Featured Issue: Ensuring Legal Representation for People Facing Removal
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 to fund and establish a national program that guarantees legal representation paid for by the government for people facing removal who cannot afford an attorney.
Why is legal representation essential for fair immigration proceedings?
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. A 2025 follow up to this study found that the representation rate had declined, and that “[d]eportation defense practitioners are now stretched to the breaking point: In fiscal year 2024, only 16,976 representatives provided counsel for just over 1.4 million immigrants facing removal, leaving almost 2.9 million immigrants unrepresented.”
Historical Advocacy on this Issue
- 2024: AILA urged Congress to fund legal representation consistent with President Biden’s previous budget request.
- 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. AILA also supported President Biden’s FY2024 budget request for this pilot which includes $150 million dollars designated for the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
- 2022: AILA endorsed a Senate letter led by Senator Gillibrand and a House letter led by Congresswoman Torres calling for funding for legal representation.
- 2021: AILA convened a Legal Representation Task Force comprised of AILA leaders from private practice and other sectors to develop recommendations on how to establish a nationwide system that draws upon the private bar, nonprofits, and other existing systems.
Legislation on this issue
In recent years, AILA has supported the following bills advocating for legal representation:
- 2023 Fairness to Freedom Act championed by Senators Gillibrand and Booker and Representatives Norma Torres, Meng, and Jayapal.
- 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)
- Immigration Court Efficiency and Children's Court Act (S. 3178, Senator Bennet and H.R. 6145, Representative Goldman)
Resources
- Polling conducted by Hart Research in October 2021 finds overwhelming public support for legal representation of unaccompanied children
- Policy Brief: The Biden Administration and Congress Must Guarantee Legal Representation for People Facing Removal – January 15, 2021
- American Immigration Council: Access to Counsel in Immigration Court – September 2016
- National Association of Immigration Judges: NAIJ Position on Legal Representation in Immigration Court – May 5, 2021