Challenging ICE Detention and Expedited Removal: Federal Court Strategies for the New Front Line

Paul “Woody” Scott | The Scott Law Firm LLC

Paul “Woody” Scott is the founding member of The Scott Law Firm, with offices in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, Louisiana. A Honduran-born, fluent Spanish-speaking attorney, he focuses his practice on immigration law, deportation and removal defense, federal immigration litigation, and criminal defense. His personal connection to the immigration experience — having watched family members navigate the system firsthand — drives a client centered approach grounded in passion, preparation, and personalized representation.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. Scott earned his Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Civil Law from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University. He completed graduate studies in International and Latin American Law at Universidad Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, holds a B.A. in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from LSU, and previously studied international politics at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state and municipal courts, all federal courts in Louisiana, the U.S.

• Recognition & Leadership

Mr. Scott has secured published precedent decisions before the Board of Immigration Appeals, including Matter of Flores-Aguirre, 26 I&N Dec. 155 (BIA 2013) and Matter of Diaz-Garcia, 25 I&N Dec. 794 (BIA 2012). He has been featured in Solo by Choice, The Companion Guide: 34 Questions That Could Transform Your Legal Career by Carolyn Elefant and authored The Guatemala Genocide Cases: Universal Jurisdiction and Its Limits.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. Scott is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (LACDL), and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). He also serves the Spanish-speaking community as a regular guest on Radio Amor and La Nueva and is a contributing writer for the Raising the Bar Foundation.

• Experience

Before founding The Scott Law Firm, Mr. Scott practiced as an associate attorney at Jeri Flynn & Associates APLC in Baton Rouge and served as a contract attorney with the Legal Orientation Program in Jena, Louisiana. His firm handles the full spectrum of immigration matters — from deportation and removal defense to family-based immigration, employment-based visas and federal immigration litigation including mandamus actions — alongside criminal defense and personal injury practice.

Laura Lunn | Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
(RMIAN)

Laura Lunn is the Director of Advocacy & Litigation at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), where she leads cutting-edge litigation and advocacy on behalf of detained immigrants in Colorado and beyond. A nationally recognized voice on immigration detention, due process, and federal court litigation, she has spent nearly a decade representing clients held at the Aurora Contract Detention Facility and shaping the legal response to mass enforcement actions, family separation, and unlawful detention practices.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Lunn earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Peace & Conflict Studies from Colgate University. She has served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), giving her direct insight into the immigration court system from the bench’s perspective.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Lunn has led precedent-setting litigation in the federal District Court for the District of Colorado, including securing the preliminary injunction blocking ICE from conducting warrantless arrests in Colorado without a probable-cause determination. She has obtained the release of high-profile detained clients and has won federal court orders in cases involving torture survivors held without due process.

• Professional Involvement

She is a frequent speaker, panelist, and media commentator on immigration detention, federal court litigation, and ICE enforcement practices, and has appeared in outlets including CBS News, Colorado Politics, and Unsettled: Immigration in Turbulent Times podcast hosted by RMIAN founding board member Hiroshi Motomura. She co-leads RMIAN’s collaboration with the Colorado Bar Association CLE program, including a half-day training on representing clients in habeas petitions before the District of Colorado.

• Experience

Ms. Lunn has served as Director of Advocacy & Litigation and Detention Program Managing Attorney at RMIAN since August 2016, building the organization’s litigation docket into a leading force on detention related federal court practice in the Rocky Mountain region. Her prior experience includes serving as
Interim Managing Attorney at the CARA Pro Bono Project (representing detained mothers and children at the South Texas Family Residential Center), Associate Attorney at Lichter Immigration, PC and at Immigrant Law Group, PC, and Judicial Law Clerk at EOIR.

Gracie Willis | National Immigration Project

Gracie H. Willis is a Raids Response Attorney at the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), where she litigates, advocates, and trains attorneys on the front lines of immigration enforcement. Based in Atlanta, she has built a national reputation for federal court litigation challenging unlawful detention, expedited removal, and ICE enforcement practices, and has served as a leading voice in high-profile cases involving the deportation of U.S. citizen children and the unlawful removal of families denied due process.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Willis earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School (2015) and a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola University Chicago. She is admitted to practice in Texas (licensed November 2015) and Georgia, and is admitted to the Middle, Southern, and Northern District Courts in her practice jurisdictions
for federal court litigation.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Willis has been a leading attorney and public spokesperson on landmark cases challenging ICE’s deportation of U.S. citizen children and detained families held incommunicado in Louisiana. She has appeared as a featured commentator on Democracy Now! and has been quoted in national outlets including The Appeal and major broadcast media on issues ranging from ICE detention abuses at Winn Correctional Center to the unlawful deportation of mothers and U.S.-citizen toddlers.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Willis is a frequent CLE faculty member and trainer for the immigration bar. She has presented at the National Immigration Project’s Spring Virtual CLE Seminar on immigration habeas litigation — covering topics including the impact of Jennings v. Rodriguez and DHS v. Thuraissigiam, exhaustion of remedies, motions for orders to show cause, TROs and preliminary injunctions, negotiating with Assistant U.S. Attorneys, and tailoring filings for magistrate versus district judges.

• Experience

She joined NIPNLG as Raids Response Attorney following her tenure at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she served as Senior Lead Attorney with the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative. At SPLC, she developed creative litigation challenging policies that block asylum seekers from meaningful court access, represented and supported pro se individuals detained by ICE in federal court detention challenges, and engaged in non-litigation advocacy with coalition partners.

SESSION 1 – Detention Authority, Expedited Removal, and Due Process | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

Examine the detention authorities ICE invokes today, including INA §§ 235(b), 236(a), and 236(c), the Laken Riley Act, and nationwide expedited removal. Learn to assess bond eligibility, identify removal risk, and preserve the record before clients are transferred.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Habeas Corpus, Federal Court Strategy, and Practice-Ready Tools | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

Address habeas petitions, APA challenges, and emergency injunctive relief when clients face imminent removal. Cover case resolution, long-term impact, EAJA fee recovery, ethics, jurisdictional considerations, and practice-ready takeaways for high-stakes detained cases under emergency conditions.