Legal Representation
People facing deportation can have a lot to lose. Many have lived here for years, some as legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens, and their families live here. More recent arrivals may fear returning to a country so dangerous they felt forced to flee. With all that’s at stake, the process of deciding their fate should be fair.
Our work with the federal government and with partner agencies across the country to reach immigrants in detention and educate them about the court process aims to make them better advocates for themselves and speed the process, sparing them prolonged confinement. Other programs provide pro bono legal representation to unaccompanied children and people with a mental illness.
Related Work
Advancing Universal Representation
A Tool Kit for Advocates, Organizers, Legal Service Providers, and Policymakers
SAFE Network
Successes at One Year and Expanding the Movement for Universal Representation
A Year of Being SAFE
Insights from the SAFE Network’s First Year
The SAFE (Safety and Fairness for Everyone) Network is a group of 12 diverse local jurisdictions, convened by the Vera Institute of Justice, that have committed public taxpayer dollars toward legal representation for immigrants in their communities facing deportation. During its first year, the SAFE Network represented hundreds of clients with deep...
Why Does Representation Matter?
The Impact of Legal Representation in Immigration Court
Representation before any court of law is a matter of fundamental fairness. However, immigrants facing deportation are entitled to representation paid for by the government only in extremely limited circumstances, despite the high stakes involved in these proceedings. A growing body of research demonstrates the need for representation and its signi...
SAFE in Less than 60 Seconds
Annie Chen, program director of the SAFE Network, explains the need for representation in immigration court. Additional photography by: Elvert Barnes, Jonathan Mcintosh, Christopher Sessums and Jim McDougall via Creative Commons.
Immigrant Connection Project (ICON)
Are you an immigrant parent who has been separated from your child(ren) and is trying to reconnect? Are you a legal services provider who knows a parent looking for their child? The Immigrant Connection Project (ICON) can hep. Attorneys or parents seeking children should: Email familyconnect@vera.org or familiasunidas@vera.org.Call 800-845-8372....
Project
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Anne Marie Mulcahy
Walls and Bridges
Legal Recourse for Immigrants in the Age of Zero Tolerance
Safeguarding Justice
Vera Institute of Justice 12th Annual Gala
Safeguarding Justice
Highlights from Vera's 12th Annual Gala
Evaluation of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project
Assessing the Impact of Legal Representation on Family and Community Unity
This study evaluates the impact of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP). NYIFUP is the nation’s first public defender system for immigrants facing deportation—defined as those in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. Funded by the New York City Council since July 2014, the program provides a free attorney to almost all de...
Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) Network
Local Leaders Keeping Immigrant Families Together and Communities Safe
In the face of stepped-up immigration enforcement, millions of non-citizens—many of them taxpaying lawful permanent residents—are at risk of extended detention and permanent separation from their families and communities. Expanding legal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation has thus become a crucial last line of defense fo...
Project
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Annie Chen
Reimagine Justice
Vera Institute Eleventh Annual Gala
On Thursday, April 20, 2017, justice reform leaders and supporters joined the Vera Institute of Justice for Vera’s 11th Annual Gala, Reimagine Justice. Honorees discussed approaches to criminal justice reform and the future of the movement in a very different federal climate. Samuel David Flores Murillo, a client of Vera’s recently expanded New Yo...