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
In United States criminal courts, the right to a lawyer for the accused is guaranteed—but without adequate funding for public defenders, that promise falls short.
“You have the right to an attorney.” It’s a familiar line from countless TV procedurals. Miranda rights are derived, in part, from the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to counsel. What’s far less familiar is how fragile the promise of public defenders can be in practice, especially for people who cannot afford their own attorney.People l ...
Holding immigrants in a notorious solitary confinement unit is just part of a broader partnership between ICE and the state to expand mass incarceration.
Detained for 23 hours per day in a dirty prison cell. Held without access to medical care or necessary prescription medications. Locked up, far from home, with limited ability to communicate with lawyers or family members. These are the stories shared by men currently detained at Camp J, a unit that was closed in 2018 due to safety and ...