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Immigrants do not get the same due process rights as citizens do. Immigrants facing deportation must navigate our complicated immigration legal system without a lawyer if they cannot afford one, facing the risk of being ripped away from their families permanently or being deported to life threatening conditions.
Those that have been able to receive guidance have been far and few. Facing the challenge of immigration court backlogs, along with the lack of funding from the government, pro bono attorneys are stretched thin.
The new residents our state has received in the past year are ready to start contributing to our economy and culture the way previous immigrants have before (to the tune of $24.4 billion in state taxes for 2021)—but they can’t begin to do that without the help of pro bono legal service providers, who can support them in completing asylum or Temporary Protected Status (TPS) applications to get them on the road to work authorizations and legalization.
Lawmakers must invest 150 million in legal services and pass the Access to Representation Act (ARA), to codify universal representation, ensuring anyone at risk of deportation and who cannot afford a lawyer will be provided one, giving every New Yorker an equal chance of staying with their families and in their communities.
We need every voice to ensure that people are treated fairly in our justice system. Will you help fuel our fight?
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