A U.S. Border Patrol truck enters the Port Isabel Detention Center near Los Fresnos, Texas,, which holds detainees of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on June 26, 2018. Photo: David J. Phillip/AP

A group of Big Law attorneys are back in New York and Washington, D.C., after a weeklong trip to Texas to represent men in asylum cases in an immigration detention center.

The eight lawyers from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson were volunteering with the American Bar Association's Harlingen-based South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, or ProBAR, to represent clients in the Port Isabel Service Processing Center near Los Fresnos. A group of more than 80 lawyers and support staff assisted their efforts remotely from the firm's offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and London.

Texas Lawyer spoke with Fried Frank senior counsel Gail Weinstein, who coordinated the pro bono effort, about the lawyers' work, results and the toll it took. Here are here answers, edited for brevity and clarity.

Gail Weinstein, senior counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, New York.

How many clients did you help in the Port Isabel detention facility?

I think we saw about 15 clients. We helped all of them by talking to them and listening to them and being nice to them. That alone was a really positive part of what we were doing. It's very hard to obtain any kind of victories, whether getting released from the detention center or prevailing on the ultimate asylum case. It really was meaningful to people that there were people trying to help them, and their chances were being raised above zero by having legal representation.

There is one person who has been released because of our efforts—we were incredibly gratified about it—a 21 year old man.

What was your daily schedule like?

We went to the detention center every day and spent most of the day at the detention center. We spoke with each of our clients every day. Most days we heard about a situation that we added to our list because it was such a compelling situation. We wanted to see if we could do something about it. At the end of the day, we would leave and get something to eat, and work through the evening.

One evening, we didn't work and crossed an official port of entry in Brownsville and went to the other side in Mexico, where there is an encampment of 150 to 250 people sitting on the ground waiting because of the current metering situation, where only a few people can cross the border. … The people we talked to had been there waiting many months already. There were few shelters there—mostly, people just wait on the streets. We brought dinner for those people and brought some supplies and food, and just talked to them and answered legal questions.

How did you feel about what you saw there?

I felt that it's very important to give voice to people who don't have a voice within our system. It's very important for lawyers to stand up to ensure that, whatever we're doing, we are complying with our laws.

From left to right: Karen Grisez (public service counsel), Fabiola Villamil (summer associate), Trent Pacer (summer associate), Rodolfo Martinez-Don (summer associate), Daniel Carlen (summer associate), Priscilla Hamilton (summer associate), Robert Engelke (associate) and Gail Weinstein (senior counsel).

What was the emotional impact from this trip on you and your lawyers?

It's a really difficult emotional thing to hear the stories of what happened to these people in their home countries.Then they have the journey to the United States, which is beyond words in terms of its difficulties and the horrendous things that happen to people on the journey. Then what happens to people here in detention, and some of the conditions they face and difficult legal situations they are in after all that. These are not people who appeared to be criminals or hardened men or dangerous and scary. Just the opposite:. Every one of them was the most lovely person you've ever met. Many of them were so young: 16, 17, 18 years old, in this adult facility. They are all grateful and soft-spoken. It is an emotionally grueling experience. But you think of how grueling the experience is for them, and you carry on.