Charitable Legal Immigration Programs and the US Undocumented Population: A Study in Access to Justice in an Era of Political Dysfunction

This study examines the availability of charitable immigration legal services for the undocumented population in the U.S. on the national, state, county, and municipal levels. One premise underlying the study, supported by prior research, is that such representation produces much more positive outcomes for this population. The study uses a broad definition of “legal professionals,” counting attorneys, federally accredited non-attorneys, paralegals and legal assistants in this professional category. Nationally, the study found that there were 1,413 undocumented persons in the U.S. for every charitable legal professional. However, there are wide variations depending on location. States like Alabama (6,656 undocumented per legal professional), Hawaii (4,506), Kansas (3,010) and Georgia (2,853) suffer from lower rates of availability, whereas -- somewhat surprisingly -- states like West Virginia (80), Montana (173), Maine (208), and Wyoming (249) have among the highest rates of availability, but their undocumented population is comparatively low. The authors also break out these figures for accredited representatives, finding that a state like Nevada suffers from one of the lowest rates of availability of such representatives (19,896 undocumented per accredited representative). The authors conclude that Congress, states, localities, private foundations and charitable agencies should commit to expanding immigration legal programs, which remain in short supply. However, agencies must be careful not to become overly dependent on government funding; otherwise, they may become vulnerable to budgetary crisis if such funding is slashed or eliminated.

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