminent ICE raid. In another case, she thwarted a St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer’s attempt to trick a man, using a official traffic ticket, into attending an immigration office instead of traffic court.
Following her talk, Ms. Suarez answered audience questions.
To help families like those Ms. Suarez serves, consider visiting and donating to the Migrant and Immigrant Community Action Project.
To learn more about Ms. Suarez's work, see news coverage from St. Louis Public Radio and the Belleville New-Democrat.