Immigration Lawyer Kathleen Martinez on Green Cards, Deportation Myths & Fighting ICE in Pink

Summary

Barely Famous Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title: Immigration Lawyer Kathleen Martinez on Green Cards, Deportation Myths & Fighting ICE in Pink
Host: Kail Lowry
Release Date: May 2, 2025

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Introduction to Kathleen Martinez

In this compelling episode of Barely Famous, host Kail Lowry welcomes immigration lawyer Kathleen Martinez—a recognizable figure from Instagram, TikTok, and the broader immigration community. Their conversation delves deep into immigration laws, debunking myths, and the personal journey that led Kathleen to advocate fiercely for immigrants.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “[...] I became a happy lawyer. When you're a family lawyer, you're a not so happy lawyer. But immigration made me happy because I was making people happy.”
[02:13]

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Kathleen's Journey into Immigration Law

Kathleen shares her path from college to becoming an immigration attorney. Initially working in family law, she found greater fulfillment in immigration cases, driven by her interactions with undocumented immigrants during her studies. This shift not only brought her personal satisfaction but also deepened her empathy and understanding of her clients' struggles.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “I didn’t really know anything about immigration until I met someone that I was involved with… I became more empathetic and understanding to how they got here and why they were undocumented.”
[02:13]

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Debunking Immigration Myths

The episode tackles pervasive misconceptions about immigrants, such as the belief that they don't contribute to society or pay taxes. Kathleen vehemently counters these myths, emphasizing that America’s foundation is built on immigration and that immigrants are integral to various industries like construction and landscaping.

Notable Quotes:
Kathleen Martinez: “Immigrants are not criminals; they are here to contribute and provide for their families.”
[04:23]

Kail Lowry: “America is built off immigration, right? Everything we have today is because our country was built off immigrants.”
[03:36]

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Navigating the Green Card and Visa Process

Kathleen outlines the arduous process of obtaining green cards and work visas, highlighting the limitations within the current system. She explains that legal immigration primarily occurs through employer sponsorship or family connections, making it exceptionally competitive and often inaccessible for those without specific qualifications.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “You can’t really earn your way to legal status. It’s a lot like the employer has to say, I literally could not find an American citizen that's like, that's eligible.”
[06:50]

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Impact of Political Administrations on Immigration

A significant portion of the discussion centers on how different U.S. administrations shape immigration policies. Kathleen criticizes the Trump administration for its fear-mongering tactics and inconsistent enforcement strategies, such as mass deportations and restrictive executive orders, which complicate the lives of millions of immigrants.

Notable Quote:
Kail Lowry: “Trump promised mass deportation to his base, which is 11 million people. Not gonna happen.”
[17:43]

Kathleen Martinez: “Trump writes new executive orders every five seconds. It’s like writing temper tantrums.”
[23:35]

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Kathleen’s Innovative Approach to Law Practice

Kathleen distinguishes her practice by emphasizing relatability and empathy. Breaking away from the conservative, often unapproachable image of traditional law firms, she incorporates elements like the color pink into her branding to make her firm more welcoming. This unique approach has resonated with a diverse client base, particularly women seeking a more personable legal representative.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “I want to change the field of law. I want to be living proof that you can look a certain way and be good at your job and win cases in court.”
[15:02]

Kail Lowry: “Do you find it hard for people to take you seriously?”
[14:48]
Kathleen Martinez: “Oh, 100%. The legal field is so conservative, built towards white men. I embrace being different to surprise people.”
[15:02]

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Balancing Social Media and Legal Practice

Kathleen discusses the challenges and responsibilities of maintaining a strong social media presence while practicing law. She strives to educate the public without crossing into providing specific legal advice, ensuring her content remains informative and compliant with legal standards.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “I have to be very general. I say this is not legal advice, but people assume that everything's legal advice.”
[22:32]

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Support System and Firm’s Growth

Kathleen attributes her success to her supportive husband and a dedicated team of 45 employees who work remotely. This flexible, home-based structure allows her firm to thrive, especially during the pandemic, and supports employees who are mothers and students.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “My husband is my number one supporter. He encouraged me to make pink my brand even in Dallas, a very conservative area.”
[29:50]

Kail Lowry: “How do your kids feel about it?”
[34:21]
Kathleen Martinez: “They are so cool. My husband supports everything I do, and our kids see that support.”
[35:24]

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Advocacy and Educational Efforts

Kathleen emphasizes the importance of education in changing public perceptions about immigrants. Through her social media platforms, she shares case studies, legal insights, and the human stories behind immigration statistics, aiming to foster understanding and dismantle biases.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “I want to put a name to a face, explain how much they contribute, and show that they aren’t criminals.”
[49:52]

Kail Lowry: “What can people expect to see on your page?”
[49:42]
Kathleen Martinez: “Educational content about immigration laws, debunking myths, and advocating for immigrants’ rights.”
[49:52]

---

Personal Anecdotes and Legal Challenges

Kathleen shares specific instances from her legal practice, including interactions with immigration officers and the emotional toll on her clients. She highlights the unethical practices some officers employ to coerce immigrants into dishonesty during interviews, underscoring the systemic issues within immigration enforcement.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “The interview asked if you committed a crime, trying to trick you into lying so they can deny you residency.”
[44:07]

Kail Lowry: “It’s terrifying for immigrants to navigate the system, especially in another language.”
[45:22]

---

Recognition and Future Goals

Kathleen reflects on the accolades she has received, including the Quality Business Award and Elite Lawyer Recognition, attributing her achievements to her dedicated team rather than herself alone. She aspires to continue growing her firm, employing more women, and expanding her impact within the immigration legal community.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “My team is the reason we're successful. They work day and night, and they're not the face.”
[36:04]

Kail Lowry: “What is the next step for your firm?”
[34:14]
Kathleen Martinez: “I want to grow as much as possible, employ more women, and help more clients.”
[34:14]

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Closing Remarks

The episode concludes with Kathleen Martinez emphasizing the importance of empathy, education, and systemic change within the immigration system. Her heartfelt insights provide listeners with a deeper understanding of the challenges immigrants face and the vital role of compassionate legal advocacy.

Notable Quote:
Kathleen Martinez: “We need to make it worthwhile and humanize the process for our clients.”
[42:03]

Kail Lowry: “I’m voting Kathleen for president. Thank you for coming on the podcast.”
[56:29]

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Conclusion

This episode of Barely Famous offers an intimate look into the life and work of Kathleen Martinez, an immigration lawyer dedicated to challenging stereotypes and advocating for immigrants' rights. Through engaging dialogue and personal stories, Kail Lowry and Kathleen Martinez shed light on the complexities of the immigration system, the importance of empathy in legal practice, and the power of education in fostering societal change.

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Connect with Kathleen Martinez:

• Instagram: KathleenMartinez
• TikTok: @KathleenMartinezLaw
• Website: KathleenMartinezLaw.com

For more episodes and updates, follow Barely Famous on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Kathleen Martinez]

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[K]

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[Kathleen Martinez]

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[Kathleen Martinez]

Thank you so much for having me.

[K]

Yeah, no, I followed you a long time ago, but with all of the immigration things that are happening, I got on TikTok and I was saying how I felt about what's going on and people really felt like I was speaking out of turn and I don't think that they recognize how much immigration impacts people who are not immigrants. But I would just love to go from start to finish with you about, you know, how you started and where you are now.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Sure, yeah. So I mean, when I was in law school or when I was in college actually, I went to school with a lot of undocumented immigrants in la and I really got to know them. I didn't really know anything about immigration until I met someone that was that I was involved with. You know, like whether it was my friends or my classmates or my co workers, I really learned about their stories and I kind of became more empathetic and understanding to how they got here and why they were undocumented. So I was definitely interested. And then I worked randomly at a family law firm and a lot of my clients, I did a lot of CPS cases because it was just a job that I got right. And then they would ask me, like, hey, can you help me out on my green card? Or on my daca? You're already my lawyer. And I was like, sure. And then the more I did it, the more I loved immigration because I became a happy lawyer. When you're a family lawyer, you're a not so happy lawyer. I've heard you're dealing with, like, litigious divorces and cps, and, you know, it's really hard and really stressful. But then I started making people happy. I would get them green cards. And I also fell in love with, like, immigrants. As, like, as people, as clients, because they were so. They were. They're the best clients. They're so grateful, so humble, so kind and so hardworking and just meeting people from multi, you know, from all walks of life. You learn so much from them that I'm like, this is why I'm a lawyer. Like, this is how I want to spend all my time is helping people like this.

[K]

No 100%. And I think that there's so many misconceptions surrounding the immigration process and immigrants as a whole. My who life. I've had people in my ear talk about, you know, people that, whether undocumented or documented, think that you don't contribute to society, don't pay taxes. I'm pretty sure, number one, America is built off immigration, right? Like, everything that we have to in today's society is because we are our country was built off immigrants. So that's number one. Number two, whether you're documented or undocumented, you pay taxes.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right?

[K]

And I think that so many people are like, they're freeloaders. What are you talking about? Where. When you go down the street, when people are going down the street. Street. The people that are working the hardest in construction, landscaping, and everywhere you look. They're immigrants.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, they're immigrants.

[K]

Like, what are you. I don't understand how you think they're not paying taxes.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I. I think it's. You know what I think it is? I think the people who are very anti immigration is because they. They've never met an immigrant. They live in small areas where, you know, there's just not a lot of diversity. They just don't know. They're ignorant because of that. And so instead of putting a face behind the name of an immigrant, they kind of see them. We call them that. We call it the boogeyman theory. Jasmine Crockett talked about it a lot where they don' Immigrants. So they kind of look at them as Criminals, like, not humans, right? They're like, you come here to commit crimes. That's what I heard on Facebook in my small town in Idaho. And that's how I'm going to believe. And you'll put so many facts in front of them, so many statistics, and they just won't hear it because it's. They don't really want to. They've already decided. So I think it's like just pure ignorance. Like, but you're. It's so crazy if you really think about it. Like, immigrants are not. You have to understand why immigrants come here. Right? They come here to contribute and to provide for their family. Right. Because they can't do it at home. They're unable to either, for safety reasons, the economy, whatever. They come here to control, literally, to work.

[K]

Literally.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So when they hire me, they're like, I just want a work permit. And because of the way that the immigration system is now, I can't give it to them. I'm like, I'm sorry, there's no way you can get a work permit. You have to get married. That's about it. So if you're coming here with your whole family, you're sort of screwed. Like, there's really no avenue for you. And that's been the problem since like the 80s. We don't have comprehensive immigration reform.

[K]

So, so what is, what is a typical, if there is such a thing, process in order to get a green card or a work visa or whatever it is, how do people come here? Documented, Right?

[Kathleen Martinez]

So I mean, you either come here through an employer which is very competitive, you have to be in a lottery system for like an employment based visa that will eventually turn into a green card. You have to have a certain degree. It's usually like engineers from like Asia and India brought over by like tech companies. Or you come here through family, right? So you get married to US citizen 90 day fiance kind of situation, or you have, your parents have status, they bring you over here, but that's it. You can't really earn your way to legal status.

[K]

Oh, you can't?

[Kathleen Martinez]

No.

[K]

I, I didn't know that. You couldn't, you couldn't just earn your way here and just like apply for it.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right? And I think that's the problem is a lot of people think, they say, why not just come here legally? And what is the, like a Venn diagram? Like, you can't just apply.

[K]

You can't?

[Kathleen Martinez]

No.

[K]

Okay, so what? Yeah, I guess. So what is the process? You, you have to like, have a.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Job, you have to have either an employer sponsor you after proving that you have, like, a master's degree or a graduate degree, the employer has to prove that, like, they tried to get the job to everybody else in the United States and they couldn't find someone to fit it. So it's a lot like the employer has to say, I literally could not find an American citizen that's like, that's eligible job. So then they petition for someone from another country, and it's usually because they're more educated, they know more than one language, they work twice as hard as Americans. Let's be real, right? If you're an employer, you want to hire an immigrant, and so you bring them over here. But that even takes years. That can take like five to seven years, right? Or you get married, right? You get married to a US Citizen.

[K]

But there's even. There's even a process for that, too, right? Like, the government will track your marriage to make sure it's legit, to make sure that you guys are actually married for the right reasons and not because you're doing this to give someone citizenship. Is that right?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. You have to prove that your marriage is real, not. You're. You're not committing marriage fraud. Right. Because that does happen. Like, marriage fraud does happen. And I. I think it happens because people really just want to come here and they can't use. It's like nepotism. Like, why do you have to marry into citizenship? Why? Like, everyone's saying, earn your right to be here, contribute to the economy, then we'll welcome you here. Why don't we give them the opportunity to do that? Why do you have to get married? It's so backwards.

[K]

Are there statistics that you know off the top of your head that are, you know, what percentage of immigrants are actually criminals? Because obviously we know that does exist.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I don't know the statistics, but I know that it's way less than actual American citizens. Like, way less.

[K]

Right? Because they're. Most of the immigrants are coming here to work really hard and to provide for their families. And. And so the last thing they want to do is jeopardize that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Why would you come here to commit crimes? Like that rhetoric that they just come here to commit crimes. You could do that in your home country a lot easier.

[K]

A lot easier and get away with it. So to me, that doesn't make sense. And obviously that doesn't go for every single immigran, but it's just like, use your brain.

[Kathleen Martinez]

But that's the problem. A lot of Americans are Uneducated. Right. And they're just ignorant. And so they. And they also choose not to be educated about topics that they. They don't want to be interested in. Right. Like, it's interesting. Like, I love your platform. I love that you're interested in immigration, because there's not a lot of women who look like you and I are advocating for immigrants.

[K]

Right. Well, and that's why I was saying people think that I speak out of turn.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

But I mean, let's just use. I don't know. I actually saw this viral clip about a farmer, a white farmer, I believe he was in the Midwest, who voted against his own best interests. Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And the. The woman interviewing him was like, what are you gonna do if they come try to deport every single person on this farm that you have employed here?

[Kathleen Martinez]

You're screwed.

[K]

You're. You can't do this work by yourself.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh, they're already like, farms, farms. And like Bakersfield in California. Like, all of their employees are gone. Like, they're reporting that.

[K]

They're.

[Kathleen Martinez]

They're. They're stressing. They're stressing to the Trump administration. They're like, why are you doing this? Because of all these ICE raids, I've lost, like, half of my employees. The state of Florida, I don't know if you heard about this, but they're considering some kind of proposal to lower the age of child labor because they're losing all of their employees because they're scaring them away with ICE raids. So there. So Ron DeSantis was like, well, why don't we, like, mess with the child labor law so that they can work overnight shifts during the school week so that they can, like, actually lower the age of, like, being eligible to work because we don't have anybody else to do it.

[K]

Okay, but let's go back to. Let. Let's talk about that for a second. Because most kids today are not willing to work the same way that other. Like, our generation has busted our asses since we could get a job.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right. Yeah.

[K]

My kids don't even want to pick up their laundry.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh.

[K]

So these kids are not going to work the same way immigrants work. So. Yeah, good luck with that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. I mean, they obviously weren't thinking about their economy. Like, but that's the problem is that they're. Someone like Ron DeSantis is not thinking with his brain or his wallet even. And you would think that he would think about you. They usually vote with their wallet in mind, but with this proposal, like, you're just thinking with hatred you're just racist, right? Like that. I mean, why are you scaring away immigrants who literally make your like, economy survivable? Children are not going to have these jobs. They're not going to work as hard. But logic is not, it's not a thing with these kind of people. Like, they're, they're, they're so, they have so much hatred and ignorance in their hearts that they're, they're not thinking about like, oh, you know, immigrants are better for their economy. They're just like, I want them out because they're brown.

[K]

And I also think that they, they see things on social media. This episode is brought to you by Better Help. I recently was on a little therapy hiatus, but I'm happy to say that last week was my first week back in a little while and I'm so happy to be back. Mental health awareness is growing, but there's still progress to be made. 26 of Americans who participated in a recent survey say that they have avoided seeking mental health support due to the fear of judgment. I'm here to tell you that we're not doing that anymore. We're not gonna live in fear of the stigma. When people hesitate to get help, it doesn't just affect them, it impacts families, workplaces and the entire community. This mental Health Awareness month, let's encourage everyone to care of their well being and break the stigma. The world is better when people are happy and healthy. I have gone through therapy significantly over the past 10 years and I'm happy to say that I'm fully back and I'm very invested in this, in this journey. I want to be the best version of myself for me, but also for my kids, my family, my friends. Better help has over 10 years of experience matching people with the right therapist from their diverse network of more than 30,000 licensed therapists with a wide range of specialties. And the awesome part of all of this is that Better Help is fully online, making therapy affordable and convenient, serving over 5 million people worldwide. Easily switch therapists at any time at no extra cost. If you're anything like me, you may have to go through a couple therapists to get to the one that is a good fit for you. And we're all better with help, right? Visit betterhelp.com barely to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp. H-E-L-P.com barely Mochi Health is here to help you start your weight loss journey.

[Kathleen Martinez]

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[K]

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[K]

Take the free [e-mail] and use code AUDIO40 at checkout for $40 off your first month of membership. That's join M-O-C-H-I.com with promo code AUDIO40. So I talk about this a lot. It's not new information. My kids go to Spanish immersion school, so their half day is English and half day is Spanish, which I have absolutely loved. And I literally sought that out and applied them to say it.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I can't find that in Texas, by.

[K]

The way, which is interesting.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And that was something that I specifically sent my kids to the school for. And so with that being said, there is a large Hispanic population and the kids are talking about it, and my son came home crying. So just going, circling back to, like, the whole conversation surrounding deportation and immigration is like, this is not just impacting immigrants. And people are so caught up in the criminal aspect of it that it's just, I, I don't know how to get through to people who don't want to see it. And I. Yeah, so sometimes, like, I'm wasting my breath and like, I'm wasting my time trying to talk about it, but at the same time, I'm like, I want to change their minds.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

Maybe if they hear it from me as a white woman living in the suburbs, maybe they'll, maybe they'll at least just give me a chance. Hear us out. Hear what we're saying.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

Do you think that because you are, you know, a woman in law and a woman that, you know, talks about immigration, that. And you wear pink all the time.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

Do you find it hard for people to take you seriously?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh, 100%.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I mean, and that was kind of my whole brand as, like, the legal field is so conservative, and it's built towards white men, White conservative men. Right. So a lot of the women that have been, you know, that are in the field are. I call them. Pick me. Like, a lot of female lawyers are still trying to fit in so that they can take in, they can be taken seriously by male judges and male partners. Right. And so they don't want to be as feminine where I'm like, the opposite, where, like I'm like, I'm going to embrace it. We need to change the field of law. Like, I'm. I want to be living proof that, like, you can look a certain way and. And just totally surprise people and be good at your job and win cases in court. You know what I mean?

[K]

Real life Elwoods.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, literally. But, like, you know, it's interesting, like, what you said. I kind of want to go back to, like, people might, like, have a different perspective or take you more seriously because of, like, your race. It's true. So a lot of my followers, oddly, are like, old white men. And I don't know why. And I look at my analytics and I don't. It doesn't make sense because all I do is, like, I am so liberal. All I do is, like, immigration content. At this point, I barely even do anything else. But I think it's because they saw me. They're like, oh, she's someone I can relate to, I can trust. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, and she's a lawyer. So, like, maybe I'm interested in what she's saying and maybe that's why, you know, like. And then they turn around, they call me a traitor. So I'm like, oh, so they initially trusted me for some reason. Right. And then they're like, why would someone like her advocate so hard for immigrants? Right. So at least I got them in the door. And maybe some of them. I've changed their minds. Like, I do get some comments said that, like, I'll post about certain cases, case studies, and some of my cases and some of my asylum clients that I win, and I'll tell their stories on, like, a Get Ready With Me video. And they'll be like, I had no idea it worked like that. So I'm like, maybe, like, you are the person. Like, you can change their minds because they're not. These type of. Type of people are probably not following, following, like, immigration attorneys or immigration advocates who are, like, not white, who don't look like them. Right.

[K]

It doesn't impact them directly, too. And so I think there's. So. It's so layered. There's so many layers to it. It's like, I think it's part of, like, how, you know, the people that are speaking on it, how we look.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

Does it impact us? You know, they're fighting against implicit bias that they've grown up with. Like I was saying earlier, you know, just people around me growing up saying certain things, and I. I didn't necessarily believe what I was hearing. I just didn't know any better. So I didn't really speak on it. But now I feel like we have the resources to look into it. So I don't understand why people are not looking into it.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

As far as ICE rating schools, there's a lot of controversy. Can you confirm that that is actually true?

[Kathleen Martinez]

I haven't seen any ice. I haven't heard of any ICE raids at schools. Okay, so here's what's going on. What the Trump administration is doing is he promised mass deportation to all of his base, which is 11 million people. Not gonna happen. Right, Right. So what he's doing is he's, he's fear mongering a lot to rely on people to self dep. His numbers can match his promises. So he's doing all these commercials. Have you seen the bizarre commercial? They're like, you need to leave this country now or else. And they're also like, required. Like, why would you put billions of dollars into like, into like, you know, commercials, like when you are. I thought you were doing ICE raids. Like, which one is it? Right. Either do it or like do some BS commercial that no one's going to buy. They're also doing something called registration. I don't know if you heard that, but they're like, you need to sign up if you're undocumented or you will face criminal penalties. It's not a crime to be undocumented.

[K]

So. Okay, so let's talk about that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

It is not a crime to be undocumented.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right. No one wants to hear that, by the way.

[K]

No, they don't.

[Kathleen Martinez]

No one.

[K]

Is it unethical? Like what is the.

[Kathleen Martinez]

It's a civil violation, which is the same thing as jaywalking, not paying your parking ticket, landlord dispute.

[K]

White people do that every day.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right. And no one has a problem with that because they're white.

[K]

Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And Right.

[K]

It's just, you know something.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Do you really care about, like, do you actually. Sometimes I'm like, do they really care that someone's here without documentation? Do they? I don't know.

[K]

I think they do because they think they don't contribute to society.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And yeah, I think they're taking something from them.

[K]

Correct.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Because they want to live off the government. They don't want anybody else to. And that's who's living off of these government programs are white people.

[K]

Yeah, I would agree with that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So they're like, you're taking from my Medicaid. And they're like, you need to earn your right to be here. But they're not Earning it, we're paying them.

[K]

But I think that's the misconception is that people. But where did that come from? Where did that stem from? You know, like I just can't wrap my head around that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Stupid people on Facebook.

[K]

Yeah, but I mean, I don't get it. I mean some of the immigrants that I've known in my lifetime have been the most genuine, loving people that I've ever. Hardest working people. Yeah, hardest.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh for sure.

[K]

Which is. I don't know if you watched Teen mom ever, but yeah, they're one of the cast members. Her brother in law was working with an immigration attorney to get over to the United States from Costa Rica. They had to go through the entire legal process. They showed a little bit of a struggle, but in my opinion they didn't show the nitty gritty part of it. And so it, and obviously when you are on TV it, you have to chop and screw it so that it is, it goes from eight months to a one week situation. And so. And then also like her entire segment was not that, it was just like a small portion of it. And so I think things like that make it look so simple. And to find out that you can't just apply to become an American citizen is I think will shock people. They don't, I don't think that people realize that. Can we talk about the cost of what it would be, what it is to immigrate one person?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, So I mean, so if you're hiring a lawyer for like a marriage based case, it depends on like whether you have a criminal history, how you enter the country. But on average it's going to be anywhere between like probably it could be anywhere between like 4 and 15,000. Right. And so that's just like lawyers fees. Typically if you're in removal proceedings, like they're actively deporting you, it could probably be a lot more than that, like twice that much. So it kind of depends on your case. But then the government has filing fees, right? So applications have like sometimes like 1100 doll filing fees and that's only one of the four applications that you have to file. So I mean you have to, you have to have a lot of money. But like that's another misconception is they think immigrants don't have money. They always pay, they always have money saved because they're hard workers and they're financially responsible. Like they don't come here just with no money, you know, like. And when I was a family law attorney representing rich, petty divorced couples, like they wouldn't pay me. But, like, immigrants always pay in full. Right?

[K]

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

Oh, my God.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Because they. They're responsible and they work really hard, but, like. And they're just. They're not entitled. You know, entitled people treat their lawyers horribly, and they're usually cheap about it, but, like, my clients are never entitled, and they're so easy to work with.

[K]

How does that work with the jurisdiction for an immigrant if they live in another country and, like, legally representing them if they're not. If they're not a citizen.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So because they're coming here, it's. It's. It's. Immigration law is federal all over the, like, kind of every. Every state. But because they're coming here, it's sort of like just federal immigration law. So it doesn't matter where you are. You're still working with, like, the American Embassy.

[K]

Okay.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So you're not really dealing with, like, their jurisdiction in their country.

[K]

And then how do you balance, like, with your brand on social media versus, you know, practicing law? How do you balance, you know, educating the general public with, you know, all of this information but not crossing the line over into legal advice?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it's hard. It's definitely hard. I have to be very general. So I'm like, Like, you know, on my bio, I said, this is not legally legal advice. You know, but people don't really know what legal advice is. Right. They assume that everything's legal advice. The legal advice would be, like, specifically talking to one person about their case and, like, telling them what to do.

[K]

Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So, I mean, my topics, I just try to be really, like, general. Lately, I've had a lot of content because it's all breaking news.

[K]

All of it's breaking all of his brain.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So I just kind of, like, random break news down now at this point because it's like, I don't really have to educate people anymore. People are very educated on the Internet about immigration now, thankfully, but they're not educated about all the. I mean, it's a very humbling career for me because it's like the pre. A new president comes in and changes everything, and now I have to relearn my, like, all of immigration law.

[K]

Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So I'm getting these new executive orders because Trump writes them every five seconds every time someone offends him, and he writes a new executive order. And then I have to analyze it and be like, okay, this is what this means. It's not that serious. Someone's going to file a lawsuit. They probably already did with the aclu and a judge is going to block it, so I'll post on it later.

[K]

So the executive orders are not law.

[Kathleen Martinez]

No.

[K]

Just for anyone listening who doesn't understand what's going on. Executive orders are.

[Kathleen Martinez]

They're not law.

[K]

They're just what his plans.

[Kathleen Martinez]

They're written temper tantrums for this president, that's for sure. I swear, like every time he's. Maddie, he just wrote one about how he's going after immigration and civil rights lawyers because they keep filing lawsuits to stop his executive orders. And he. And he's like, we're going to sanction you and discipline you. Like, for what? Doing our job? Like, we don't owe you anything.

[K]

Like, you guys know more than he does. Yeah, he doesn't even know.

[Kathleen Martinez]

He's not even a lawyer.

[K]

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[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. It's kind of crazy, right?

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So when I got fired from a firm for that was very conservative, where they didn't specifically tell me I was fired for wearing pink, but they kind of bullied me out and subtly told me that I didn't fit in and I wasn't getting taken seriously. I just didn't fit in right. So I was like, I'm gonna practice. I'm gonna like maybe do some cases on my own for now because I had a baby at home and I had another one on the way and it was the pandemic. And then my husband's like, we have like the storage room in our, in our townhouse in Portland. And he was like, let me turn this into a little office. I was like, okay. Like, I couldn't even afford it. Like I couldn't afford a nanny. So my kids were. We did like a baby gate and it was like a pink carpet and I just like worked there. And then I, we, you know, we painted like the wall pink so I could do some content. And it, you know, it was cool. I started doing immigration. I really liked it, but I didn't really, like, I never actually Expected to, like, blow up with my firm. I expected to be very small, but because of TikTok, I swear I just got on at the right time, early 2021. And I was like, you know what? No one really knows about immigration. Like, it's just not common. No one knows that you can get a green card from being a victim of a crime. I was like, so I really want to post about that and see if I can help people by educating them. So I posted TikTok. I was really scared. And then it went viral and I just posted more and I got so many calls. I was like, I have to hire people. You know, you have to play catch up. Right. So then I hired more people, and it's still entirely virtual. So all. I think we have about 45 employees. All of them work from home. So I have little, like. Yeah. So. Because most of them are like moms and students and. And parents. And so I. I wanted to stay in that pandemic friendly kind of workplace.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Because I really liked working from home because I had kids and I was like, no one has to go to an office with immigration. All of it's like, virtual anyway.

[K]

Right?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So I have satellite offices where I work and I meet clients, but all of my staff, they work from home. And it's like, it's very mom friendly. We have a lot of moms, like, and a lot of people who are in school or they can't afford, like, you know, to drive the office every day. It's really inconvenient. So we have little satellite pink offices everywhere. But all of them actually work from home.

[K]

And you just had this idea to do that. Do it that way or. It just kind of played out that way.

[Kathleen Martinez]

It kind of played out that way. And I. We had thought about, like, do we want to do a big in person office? But like, my best employees work all over the country and they work from home.

[K]

I think they work when. When women and mothers with their children or, you know, they just work hard. I have the same sort of situation with my network. I. Everyone I hire, first of all, they're all women. And second, I let them work from home mostly, you know, with the exception of coming out on site a couple times a month. And that's if they can.

[Kathleen Martinez]

If they can.

[K]

If they can't, we're gonna figure it out. And you're not gonna get fired. You're not gonna get like, written up. You're not.

[Kathleen Martinez]

You understand?

[K]

100 and I never want someone. I want someone to work, work as hard as they want and as hard as they can when where they're comfortable. Yeah, but what is that like to have, like, your. A male supporter be your number one supporter in all of this?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, I mean, it's huge because, like, you know, with. With my husband, he's sort of the opposite of how he was raised. He was like, you know, he's born in Mexico, and his family is very conservative and a little bit, like, machista. Right. Like, traditional. Like, his mom is that way. But he's like the opposite. He is like, he was the one that told me to. To make pink my brand. He was. Because we're designing. Like, I was doing my own, like, diy, like.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And I was using, like, Google photos that I shouldn't be using of, like, an American flag. It was horrible. And he was like, you know what? Why don't you just make it all pink? And I was like, oh, that's why I got fired. I can't do that. And he was like. He's like, do you think your clients care if your website's pink? And I was like, no, probably not. Only the men that I worked for gave a about me wearing pink. Right. And I think it's because they were bad at their job, and I was better, and they didn't like. Like that I didn't look like them, and I was better at their job.

[K]

And you're a woman.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, I'm a woman. Like, they just couldn't stand it.

[K]

Is your husband also in law?

[Kathleen Martinez]

No, he's an engineer. Oh, wow. Yeah.

[K]

So he just was like, well, let's do this. We're gonna go full force. Pink is the brand. And I've seen him. I'm pretty sure it's him in pictures. Yeah, he was wearing pink.

[Kathleen Martinez]

He bought a pink suit. Like, he's so. Like, he does not care. Like, he was like. And then I was. I was. I was like, how do I. I want to do my first billboard? And he's like, you're gonna do bright pink. And I was like, in Dallas, which is very conservative.

[K]

Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Because, you know, all the billboards in Dallas are like, Texas Hammer or like, these PI Attorneys, camo.

[K]

Yeah, all kinds of like, this is ridiculous. Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And he was like, I'm gonna make yours all pink. And he's like, no one's gonna miss that. I'm like, that's. That's for sure.

[K]

You know, have people seen it and, like, called you?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. And, like, the. It's funny because, like, half of my clients are women because there are a Lot of marriage based cases. Right.

[K]

And the women are typically here or they're in other countries.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And they're in countries. Or they're seeing my billboards or they're seeing my brand. And they followed me because. Because they just like the pink.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And they're like, I could totally relate to that. Like, I'm a girly girl. I work in engineering. I work in this field where, like, I really want to wear pink, but I feel like I can't. And I love that you're doing it because I don't feel brave enough to do it. So I kind of, like, live vicariously through you. Right?

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So then they're like, I trust her.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Like, I relate to her. So I want to hire her.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And I think I seem more relatable to, like, the clients that way, you know, because, like, a lot of attorneys are very buttoned up, very conservative, and they're kind of mean.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Especially to their clients.

[K]

Condescending.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Condescending.

[K]

One of the lawyers I had over the last five to 10 years, I. He very intelligent, very. Knew what he was doing, but very arrogant.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

And there were certain aspects of it. I. I just couldn't do it. Like, I need to go for someone who would fight the same way that I'm fighting in this situation. And it needed to be a woman. It needed to be someone that was a little off the cuff stuff.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

A little bit. Not buttoned up.

[Kathleen Martinez]

You. You feel like you could relate to. You trust.

[K]

Yes.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

Yeah. And so I. I think that a lot of white men are missing the mark there. They are being completely unrelatable, being completely misogynistic. Truly.

[Kathleen Martinez]

It's very misogynist. It's very. Like the, the manager that I had that fired me at my first firm, he had taken the bar like five times. Like, he should not have been the lawyer. And. Right. So when I take it five times, apparently in Texas. And so when I passed, I remember the look on his face. He was. He was like, I didn't think you'd pass. He literally told me that.

[K]

Why? Because of the way you look.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh, for sure. But he wasn't gonna admit it. And he, like, really liked me. Like, he was really helpful to me until I passed the bar. And then he was like, trying to get me fired, telling on me for every mistake I made. Like, he just couldn't handle the thought of me taking his job. And I. I knew it. And that was like, a lot of male lawyers that I worked for, they were like that. And I can't stand it. Like, but a lot of it is. I get a hate from a lot of female lawyers, too, because. Because I call them. Pick me. They're just playing the game. They want to be liked by those men, too. So they're like, what is she doing? She sets us back because we're trying to be taken seriously. And I almost don't blame them, you know, but then they're on, like, Facebook groups and Reddit. They're like, she's so cringe. Like, no one will take her seriously. I think it's because they. They can't do it. They can't pull it off because they don't own their own firms. And that's what a lot of women do, is they end up just having their own firms. They. They don't make partner as often as men because they're like, you know, they're not respected for their time with their children, you know, and. And they can't beat themselves. And they're like, screw it. I'm just gonna, like, make my own table. Which is exactly what I had to do.

[K]

So tell me, when your firm opened its doors.

[Kathleen Martinez]

20. 20.

[K]

Okay, so five years in.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And, I mean, you're taking seriously by so many people. And so now. Now what? What is the next step? Just keep growing your firm, or are you huge?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, I just want to grow as much as possible because I really like. Like, I don't have to, but I really like employing women.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

You know, and I want to help more women out, and I want to give them more jobs.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And I really like being a business owner and having a team. I'm sure you feel the same way.

[K]

Oh, I love my team. I. I feel bad for some of their first days on set because I'm like, you don't know what you're getting yourself into, Madison. And. But outside of that, like, I love having my team. I love the girls that I have. I love everything about it. And so it's been a really cool process. But for you, too, like, just to have your husband support all of this. And how do your kids feel about it? It.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I mean, they're so cool. I mean, they're little boys. They're insane, but they're going to be.

[K]

You're raising young men to be appreciative of what women can do and how powerful women are.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And that's part of it, too. Like, you're leading by example. Whether you have those conversations or not. You don't necessarily even have to have the conversations because you. Your husband is Support, like, your kids are watching your husband support you through it and watching you do all of this. And that is part of what we need in the next generation.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. It's like, you know, we went on a vacation a couple weeks ago, and they were saying how grateful they were. My kids were like, thank you, Daddy, for bringing us to the hotel. And he goes, you need to thank Mommy. And I was like, that's so nice.

[K]

I'll cry right now.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right?

[K]

You know, I. That is.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Wow, that's so nice. Right? Because. And he looked at me and I feel bad because I work all the time. Vacation. And. And I was like, are you mad? Because my. My dad would always get mad at my mom for doing the same thing. And he was like, no. He was like, you taking these calls is, like, the reason why we have these privileges. And he was like, I'll never stop you. Like, that's what you want to do. I'll never make you feel uncomfortable for, like, doing what you want to do and helping so many people. I'm like, how did I get so lucky?

[K]

Tr. Julie, how did you meet this man? And where. Where can other people find people like him? Because what the heck? I know in 2023, you earned the Quality Business Award. And what. What does that mean? What is that?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, so I think it's like a business company in Texas, and they kind of. I think they evaluate based on your reviews and your notoriety and how clients see you, which is really cool because a lot of other lawyer wards are mostly about, like, how other lawyers feel about you. And not a lot of lawyers like me, so I don't get those awards, but I like awards. Yeah, I get a lot more awards and recognition based on my social media platform for, like, my clients. And those are the people I care about, is my followers, my clients. I don't really care about other lawyers, so.

[K]

Right, because you don't have to work with them, right?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

Just the ones that you hire.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. So I don't really care about people who I'm competing with.

[K]

You're. Are you really competing with anyone? They might be competing with you, but you don't have to compete with them.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Maybe that's why they hate me so much.

[K]

100%. 100%. Like, just thinking outside the box and just being outside the box, I think is. I mean, it's intimidating to watch someone get gained so much success from not confiding in and conforming to what. What society wants of you and I.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And sometimes, like, I'll be at, like, I'll Reach out to other lawyers and I'll be like, you know, whatever I can do to help you. I'll see like younger lawyers or female lawyers. And the younger ones are pretty nice to me. Like, they follow me, they're cool social media. It's the older ones and you kind of expect that because they're like, I had to go to school where I had to act like a bully, I had to act like a man. I had to look a certain way way. You don't have to do that. I think they like, they're resentful of younger lawyers for doing that. Like, there's a whole discussion on Tick Tock about whether lawyers should be content creators because a lot of lawyers are like, don't do it. Like, you're gonna get fired. Your clients are going to take you seriously. And the younger lawyers are like, we need to change this. Like, you need to be able to make money off of content and, and have some kind of like artistic side of our life. Because the practice of law is so like, you know, stressful. Like, why can't we have that, you know?

[K]

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[Kathleen Martinez]

You can't relate to them.

[K]

No, I couldn't relate to them. And I felt so judged and I felt so intimidated and I felt so unintelligent. But the. As time goes on and I noticed that a lot of lawyers that I talk to are just like me. Right. Like, my undergrad is in communications. But I have met. I think you're the second. You have a bachelor. You had a Bachelor of arts.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And before you went to law school. I have another friend, Summer. She's also in Texas. Hers was communications. And so, like, so relatable, so real.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Right.

[K]

It's still achievable. You don't have to be. Look a certain way to be able to be an attorney. And I feel like that is so inspiring.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. And that's. That's a legal field. It's very. The way it is is like if you don't go to a top 20 school, then you don't work in big law, which is the really big firms that's very conservative. And then you end up being like a slave to them. You get paid a lot of money, but it's a very elitist like profession. And I want to be the complete opposite of that. Like, I want to be relatable. I want my clients have my cell phone number. Like, I want to go out to drinks with them. Like, I want to be their BFF because, like, I'm working so hard for them. I want them to trust me and I also want them to see me as a human because sometimes when it's so stressful, like, I want them to know that I'm like, I'm just a human being and I'm working really hard and I want them to see, like, how much I care about them.

[K]

Right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Versus these like, buttoned up lawyers who are just like assholes to their clients.

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

You know?

[K]

Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I don't get it.

[K]

I have four attorneys on retainer all the time for various.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I love that.

[K]

I don't, because it costs a lot of money. Like, I love the attorneys, but it does cost a Lot of money. Two of them, I have their cell phone numbers. One of them, one of Will Tech. One of them, we'll talk about 1000 pound sisters. Like, we just. I love her. I love all my attorney. Two of them are women and I just love that. And it's just the way that the cards were dealt that two of them are men. They're great as well. But one of them, I mean, she's so funny, but she called me on a Saturday and was like, hey, like I, I know it's so sorry to call you randomly on a Saturday. But like the trust and she's like a mom and she works hard and she has her own. Do you know what I mean? Like, it just creates a different type of dynamic than when I was hiring males.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yes. Because you can relate to them.

[K]

Yes. I just. And I love that they, I don't.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Know, you see the human behind them.

[K]

Yeah. You know, I don't know. Men's brains work differently. Know that like with law and stuff, you have to follow law, but men's, they just don't. They're not thinking of how emotional certain things are when you, when you hire an attorney. And so especially in immigration, I would imagine, like you as a woman can empathize or sympathize with, you know, the, the emotional side of the entire process.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Oh, yeah. You know, it's very stressful for the client. They're going through so much and they're so scared right now because that's what the president's doing is trying to scare them. My job is to be there for them and to kind of have thicker skin and just to walk them through it. And from like what I figured out as much communication as possible. I've worked with lawyers who they very much limit their conversation with their clients. And they're like, I don't want to talk to them, I don't want to talk to them. Like, I don't want them to use it against me. And I'm like, they're paying you so much money to change their lives. Talk to them, call them on the phone, like, be their therapist. Like we should be. You know, we're changing their lives and they're paying us good money. Like, we need to make it worthwhile.

[K]

It's a lot of money. Like, if you could just like answer my call, I know you're busy, but like, if I'm going through something related to the kids case, I do, I would agree that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And they get paid for those phone calls because they're hourly, so.

[K]

So that's what I'm saying. Just, like, humanize it a little bit. It's, like, nice to have attorneys like you that exist, and I think that you set the bar, you know, where it should be. So I love that. And in 2022, you were recognized for the elite lawyer recognition. Is that also in Texas or is that like.

[Kathleen Martinez]

That's. I think that's national.

[K]

That's incredible.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. Thank you.

[K]

How do you feel about that?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Very cool. Yeah. I mean, I feel. Feel like those awards, like, I. I definitely the face. But honestly, my. My team is the reason why we're successful. So we have, like, 45 employees, and they work day and night, and they're not the face. Like, I'm the face. So I do get more recognition, but it's really because of them. Yeah. Like, they work so hard.

[K]

Are there. I know that you were touching on talking about the immigration laws being federal, but, like, are there different processes purse by state?

[Kathleen Martinez]

No. So it's. I mean, sometimes you have to. You have to look into the criminal history, as when you're looking at a client. Like, can I get you with the green with criminal history? It depends on the. The crimes, the criminal laws in that state that they were convicted in or arrested in.

[K]

Okay.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Like, there's this crazy rule in immigration where you don't have to be convicted of a crime for immigration to use it against you. So if you've been wrongfully arrested and then DA Dropped the charges, if they have a reason to believe that you committed that crime, they could use it against you, which is crazy.

[K]

That's like, essentially double jeopardy, though, right?

[Kathleen Martinez]

So I have to go into that interview with them and be like, do not admit it. I was in an interview where they asked you. The interview asked her this. This client. He was like, did you get arrested of this crime? And he goes, yes. Then he goes, did you commit the crime? And he kind of looked at me, and I was like. And he didn't know what to say. And I was like, he didn't commit the crime. I prepped him for this because he just got wrongfully arrested. Right. But the officer is trying to trick him into saying that he committed the crime so he can use it against him and deny him. Right. But he didn't. He never committed the crime. He was wrongfully arrested. They dropped the charges for a reason. So then I looked at him, and I. I was like, remember, the only one who could determine whether you committed a crime or not is a judge in a criminal court, not you. You can't determine that. So answer the question. Thinking about that. An officer looked at me like she was pissed.

[K]

Well, I mean, you're not wrong.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And I was like, you're not trying to get my client to lie? Like, are you kidding?

[K]

You know, it's so scary. Like, being on a witness stand without being an immigrant and without having a criminal record is absolutely terrifying. And I have up and been like, oh, that wasn't the answer they were looking for. And I didn't say anything wrong. So just, like, as a white woman who doesn't have a criminal history, that's absolutely terrifying. I cannot imagine being an immigrant or trying to become an American citizen and having to go up there on a.

[Kathleen Martinez]

In another language.

[K]

Yes.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

I just had Amanda Knox on the podcast, and she was talking about that and, you know, having to do all this stuff in Italian when she was over there.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And being tricked because it was another language that she was Amanda Knox. Yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

I did a whole thesis in law school on her.

[K]

You did?

[Kathleen Martinez]

I'm obsessed with Amanda Knox.

[K]

Like, yeah, she. Today. It's out right now.

[Kathleen Martinez]

That's crazy.

[K]

I mean, being tricked in another language is. I can't even imagine. And then your entire life could shift based on, you know, those. Those answers.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. In a different language. And they were trying to get him to admit that he committed a crime. And they kept going back to say. Because he was like, I'm confused. And he goes, well, remember, you said yes to being arrested, so now I'm asking you, did you commit it? So he was trying to bait him into saying that he committed the crime. And thank God I was at that interview because sometimes they choose not to have me there. And I was like, remember, you can't determine if you committed a crime. Only a judge can.

[K]

All right, y'all. So once the temperatures start rising, I realized that I was back to the same worn out rotation, the same tank top, shorts, and everything. So I gave my daily uniform an upgrade with Quince. I absolutely love their pieces. They're easy, elevated, and somehow make me feel more put together without even trying. I absolutely love them. They have 100 European linen shorts and dresses from $30 Lux Swimwear, Italian leather platform sandals, and so much more. The best part is that everything with quinn is priced 50 to 80% less than what you'd find with similar brands. And by working directly with the top artisans and cutting out the middleman, Quinn gives you luxury without the markup. And Quint only works with factories that use safe, ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and premium fabrics and finishes. So I love that. I recently got a pair of sunglasses. I got some new earrings, and I really just love Quint. I have their towels, their sheets, their comforter. I have everything by Quinn. And the minute it gets warm, I convince myself that I need a whole new wardrobe. Obviously, Quint has timeless pieces. They're lightweight, and they somehow make your closet feel really put together, which is exactly what I needed. I've gotten tired of clothes that look cute online but felt cheap in real life. And Quint doesn't have that issue. I want better fabrics. I want a better fit, just better everything. And with Quint, I got it. Their quality is to die for. I love it. It's incredible. Everything feels intentional, and the prices are shockingly reasonable. It feels like clothes match my standards. Treat your closet to a little summer glow up with quince. Go to quince.com famous for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q-U-I-N C E.com famous to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quints.com famous why would they not want you to be there for an interview for immigration when you are their attorney?

[Kathleen Martinez]

I mean, sometimes, like, you know, I have to fly out, which is fine. But sometimes they're like, they have easy cases. So it's like if they don't have any criminal history, they're like, it's not really necessary. We can't say a lot at these interviews. But if they. Sometimes they choose to have me there, sometimes they're like, I don't need you there because they have an easy case. And I'll tell them, I'll be like, you're going to get approved. But some of these, like, with criminal history, like, I want to be there for that reason because I know what some of these officers are doing. It also depends on where you're interviewing at. If you're interviewing in Dallas, I'm going to be there. You know, if you're interviewing in Portland, Oregon, I probably don't need to be there. They're probably going to be fair.

[K]

Okay. I wonder what, like, the Northeast, if it's fair or not.

[Kathleen Martinez]

It's pretty fair in the Northeast.

[K]

Is it?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah. Like, if you're in the South. Yeah. Odds are against you already, even if you have an easy case. I've seen that a lot, especially under Trump, you know, because like uscis, the governing agency for, like, approvals for green cards, their boss is Trump. So I don't know if you follow, like, USCIS or Border Patrol on instagram no. It's like, it's crazy. Like, their posts are so racist. They're so crazy. And under Biden, they would be like, apply for naturalization. Let's celebrate immigrants. And now it's like, get out. It's like all those ad campaigns. Government agency was supposed to be an unbiased adjudicator, and they're posting, like, celebrating arresting people at their interview at a green card. So, yeah, they posted.

[K]

I was going to say, I saw.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Did you see my post on that?

[K]

I think so. I think I did, yeah.

[Kathleen Martinez]

When they were celebrating someone coming in to apply for a green card at an interview and the ICE came in and detained them in a rest of them, they post a picture and put it on their actual government Instagram page.

[K]

Your TikTok videos and your Instagram videos for people who don't know you, you spread information, useful and educational information about immigration and other things with law. What can people expect to see on your page?

[Kathleen Martinez]

Advocating people and how to get a green card. Educating people who are hateful about immigrants on how immigration works, how difficult legal immigration is, who immigrants are, putting a name to the face, you know, like, explain. Or a face to a name, like explain. Explaining, like, how much they contribute to the economy, how. How they aren't criminals, like, how. How good of a person you have to be to be vetted through the system as it is, and just really like, the power of education. I think you can reach a lot of people if they're willing to understand and they're willing to hear it. And it has to be controversial. That's the only way it goes viral, right? Like, when you really put it simply for them with numbers to show, like, how wrong they are, they're not going to like it, but it'll still go viral and it'll reach a lot of people either way. So what I say is, I was like. My first line will be like, you don't think immigrants contribute? And then I'll list all the ways that they contribute with numbers, just simple numbers, like how much they contributed, how much, how estimated, how much money it's going to be, the estimated cost of deportation compared to how much they contribute. So I think let's talk about that. Right?

[K]

That was what I wanted to talk about, the ASMR video that somebody posted about the mass deportation that was happening. I'm not understanding that. And so everyone's, like, cheering and celebrating them leaving, and we're, like, watching this ASMR video of them in chains and shackles, literally their ankles and their their wrists. They had not committed crimes. They.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And this is what people don't know. There's another good idea for a video. Immigrants actually have constitutional rights. And my first, my comments will always be like, you're wrong. And I'm like, okay, but like, if you look up the Constitution, it doesn't specify that you need legal status to be able to be entitled to those rights. So as long as you're physically in the United, United States, you're entitled to certain constitutional rights. And the most important one is due process, which means you're entitled to your day in court. You're entitled for a judge to analyze your case and determine if you're actually deportable or not.

[K]

So what is that going to cost? Right. So all of the people who were mass deported and are being held or that were not criminals and are not criminals.

[Kathleen Martinez]

So expensive.

[K]

So now we're paying for them to do. The taxpayer dollars are paying for those trials to determine whether or not they get to stay here or not.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Did you hear about Guantanamo Bay?

[K]

Yes.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Okay, so let's talk about it. Right, so they were using military planes which cost, I think, 20,000 an hour. They don't need to use military planes, by the way. They're doing that for show because it's all about media. They spent all that money sending them to, to Cuba and then they figured out they couldn't afford it, so they, they quietly shipped all them back a couple weeks ago and now they're in like Alabama or something. What was the point? Wait, you wasted so much money to send them to Cuba for what? To just to send them back. And who paid for that? We did. Taxpayers pay for that. And this is like his supporters are all about money. Right. I think. But they're like, immigrants cost us. That's their whole rhetoric is that they take from us, actually, like Trump is taking from us to divorce. Yeah. Like, while he's golfing in Mar a Lago. Like, but if you put numbers to them, like, they just don't. They don't want to hear it. They don't want to understand it because. Because it's not what they've been told, you know, they don't want to hear it. And that's the craziest part. But like, sometimes I'll just do videos like that. I'm like, hey, here's a breakdown, by the way, of how much it cost you and taxpayers to literally the most useless, pointless deportation. There's no reason to use military planes. $20,000 an hour. There's no reason to Send them to Guantanamo Bay. So the whole point of that executive order by that judge, when he, like, stopped Trump from utilizing the alien Act. Alien act, enemies act, is because he's like, I don't even know if these people are deportable. I don't know if they're criminals. Some of them may be. They. I still need to determine if they're deportable. I need to give them a removal order. You will explain exactly how much money we're wasting on this mass deportation efforts. And they just don't. It's like you're speaking another language. They don't want to hear it. They don't want to open their mind to it. I think, like, they have to lose so much money to understand it has to affect them personally. Until they don't. Until they see it and make the connection that they're losing money, that themselves, they will understand it. Like, I have a lot. I have some friends in our neighborhood. They'll call me and be like, hey, so how do I keep. Get my. Keep my nanny from being deported? But they voted for Trump.

[K]

You know, how do I keep my nanny from being deported? They are coming here to work to make money, to most likely send money back to their families, and they're getting treated like dirt.

[Kathleen Martinez]

They don't get paid enough. Yeah, that does happen. A lot of exploitation. And a lot of these. These people who are anti immigrant, they'll be like, so you're advocating. You want to keep immigrants here? So you want. You're advocating for slave labor? Labor. I'm like, you're the ones doing the slave labor. I'm like, you're the ones calling me, being like, how do I keep my nanny and how much do I have to pay her? Is it a lot? How do I keep her from being deported? But I voted to get her deported. And a lot of these people vote with their own interests in mind.

[K]

Where I grew up, I think the population was 4,000. I didn't see, you know, an immigrant or a black person until I was in fourth grade. So I. I've seen both sides of this.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And. And so now that I'm older, I'm able to educate myself more because I did have implicit bias.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah, of course.

[K]

Recognize that.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Yeah.

[K]

And so I think for so many white people, they don't understand that they have implicit bias.

[Kathleen Martinez]

They don't know. And Trump just actually got rid of the refugee program entirely. And now he also stopped their green card applications from being approved. He paused all of them. So they've been approved refugee Status. The government has approved their asylum status, which is very hard because about 95% of asylum cases get denied. And now he's like, actually, you can't get a green card. Why? We already vetted them. They don't have. You can't have a criminal history and get approved for asylum. You have to work. You get work work authorization. You have to pay taxes to get asylum. What's the point? And he paused that because he was like, I don't know. We need to bet them more. We need to look for more fraud. It's. It's just. It's incomprehensible. It's unreal. So now they can't get green cards. They're stuck. They're in limbo. But he has done that with a lot of people with temporary protective status. So Biden did these programs where, depending on how dangerous country their home country was, he would give people parole into the country and work authorization for like, two years. And typically a president would keep renewing it. But Trump just like, ended all those programs. So Biden allowed all these people to come in legally. And they've been working, they've been paying taxes. And Trump just gave them until, like, April 24th to leave. He gave them 30 days. And then you're like, you're deportable. So, like, they've set up shot here. They. They have a life here. They work. They. Some of them have bought homes. Homes, right. But now they're just gone. That's how bad our system is. It's. Most of it is so temporary and it can be ripped away from you. Depending on who's president, they just change it.

[K]

Well, I'm voting Kathleen for president. Thank you so much for coming on Barely Famous podcast and talking about such an important topic. I really appreciate it.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Thank you. Thank you.

[K]

Where can people find you? Tick Tock social media, your website. Where can people hire you?

[Kathleen Martinez]

All over the Internet.

[K]

We'll link it all in the bio. Chronically online yeah, we'll link it all in the bio.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Pluto TV has all the shows and.

[K]

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[Kathleen Martinez]

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[K]

Minds Tracker and Matlock I'm a lawyer like the old TV show and thrills are free with heart pumping hits like the Walking Dead and Pulp Fiction Correct the mundo feel the free Pluto TV.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Stream now, pay now never walking out of the Content Factory. I'm Tucker. And I'm Becca. And this is a podcast where we take a break from climbing the absolute corporate ladder that is being a tick tocker.

[K]

That's right.

[Kathleen Martinez]

This is the most corporate podcast for the least corporate girlies in this pod. We're in the break room with you guys, our gorgeous, gorgeous co workers, and you may be wondering what goes on.

[K]

In the Content Factory.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Give us the agenda, Tucker. Well, each episode starts with a performance review where we talk about what's going on in the week. Content. We're making DMs, we're getting a little peek behind the curtain of the content creator life. We also will be doing an HR report where we ask you guys during the week, what is some workplace drama you got going on?

[K]

And we'll end each episode with a.

[Kathleen Martinez]

Rapid fire and hire things we want to get rid of and things we want to keep. For example, Becca, what do you want.

[K]

To fire this week?

[Kathleen Martinez]

My eye beam. Yes. Absolutely.

[K]

Okay.

[Kathleen Martinez]

And before we go, we have some action items for you. Please complete by end of day follow rate and review the Content Factory wherever you get your podcasts. And as always, we'll circle back soon.