Facing deportation without an attorney
Alejandro Fernandez S. | Antonio Cucho G. | Ricardo Weibezahn
The Trump administration has promised to deport record numbers of undocumented immigrants. Most of them will not have a lawyer. Here's a breakdown with graphics and numbers.
From 2007 to 2012, U.S. immigration courts decided
deportation cases.
(2012 is the most recent year for which data is avaible)
During that period
0 out of 10 immigrantswho faced a deportation process did so without an attorney.
The numbers were even worse when immigrants were detained.
From 2007 to 2012
0 undocumented immigrants
were put in detention.
9 out of 10 of them went to court without legal counsel.
There are organizations and attorneys that provide free legal aid to people without the necessary resources. But it’s not enough. They can only help about
2% of the total number
of immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
Data suggests these trends have continued. Univision Data obtained records from deportation processes in 2016 from six main U.S. courts and detention facilities. In each, a large percentage of people were processed without an attorney.
In 2016. Krome detention center in Miami processed the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants without legal aid.
- 1. Krome (FL) 0%
- 2. Chicago (IL) 0%
- 3. Miami (FL) 0%
- 4. San Francisco (CA) 0%
- 5. Los Angeles (CA) 0%
- 6. New York City (NY) 0%
Why are there so many immigrants without legal aid?
In the U.S., immigration issues are civil matters. In these cases, the government is not obligated to provide a public defender, unlike in criminal cases.
In general, undocumented immigrants have little money and cannot afford to pay for legal defense.
Statistics show that they earn a third less than those born in the U.S.
Why is having an attorney important?
Those who go to court with an attorney are
15 times morelikely to provide a judge with legal arguments to avoid deportation than those without an attorney. The probability that these arguments are successful increases
five-fold.
Several experts fear that undocumented immigrants will continue to face even more abuses with Donald Trump in office.
“The worry is that we will see more rights violations that will go unchallenged, and that we will have more immigrants who might be eligible for relief that are unable to remain in the United States.”
Ingrid Eagly
UCLA law professor
Trump has proposed $4.5 billion in new spending on immigration enforcement for 2018.
Trump has already increased enforcement against undocumented immigrants. Detentions, which had been on a downward trend since 2011, are up sharply under Trump.
In May 2017, immigration courts saw the highest number of pending deportation cases in 20 years.
