FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: media@vera.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Over the last week, the Trump administration issued multiple sweeping policy changes that restrict access to numerous lawful immigration pathways and strip more than a million people of due process protections. Among the most extreme is the administration’s complete halt of processing all affirmative asylum applications and all immigration applications from 19 countries.

By shutting down legal, affirmative immigration pathways for more than 1.5 million people already living in the United States, the Trump administration is effectively pushing people out of status and into defensive proceedings, where they face the threat of detention and deportation.

This comes as the administration continues to fire immigration judges and abduct immigrants directly from courtrooms. The administration is attacking people’s right to due process from every angle, leaving people to defend themselves alone against the full weight of the federal government.

Shayna Kessler and Nicole Melaku, co-leaders of the Fairness to Freedom campaign for universal representation, issued the following statements:

Shayna Kessler, director of the Advancing Universal Representation initiative at the Vera Institute of Justice: “Restricting legal immigration pathways and fostering chaos in the immigration system has nothing to do with public safety. By denying people due process and cutting off the avenues that keep families together and communities strong, the Trump administration is widening its dragnet of who is subject to mass detention and deportation while simultaneously decimating the bar of experienced immigration judges. Fewer legal pathways and fewer qualified immigration judges will add more pending cases—that is, lives in limbo—to the already massive backlog. Leaders at all levels of government should advance immigration solutions that support our democratic values, keep families united, and support thriving communities, like investing in legal representation to help our immigrant neighbors stay afloat in an increasingly unfair and inhumane immigration system.”

Nicole Melaku, executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans: “By restricting legal pathways and eroding what little semblance there was of due process in the U.S. immigration system, the Trump administration is attempting to force more than 1.5 million people through a one-way exit. When individuals and families can no longer affirmatively petition for legal immigration statuses, they are forced to defend themselves alone against the life-shattering consequences of detention, deportation, permanent family separation, or even death if they cannot afford a lawyer. This will not make our communities safer. It throws families into prolonged legal limbo, greater instability, and constant fear. Immigrants’ last line of defense—their only remaining lifeboat—in the face of these cruel attacks is legal representation. Our elected leaders must urgently act to ensure that no one stands alone in defense of their rights and freedom.”

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Fairness to Freedom: The Campaign for Universal Representation was launched by the National Partnership for New Americans and the Vera Institute of Justice in April 2022 with a coalition of more than 200 organizations and legal service providers. The campaign’s goal is to support the passage of the Fairness to Freedom Act to establish a federal right to representation for all immigrants facing deportation.