Allegra Love is an immigration lawyer who for nearly 20 years has been on the front lines of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity by providing legal assistance to immigrants in Santa Fe and across New Mexico.

On the latest episode of the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast, Love joins Santa Fe New Mexican politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to discuss the impact of the uptick in ICE arrests during President Donald Trump’s second administration and the toll it is having on immigrant communities.

Love works with Las Cumbres Community Services to provide rapid response legal services for people whose family members have been arrested by ICE. She discusses her experiences fighting for immigrants’ rights and her perspective on the Trump administration’s narrative that ICE is only going after “the worst of the worst.”

Love brings up the case of Edgar Chacon-Miranda, a Santa Fe resident who has legal status in the United States but was still arrested by ICE and detained for 30 days before being released. Love talks about how such actions impact families, noting the loss of income suffered by Chacon-Miranda’s family while he was in detention and unable to work, and the fear experienced by his daughters as they didn’t know what was going to happen with their father.

Also a public elementary school teacher, Love shares how she got involved in immigration issues and describes the emotional struggles of her work as an immigration attorney.

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