Officials push for universal representation in immigration courts
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Immigrant advocates and lawmakers, including Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, rallied in Manhattan on Thursday for a bill that would establish the right to legal counsel in immigration court. Screenshot via Immigrant ARC/Twitter
By Ryan Schwach
As New York City continues to manage a historic influx of migrants and asylum seekers, a group of legislators and advocates are looking to require those migrants have fair representation in New York’s courts.
Electeds and immigration leaders rallied on Thursday in Manhattan for the Access to Representation Act, which establishes the right to legal counsel in immigration court proceedings. Proponents argue that a large portion of immigrants cannot afford legal representation, which could make or break their ability to stay in the country or obtain asylum.
“Immigrants are New Yorkers who need legal representation in order to have their constitutional rights protected,” said Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz, who is sponsoring the bill. “It is such a basic principle.”
Three decades ago, Cruz was able to use legal representation to obtain her own permanent residency here in the United States after migrating from Colombia, a benefit not everyone can afford, she said.
“Not everyone can do that,” she said. “But everyone deserves the right to have their constitutional rights protected.”
The advocates say that immigrants in detention are over 10 times more likely to establish their right to remain in the United States when they have representation – for non-detained people, that number is 60 percent.
They argue this is because, when unrepresented, migrants are left arguing their case against actual lawyers versed in the complexities of immigration law. And because many migrants come to the U.S. without having English as a first language or knowledge of the legal system, they are put at an even larger disadvantage.
“Every year across New York, many immigrants are forced to defend themselves in court against trained lawyers in the wake of their deportation case, forced to navigate our state's complex legal system on their own, and that ain't right,” said New York Immigrant Coalition Executive Director Murad Awawdeh. “As a result, many immigrants await a cruel fate of being ripped away from their families and communities simply because they lack the financial resources to afford legal representation.”
State Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Brad Hoylman Sigel is the Senate sponsor for the bill.
“If you're walking into a court, and don't speak English as your first language, and don't understand the law – and believe me, a lot of us lawyers don't understand the intricacies of immigration law – then your case, in many respects, will be DOA,” he said at the rally on Thursday. “And that is incredibly sad. That's sad, because those who come to New York City deserve to have the support of our legal system behind them, and in order to have that they need an attorney.”
Money has been included in budgets to help fund migrant representation in the courts over the years, but the ongoing migrant crisis has created a strain.
“Every year we have unfortunately had to fight for it, but we've won – we've won a significant increase,” said Cruz. “But I think we all recognize that it is simply not enough, especially in the wake of the last two, three years of a surge in immigration.”
The migrant crisis has also contributed to a massive backlog of immigration cases in New York City’s courts.
Queens Assemblymember Catalina Cruz is pushing her bill that would help provide legal counsel to immigrants in New York State. Screenshot via New York Immigrant Coalition/Twitter
“The bloated bureaucracy and poor administration of our law has left our immigration courts in disarray with a backlog of over 190,000 cases pending,” said Hoylman Sigal. “That's over 200,000 people facing deportation as we speak.”
“It's inhumane not to provide them the services they need,” he added.
Cruz’s Queens colleague, Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, also supports the legislation.
“As someone who was born and raised here in this country, navigating this patchwork of laws under this immigration system is extremely difficult – if you are new to this country, if your English is not your first language and you do not have someone representing you [it’s more difficult],” she said. “We're seeing families struggle to get the legal services that they need.”
The advocates also say they have wide support for the legislation.
New York-based Vera Institute of Justice conducted a poll in 2020 that showed that 93 percent of New Yorkers “support government-funded attorneys for people in immigration court” and that the same percentage of people support access to attorneys for all people, including those in immigration court.
The bill could be considered once the state legislature comes back into session in the new year, and both the Senate and Assembly version of the bill have a large contingent of cosponsors.
That includes Queens representatives like Assemblymembers Ron Kim, David Weprin, Vivien Cook, Zohran Mamdani, Steven Raga and others.
On the Senate side, Leroy Comrie, Michael Gianaris, John Liu, Jessica Ramos, Kristen Gonzalez and Toby Ann Stavisky are among the bill’s cosponsors.
“The Access to Representation Act is a significant step forward,” said Awawdeh. “And reaffirms that every New Yorker is entitled to a life of freedom with dignity and without fear upholding the values of our state.”
