. >> reporter: immigration attorney intervened in joaquin sote wi sot sotello's case only days befores to be deported. >> the system is set up to fail people who don't have attorneys. >> reporter: that's how, instead of finding himself in a country that he barely remembers, joaquin sotello reunited with his children, children whom he hadn't seen during four years of legal back and forth. even so, the possibility that he could still be deported hangs over him constantly. >> every step i take depends on deportation. it's like a cancer, you know. it's hunting me. >> reporter: according to the transactional records access clearhouse, 90% of all people seeking asylum without an attorney were denied. more than half with an attorney succeeded. >> it's extremely difficult to do it without an experienced immigration lawyer. >> reporter: judge dana lee marks has served as a judge since the '80s. she spoke to us with the union president. >> the law ties the hands of the immigration judges in many situations. they serve honorably in the military that would obviously be a very strong discretionary