CLEVELAND — Margaret Wong often provides services to people facing deportation as an immigration attorney and owner of Margaret Wong & Associations LLC in Cleveland.

Phone calls to her office have soared, she said, as many of her clients are worried about their safety under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Locals’ signs remain on Cilantro Taqueria’s doors in Coventry Village, which has reopened its doors since closing on Monday. (Spectrum News 1/Tanya Velazquez)

"Our calls over the past two weeks increased by more than 90%. Now it's probably more than 100%,” Wong said.

People who are suspected of violating immigration laws are taken to one of a handful of facilities licensed to hold them, like the Geauga County Safety Center. Thomas Rowan, the county’s deputy sheriff, said they took in 20 detainees on Sunday alone. Cilantro Taqueria confirmed with Spectrum News that six of its employees were arrested on that same Sunday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers at the restaurant’s location in Cleveland Heights.

“So for the past several weeks, we've had about 35 to 30, 35 to 40 immigration detainees in our facility, and this weekend, they asked if we could house 20,” Rowan said.

Once at the facility, Rowan said the detainees are mixed in with incarcerated persons and separated into three categories: low, medium and high. Detained individuals are usually held for a few days and then released back to ICE or family members, under the promise of appearing in court, he said.

Depending on the circumstances of each case, the removal process may take a few weeks up to several years. However, Wong said, the removal process has been expedited for many cases under the new presidency.

“Hearings under Trump is coming very fast,” Wong said. “Sometimes a month, sometimes even 10 days, especially with people who already have especially criminal record deportation.”

Locals’ signs remain on Cilantro Taqueria’s doors in Coventry Village, which has reopened its doors since closing on Monday. (Spectrum News 1/Tanya Velazquez)

Wong said individuals subject to deportation have 30 days to file an appeal to remain in the country, but the likelihood of winning in Cleveland isn’t very high.

“In Cleveland, our judge’s denial rate is more than 90%. Cleveland is a very, tough court,” she said.

Still, Wong said she’ll be sticking around and helping families fight to stay.

“Nobody leave their hometown and their home just because they want to come to America,” Wong said. “Invariably, there's a story.”