Michael Avenatti, who’s recently made a living on TV arguing against President Trump in his role as porn star Stormy Daniels’ lawyer, has shifted his attention to another lightning rod issue: immigration.
But Avenatti said the issue isn’t new to him and that he’s worked on immigration issues during the many years of his legal career.
[Related: Michael Avenatti heads to Phoenix to meet with children separated from mothers at the border]
“I was contacted about a family from California who had a relative, a mother, that had been detained with her child and had her child taken from her, and they asked us to get involved with the case,” Avenatti told the Washington Examiner this week.
“And then, I sent out a tweet announcing that I was getting involved with the fight,” he said. “We’ve now been retained by over 70 children, 60 mothers.”
Last week, he tweeted that he met with more than a dozen detained mothers in California and Texas, and said he’s helping them find their separated children. “The sadness and pain they are experiencing cannot be described. We will not rest until this policy is changed,” he wrote
Today, we met with 12 more detained mothers one on one in CA and TX to hear their stories and agree to assist them in their efforts to find their children. The sadness and pain they are experiencing cannot be described. We will not rest until this policy is changed. #Basta
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 20, 2018
I have witnessed a lot of drama, pain, and sadness in my legal career. And I have had many moments of doing everything in my power to hold myself together. I have never witnessed anything this upsetting. I will never forget. Toughest day of my career by far. Perhaps of my life.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 20, 2018
Avenatti tweeted extensively about immigration over the last few days, and issued warnings to both President Trump and his Democratic opponents. On Friday, he mocked Trump for criticizing press reports about “phony stories of sadness and grief,” and said Trump is “weak and ignorant” about the plight of separated immigrant families.
“Phony stories of sadness and grief”?!?!?!?! Why doesn’t Mr. Trump show some guts & join me for the next 5 mother client interviews I conduct about their missing children. Then we can see what he is really made of. In reality, he is weak and ignorant.
Total embarrassment. #Basta— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 22, 2018
But he also criticized the Left for not focusing enough on these families.
If the left is not careful, they will overplay their hand on the border issue and squander the goodwill that America feels towards these families. Now is NOT the time to try and leverage this in an effort to solve all of the important immigration issues. Reunite families first.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) June 23, 2018
The lawyer said his firm in California receives 50 to 75 calls daily of people that want representation in various issues. But Avenatti said the idea that he has “shifted his focus” away from Daniels is not true.
“We have a very active litigation practice, we are not shifting focus from anything else,” he said.
His next step in his immigration advocacy include pushing for a single staging area for immigrant families that he says will start the process of reuniting families.
Last week, the Trump administration announced it was asking a federal judge to modify an old settlement that prevents federal authorities from detaining an undocumented family together for more than 20 days. The administration has said that settlement is what forces families to be separated now that Trump is pushing for the prosecution of all illegal immigrant adults, including those who enter the U.S. with children.
“I’m strongly advocating for a single staging area to be developed for a single location. So these mothers can be reunited with their children,” he said, which can help them be reunited “as soon as possible.”
Avenatti said the reunification of these families is something Trump has not addressed yet. The executive order, Avenatti said, “Potentially stops the process of what was being implemented, but it does nothing to reunite these families.”
“I’m in the process of discussing [the single staging area] with various individuals of the government, but I want to bring public awareness about it,” he said, noting that he’ll be in Texas next Tuesday for that purpose.
