Tess Hellgren
Attorney and Director of Legal Advocacy at Innovation Law Lab, focused on immigrants’ rights through strategic federal litigation, community-facing legal resources, and advocacy involving detention, deportation proceedings, asylum, Remain in Mexico, and related immigration-court issues.
Oregon Lawyers Challenge ICE Detentions That Outrun Access to Counsel
Bloomberg Investigates follows Portland-based Innovation Law Lab as it challenges the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement in court and tries to free detainees before transfer or fast-track deportation makes relief harder to obtain. The lawyers’ central argument is that due process is being eroded not only by arrests and detention, but by speed: immigrants may have formal rights, they say, yet be unable to exercise them without timely access to counsel. DHS disputes that account, saying ICE does not deny counsel as a matter of policy and that any denials are isolated or justified.
ICE Courthouse Arrests Turn Case Dismissals Into Fast-Track Deportations
Bloomberg Investigates follows Portland legal aid group Innovation Law Lab as it challenges the Department of Homeland Security over President Donald Trump’s deportation campaign. The lawyers argue that ICE is turning immigration court appearances into arrest opportunities by seeking dismissals, detaining people after hearings and moving them into faster deportation proceedings with fewer rights. Executive director Stephen Manning frames the fight as a due-process battle over whether immigrants can still use the legal system without being exposed to detention.