Publication Date

12-2011

Journal

Cardozo Law Review

Abstract

The immigrant representation crisis is a crisis of both quality and quantity. It is the acute shortage of competent attorneys willing and able to competently represent individuals in immigration removal proceedings. Removal proceedings are the primary mechanism by which the federal government can seek to effect the removal, or deportation, of a noncitizen. The individuals who face removal proceedings might be: the long-term lawful permanent resident (green card holder) who entered the country lawfully as a child and has lived in the United States for decades; or the refugee who has come to the United States fleeing persecution; or the undocumented immigrant caught trying to illegally cross the border. By every measure, the number of deportations and removal proceedings has skyrocketed over the last decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of removal proceedings initiated per year in our nation’s immigration courts increased nearly fifty percent, totaling over 300,000 last year. During that period, the representation rate of respondents in removal proceedings has remained relatively constant and abysmally low. Correspondingly, the actual number of unrepresented individuals has virtually doubled.

Volume

33

First Page

357

Publisher

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Keywords

Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE), Access to Justice, Immigration, Immigrants Rights, Immigration Court, Immigration Justice, Immigration Law, Deportation

Disciplines

Immigration Law | Law

Comments

Symposium: Innovative Approaches to Immigrant Representation: Exploring New Partnerships

This Report was authored by the Steering Committee of the New York Immigrant Representation Study Report: Part 1.

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