[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-605508-105":59,"doc-detail-605508-en":122},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":115,"head_meta":117,"extra_data":119,"updated_unix":121},105,"en","defending-the-unpopular-immigrant","Defending the Unpopular Immigrant","","Undocumented immigrants and criminally convicted immigrants often lack public support, facing harsh exclusion and criminalization. Through Bill Ong Hing’s account, the Cabral family—arriving from Mexico in 1974—endures a 4 a.m. federal raid, detention, fear, and traumatic consequences. With limited rights under federal law, counsel prepares for deportation by challenging how statements were obtained and arguing for moral, ethical handling of real human beings. The narrative highlights eventual legalization after the 1986 Immigration Reform Control Act.",{"@graph":69,"@context":114},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/defending-the-unpopular-immigrant/605508/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/defending-the-unpopular-immigrant/605508.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Jasmine","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-16",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why did Hing and the family plan to refuse admitting deportability at the deportation hearing?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They hoped to prevent their arrest-time statements from being introduced by objecting that the statements were obtained during an illegal search and seizure.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":116,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":118,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":120,"site_id":62},605508,1792457601,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":123},{"doc_id":120,"user_id":124,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":125,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":126,"file_id":127,"file_url":128,"file_type":129,"file_size":130,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":131,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":132,"faqs":133,"seo_title":134,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":135,"read_time":136},2336478487870,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","Defending the Unpopular Immigrant  \nPHOTO COURTESY OF THE CABRAL FAMILY  \nDefending the Unpopular Immigrant  \nBill Ong Hing  \nUndocumented immigrants and immigrants con  \nvicted of crimes have never been very popular. I  \nrecall an old book titled Attorney for the Damned about the famous courtroom attorney Clarence Darrow, who represented some very unpopular people during his career. I’m certainly not a Clarence Darrow; however, over the course of my career, my time in immigration courts has been spent representing and working with individuals and families that are among the most unpopular groups in the United States today — undocumented immigrants from Mexico and legal residents (“green card” holders) who have been convicted of crimes. We are a nation of immigrants, yet we are also a nation that goes through evil cycles of anti-immigrant fervor. But even in the best of times, the so-called “illegal” immigrants and criminal aliens don’t have much support in the eyes of the public.  \n [asianamericanedu.org](asianamericanedu.org) [2](2 aasc.ucla.edu)[ aasc.ucla.edu](2 aasc.ucla.edu)  \nPHOT O COURTESY O F THE C A B R A L FAMILY  \nLa Migra Bangs on the Door at 4 a.m.  \nThe Cabral family moved to San Jose, Cali  \nfornia, in 1974 from Mexico, about the time  \nI was graduating from law school. The father of the family, Felipe, was a baker in a local panaderia, a Mexican pastry shop. Lucrecia, the mother, was a stay-at-home mom, and they had four children —two daughters and two sons. The family entered illegally by paying a smuggler to help them cross the border, in Felipe’s words, to seek “a better life.” But a couple years later, someone—a “friend” or enemy or neighbor or co-worker—reported them to federal immigration agents, la migra, as they are called in the Mexican community.  \nThe arrest was rude. It came at four in the morning, when agents surrounded the house and pounded on the front door. After several minutes, Sylvia, oneof the daughters, answered the door and denied that anyone else was home. But the agents busted in, and eventually found the rest of the family hiding under the house. Everyone was arrested and dragged into federal detention. This was on May 20, 1976, and a couple days later I met the Cabral family when I was doing my rounds as a legal services attorney assigned to interview immigrants who had been taken into custody by la migra. Another daughter, Maria Reyna,  \nwho was seventeen at the time of the raid, recently told me that “the incident was the most terrifying and traumatic experience of [her] life.” For a longtime, Maria Reyna “couldn’t sleep and was often depressed.”  \nUndocumented Under Federal Law  \nWe have the power to exclude, to punish and  \nto criminalize these border crossers. But  \nthat power must be implemented morally and ethically with an understanding that we are dealing with real human beings.  \nUnfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot that could be asserted on behalf of the Cabral family given the lack of rights provided to undocumenteds under federal law. In those days, it was easy enough to convince an immigration judge to allow Lucrecia and the children out of custody pending the deportation hearing, and Felipe was also released after the family came up with $2,000 bail. So at least, the family was out of custody as we prepared for the deportation hearing.  \nI remember visiting the family in San Jose on a Sunday afternoon to prepare for the hearing. They showed me around the house and the trap door that family members had used to hide under the house. They were upset about how the agents pushed their  \n“We are a nation of immigrants, yet  we are also a nation that goes through  evil cycles of anti-immigrant fervor.”  \nPhoto: Felipe Cabral, at work at a Mexican bakery in San Jose, California.  \n [asianamericanedu.org](asianamericanedu.org) [3](3 aasc.ucla.edu)[ aasc.ucla.edu](3 aasc.ucla.edu)  \nway into the house at 4 a.m. and wanted to at least develop a strategy where they could compla","cbCaiolGaNyoI6gI","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiolGaNyoI6gI","pdf",755942,"English","# Defending the Unpopular Immigrant\n## The Cabral family raid and detention\n## Undocumented immigrants under federal law\n## Legal strategy and appeals\n## Legalization and lasting impact","[{\"question\":\"Why did Hing and the family plan to refuse admitting deportability at the deportation hearing?\",\"answer\":\"They hoped to prevent their arrest-time statements from being introduced by objecting that the statements were obtained during an illegal search and seizure.\"}]","Defending the Unpopular Immigrant | PDF",1792132447,25]