The Biden Administration and Congress Must Guarantee Legal Representation for People Facing Removal

Having legal counsel is one of the most important factors in determining whether a person will obtain relief in removal proceedings. While the right to legal counsel under U.S. law is ensured for those in removal proceedings, the government is not required to pay for counsel for indigent clients. At least 40 percent of those facing removal are unrepresented, and even fewer held in detention have access to legal counsel. Detained immigrants are deprived of liberty, have limited access to the internet, legal information, phone services, support services, lack of contact with their family and communities, and limited time and resources to prepare a claim.  This report argues that the federal government should establish a national system that guarantees representation to all people facing removal. The authors assert such a system would make the process fairer and help the government ensure efficiency and due process in removal proceedings, reducing the current immigration court backlog (exceeding 1.25 million cases) and dramatically lowering the government’s costs for detention and court proceedings. The authors recommend that the President seek additional funding for legal representation that covers vulnerable populations, particularly people who are detained, children, people who speak rare languages, individuals with mental disabilities, and asylum seekers. Further, the Attorney General should announce a policy to temporarily defer cases involving unrepresented individuals and reestablish the Office for Access to Justice, which supported access to counsel in immigration cases, as well as other civil and criminal cases.  The authors suggest that the Biden administration should also award a contract to one or more national non-profit organizations that can subcontract with local legal service providers, thus providing the benefits of centralization and economies of scale, along with the expertise to provide program support and training to assist local service providers. (The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute).

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