Vera's Center on Immigration and Justice collaborates with government, nonprofits, and communities to develop evidence-based justice solutions for systems affecting immigrants and their families.
Vera launched the Center on Immigration and Justice to address the challenges presented by the increasing convergence of the criminal justice and immigration systems. Through the projects described below, the center engages in program oversight, pilot program development and implementation, technical assistance, evaluation, and empirical research.
Projects
Legal Assistance for Immigrant Detainees
Unlike defendants in the criminal justice system, immigrant detainees do not have a right to government-funded legal assistance and, as a consequence, most have to represent themselves in immigration court. This lack of legal representation results in immigration judges using court time to inform detainees of their rights, leading to inefficiencies in immigration proceedings and prolonged periods of detention. Through the Legal Orientation Program and the Unaccompanied Children Pro Bono Outreach Program, the center is working with government agencies and volunteer legal service providers in several states to improve efficiency and legal services for detained adults and children.
Immigrant Access to the Criminal Justice System
Effective and equitable delivery of justice requires that law enforcement gain the trust and confidence of all communities they serve. However, many immigrants—especially those from countries with corrupt, repressive, and violent police forces and criminal justice systems—are fearful of government officials. Cultural and language barriers can also make it difficult for victims to report crimes or collaborate with law enforcement and other justice agencies. And, since September 11, 2001, local and state criminal justice agencies have felt acute pressure to enforce immigration violations—a responsibility that has traditionally belonged to the federal government. Our projects Translating Justice, Strengthening Relations between Police and Immigrants, and Improving Cooperation between Police and Arab American Communities work with criminal justice agencies and immigrant communities to address the challenges posed by language barriers, immigration status barriers, and cultural differences.
In an effort to address some of these challenges to immigrant access to justice, in September 2007 Vera launched the Translating Justice National Best Practices Project, which is the first national project to assess and showcase language access best practices in the policing field. In doing so, we hope to institutionalize language access practices within the field. The final products—a national webcast and a publication—will give police professionals nationwide the opportunity to share lessons with each other so that jurisdictions can benefit from their neighbors' successes and challenges.
History
Vera began working with the immigration system in 1995, when we designed, operated, and evaluated the Appearance Assistance Program (AAP) in partnership with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. AAP sought to ensure that more detainees complied with the removal process while at the same time reducing the government’s use of detention. In 2004 the Department of Homeland Security launched the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program—modeled after AAP—in eight cities.
New immigrants’ wariness toward law enforcement appeared to increase after September 11, 2001, making mutual efforts to build trust and resolve conflict more important than ever. In 2003, Vera facilitated a series of forums designed to create regular channels of communication between the New York City Police Department and three of the city’s more isolated immigrant groups—Arab American, African, and emerging Latin American communities. Vera’s report on these meetings, Building Strong Police-Immigrant Community Relations: Lessons from a New York City Project, offers a guide for law enforcement, local-level government officials, and community groups who want to improve relations between police and immigrant communities.
That same year, Vera began a two-year national study of relations between Arab Americans and local and federal law enforcement. Outcomes from this study resulted in the report, Law Enforcement and Arab American Community Relations after September 11, 2001: Engagement in a Time of Uncertainty, which provides examples of partnerships and innovations that have successfully bridged gaps between the groups. The report also cites recommendations and opportunities for restoring trust and creating alliances to reduce crime and address terrorism and other public safety concerns.
From 2004 to 2005, Vera collaborated with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice to organize a series of workshops exploring the relationship between law enforcement and new immigrant communities. The workshops generated practical strategies for both law enforcement officials and community advocates. During this time, Vera also researched and documented effective practices for overcoming language barriers in New York City and nationally and published a report, Translating Justice: Improving Access to NYC’s Justice and Public Safety Agencies for Residents with Limited English Proficiency.
These projects and others, along with Vera’s experience in the criminal justice field, helped inform the Center on Immigration and Justice’s current work on assisting immigrants and system reform.