Right to Counsel
We believe fair access to legal counsel in immigration courts is integral to a fair and just system. Our research shows stark disparities in representation rates, with only 37% of immigrants overall–and just 14% of detained immigrants–securing legal representation. Discover more about how we’re working to address this issue.
Access to Counsel Before ICE FOIA
The Council filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to compel the release of records relating to noncitizens’ access to counsel before Immigration and Customs Enforement (ICE). The Council initially pursued disclosure of these records through FOIA requests filed in March 2011. Subsequently, ICE produced several thousand… Read More
Ninth Circuit Finds Court Has No Authority to Hear Lawsuit Seeking Access to Counsel for Children
In 2014, a legal challenge was mounted against the federal government for its failure to provide legal representation to indigent children in deportation proceedings. The case, F.L.B.. v. Lynch was brought by the American Immigration Council, American Civil Liberties Union, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public Counsel, and K&L… Read More
Immigrants’ Access to Legal Representation Is Unequal and the Consequences Are Serious
Nationally, only 37 percent of all immigrants had legal representation, and only 14 percent of immigrants in detention had a lawyer. In a paper issued today, Access to Counsel in Immigration Court, Ingrid Eagly and Steven Shafer analyzed 1.2 million individual removal cases in immigration court between fiscal years… Read More
Access to Counsel in Immigration Court
Immigrants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. The lack of legal representation has a profound impact on immigrants’ outcomes in removal proceedings. Read More
Behind Closed Doors: An Overview of DHS Restrictions on Access to Counsel
The report describes restrictions on access to legal counsel before DHS, provides a legal landscape, and offers recommendations designed to combat DHS’s harmful practices. It also addresses changes to USCIS guidance made in 2012, intended to expand access to legal representation. Read More
Coercion and Intimidation of Detained Mothers and Children Must Stop
Today, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the American Immigration Council, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), partners in the CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project, submitted the latest in a series of formal complaints to the Department of Homeland… Read More
Thousands of Children Now Covered in Access to Counsel Lawsuit
Last week, a federal court certified a class in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s failure to provide legal representation to children in deportation proceedings. Several thousand children are estimated to be members of the class. This lawsuit, F.L.B. v. Lynch, was filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Read More
Comments on Streamlining and Improving the U.S. Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Systems
The Council submitted comments in response to a request by DHS and the Department of State (DOS) for input on streamlining and improving the U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant visa systems. In the comments, the Council recommended that DHS amend 8 C.F.R. § 292.5(b) to ensure that individuals in secondary inspection are provided with a regulatory right to counsel during their examinations, and that DOS promulgate regulations in 22 C.F.R. Part 40 to provide for meaningful access to counsel during interviews at consular posts. Read More
Letter by the Council and AILA urging USCIS to address reports of widespread and recurrent restrictions on access to counsel. (Mar. 24, 2011)
In this March 24, 2011 letter, the Council and AILA urged USCIS to address reports of widespread and recurrent restrictions on access to counsel. These restrictions, documented in a nation-wide survey (http://www.aila.org/infonet/final-results-attorney-representation-before-dhs) of immigration attorneys, included limitations on attorneys’ ability to communicate with their clients, restrictions on attorney seating during USCIS interviews, and limitations on attorneys’ ability to submit documents to the interviewing officer. Read More
Council and AILA’s Recommendations for Changes to the USCIS Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM)
The Council and AILA provided recommendations for changes to the USCIS Adjudicator's Field Manual (AFM) to better safeguard the attorney's role in USCIS interviews. These recommendations were in response to a request from USCIS to present specific recommendations for changes to USCIS guidance on access to counsel. Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
