Since 2005, the Vera Institute of Justice has worked with government agencies and nonprofit legal service providers to carry out the Legal Orientation Program (LOP)—an innovative effort to inform immigrant detainees about their rights, immigration court, and the detention process.
Unlike defendants in the criminal justice system, people who are in removal (deportation) proceedings in the U.S. do not have a right to free legal assistance. Those who cannot afford to pay for counsel have two options: either represent themselves (proceed pro se) or, in limited circumstances, obtain the services of a free (pro bono) attorney. According to EOIR—the U.S. Department of Justice agency that runs the nation’s immigration courts—between October 1, 2006, and September 30, 2007, approximately 84 percent of detained respondents with completed immigration court proceedings lacked representation.
For many who face the possibility of removal, the stakes are high: they may have lived in the U.S. for a significant portion of their lives, are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, and/or have families who are U.S. citizens. (In calendar year 2007, for example, LOP providers identified 322 people with potential claims to U.S. citizenship.) Yet given the complexity of immigration law, few people are prepared to adequately represent themselves. As a result, immigration judges use court time to inform pro se respondents of their rights, ensure that they have properly completed required applications, and help them through the complicated removal process. This leads to inefficiencies in immigration proceedings and prolongs the time people spend before the court and in detention.
In response, since 2002 Congress has funded the LOP, which seeks to educate detained persons in removal proceedings so they can make more informed decisions, thus increasing efficiencies in the immigration court and detention processes. The LOP provides detained persons with basic information on forms of relief from removal, how to accelerate repatriation though the removal process, how to proceed pro se, and how to obtain legal representation. The LOP is designed to provide this information to detained persons prior to the first court hearing in their removal proceedings.
Currently, the LOP is being provided in 25 detention facilities by 17 nonprofit legal service organizations working collaboratively with local immigration courts, detention facilities, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Below, we list the nonprofit organizations and the facilities where they provide LOP services (Subcontractor: Facility Name(s) and Location(s)).
ABA Immigration Justice Project of San Diego
Otay Detention Facility, San Diego, CA
ABA South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR)
Port Isabel Service Processing Center, Port Isabel, TX
Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition
Hampton Roads Regional Jail, Portsmouth, VA; Pamunkey Regional Jail, Hanover, VA; and Piedmont Regional Jail, Farmville, VA
Catholic Charities Legal Services, Archdiocese of Miami and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center
Krome Service Processing Center, Miami, FL
Catholic Charities of Atlanta
Stewart Detention Facility, Lumpkin, GA
Catholic Charities of Los Angeles, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project
Los Angeles Central Men’s Jail, Los Angeles, CA; Mira Loma Detention Facility, Lancaster, CA
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans
LaSalle Detention Facility, Jena, LA
Diocesan Migrant & Refugee Services
El Paso Service Processing Center, El Paso, TX; and Otero County Processing Center, Alamogordo, NM
Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project
Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, Batavia, NY
Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Eloy Contract Detention Facility, Eloy, AZ; and Pinal County Adult Detention Center, Florence, AZ
Legal Services of New Jersey
Essex County Jail, Newark, NJ; Hudson County Jail, Kearny, NJ; and Middlesex County Jail, New Brunswick, NJ
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Northwest Detention Center, Tacoma, WA
Political Asylum Project of Austin
South Texas Detention Facility, Pearsall, TX
Pennsylvania Immigration Resource Center
Berks County Family Shelter, Leesport, PA; and York County Prison, York, PA
Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
Aurora Contract Detention Facility, Aurora, CO
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid
Willacy County Detention Center, Raymondville, TX
YMCA of Greater Houston
Houston Contract Detention Facility, Houston, TX
You can learn more about the LOP by reading our spring 2008 evaluation report.
Please contact Rose Holandez with any questions about the LOP.