Get the AC23 better-late-than-never discount. Use code AC23100REG for $100 off the advance member rate. Offer expires on May 30.
Get the AC23 better-late-than-never discount. Use code AC23100REG for $100 off the advance member rate. Offer expires on May 30.
A joint initiative between the American Immigration Council and AILA seeks to change the playing field for immigrants facing deportation.
AILA’s Advocacy Action Center allows you to advocate for legislative and policy reforms consistent with AILA’s principles and priorities.
Get Involved
The brand-new 18th edition of Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook is now shipping.
Order Now
Learn how to tackle challenges like finding and retaining affordable staff, working better in a hybrid or remote environment, when and how to raise fees, and much more.
Register Now
AILALink puts an entire immigration law library at your fingertips! Search the AILALink database for all your practice needs—statutes, regs, case law, agency guidance, publications, and more.
AILA Doc. No. 21050438 | Dated April 19, 2023
AILA is leading the fight for fairness in court. Despite the critical role that legal representation plays in ensuring fairness in removal proceedings, the law still does not guarantee the government will pay for an attorney if the person is unable to afford one.
AILA urges Congress and the Biden Administration to fund and establish a national program that guarantees legal representation that is paid for by the government for people facing removal who are unable to afford an attorney.
In 2021, AILA convened a Legal Representation Task Force comprised of AILA leaders from private practice and other sectors to develop recommendations on how a nationwide system should be established that draws upon the private bar, nonprofits, and other existing systems.
READ AILA RECOMMENDATIONS ON IMMIGRATION LEGAL REPRESENTATION
In March 2023, AILA sent Congress a letter urging congressional appropriators to fund the Department of Justice in the amount of $400 million to pilot a legal representation program for indigent persons facing removal. While more funding is needed, AILA supports President Biden’s FY2024 budget request for this pilot which includes $150 million dollars designated for the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-CA) are leading letters to urge the Senate and House to fund these programs for FY2024 appropriations bills. In 2022, AILA endorsed a Senate letter led by Senator Gillibrand and a House letter led by Congresswoman Torres calling for funding for legal representation.
AILA supports the 2023 Fairness to Freedom Act championed by Senators Gillibrand and Booker which creates a national system of legal representation for people earning less than 200% of the poverty level (bill links forthcoming). In recent years, AILA has supported the following bills: FAIR Proceedings Act (S. 901, Senator Gillibrand and H.R. 9304, Representative McEachin, Representative Lofgren); Access to Counsel Act (H.R. 1573, Representative Jayapal); Fair Day in Court for Kids Act (S. 3108, Senator Hirono).
Court data consistently show that most people are unrepresented in their removal proceedings. Due to an unprecedented number of cases filed in recent months, the crisis of representation is growing worse: in currently pending cases nearly 60 percent of immigrants are represented. Critically, immigrants with representation are more likely to succeed in defending against their deportation. A 2016 study by the American Immigration Council found that immigrants were five times more likely to obtain legal relief if they were represented by counsel. People who were detained were ten-and-a-half times more likely to succeed.
Cite as AILA Doc. No. 21050438.
AILA’s Featured Issue pages are a one-stop shop for information on a wide range of immigration-related issues.
Go to Featured Issues
American Immigration Lawyers Association
1331 G Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Copyright © 1993-
American Immigration Lawyers Association.
AILA.org should not be relied upon as the exclusive source for your legal research. Nothing on AILA.org constitutes legal advice, and information on AILA.org is not a substitute for independent legal advice based on a thorough review and analysis of the facts of each individual case, and independent research based on statutory and regulatory authorities, case law, policy guidance, and for procedural issues, federal government websites.
