Advancing Universal Representation
A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers
(Para Español: Haga clic aquí.) In immigration court, there is no legal right to a public defender for an immigrant who can’t afford a lawyer, even though deportation often threatens one’s life and freedom. That’s why now more than ever, communities across America support universal representation—a public defender system for immigrants facing deportation. We’re all taught to believe that everyone gets their fair day in court. Everyone should mean everyone.
A Toolkit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers
“I hope [my attorneys] will be able to help other people—the same way they helped me.”
Shackled hand and foot on a deportation flight to Mexico, Naomi* sat weeping and praying. Her parents brought her to the United States when she was nine years old. Though she had struggled to navigate the complex path to legal residency, she had built a life in the Chicago area, with children and grandchildren she would be leaving behind. When she ...
Research Note
The Trump administration is leveraging a wide range of strategies to carry out its mass deportation agenda. Among those facing deportation within the United States immigration court system, more people are receiving a case outcome requiring them to leave the country under the current administration than under the Biden administration. While this in ...