Download 29 - American Bar Association

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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION
INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES
The Commission directs the Association’s efforts to ensure fair treatment and full due process
rights for immigrants and refugees within the United States. It advocates for modifications in law
and governmental practice consistent with Association policy, provides continuing education and
timely information to members of the legal community and the public, and develops and assists
the operation of pro bono programs that encourage volunteer lawyers to provide legal
representation for individuals in immigration proceedings. The Commission was established by
the Board of Governors in August 2002 to operate in place of the Coordinating Committee on
Immigration Law and the Advisory Committee to the Immigration Pro Bono Development and
Bar Activation Project, the two ABA entities previously responsible for work in the area. The
Board of Governors has designated immigration as an ABA legislative priority since 1992.
The ABA has been actively involved in reviewing national immigration laws for several decades
and has adopted over 50 policies addressing the substantive and procedural rights of immigrants
and refugees. Consistent with these policies, the Commission is pressing for legislative and
regulatory reform to restore judicial review and other due process rights and to minimize the
reliance on and effects of immigration detention. The ABA has actively promoted legislation that
comprehensively, realistically, and humanely addresses the undocumented population and the
need for immigrant labor. In February 2010, the Association adopted five Commission policy
resolutions with detailed recommendations for promoting independence, fairness, efficiency and
professionalism in our immigration removal adjudication system. In 2006-09, the Association
adopted several Commission policy resolutions to support reform of our immigration laws,
including policy advocating for a fair, humane, and comprehensive approach to immigration
reform that favors keeping families together, promotes national security, preserves due process,
and recognizes our economy’s need for current and future immigrant workers. The Association
also adopted policies supporting reasonable immigration benefit fees; humane immigration
detention conditions, including appropriate access to medical care; U.S. citizen sponsorship of
same-sex partners for permanent residence, which was the basis of ABA testimony at a U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in June 2009; and due process protections for individuals
arrested in connection with immigration enforcement actions or raids. Other policies developed
by the Commission pertain to asylum and refugee laws, legal protections for immigrant survivors
of human trafficking and related crimes, and the right to appointed counsel for immigrants.
The Commission is working on several fronts to strengthen the ABA’s overall response to
policies that erode traditional due process rights for immigrants, the growing reliance on
detention for both adults and children, and the need to improve access to legal information and
counsel for individuals in immigration removal proceedings. The Commission has testified on
behalf of the ABA and engaged in high-level meetings focused on recommendations in the
Commission’s recent, in-depth report: Reforming the Immigration System: Proposals to Promote
Independence, Fairness, Efficiency, and Professionalism in the Adjudication of Removal Cases
(2010). This landmark report was developed pro bono by Arnold & Porter LLP, whose team of
over fifty volunteer attorneys and staff devoted more than 13,000 hours to the project. This
extensive report prominently recommends creating an independent body responsible for
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adjudicating immigration cases, and makes more than 55 additional recommendations for
legislative and regulatory reform.
The Commission works with the organized bar at the national, state, and local levels to address
the legal service and advocacy needs of vulnerable immigrants, refugees, and newcomers. The
Commission operates hands-on pro bono legal services projects off site in three states, as well as
the national Detention Standards Implementation Initiative and the Fight Notario Fraud project.
The three off-site pro bono projects, the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project
(ProBAR) in Harlingen, Texas, Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice (VAIJ) in Seattle,
and the Immigration Justice Project (IJP) of San Diego, provide direct legal services and recruit,
train, and mentor pro bono attorneys to represent vulnerable noncitizen adults and children.
Project volunteers, who include members of the ABA and state and local bars, benefit from
training and very close mentoring from staff; those who are not already ABA members get to see
firsthand the worthwhile work that ABA staff are engaged in, as they develop representation
skills and court experience working with underserved populations. The Commission’s oldest pro
bono project, ProBAR, which recently celebrated its 20th year of operation, recruits attorneys
from across the country to come to Texas and take cases. VAIJ enlists volunteer assistance for its
“Attorney of the Day” program which ensures that no child facing deportation goes through his
or her deportation hearing alone. The IJP, the Commission’s newest off-site pro bono project, has
started a new program in collaboration with the San Diego immigration court, which is the first
of its kind in the country: providing a legal orientation program for immigrants in removal
proceedings who are not in detention. ABA leadership regularly visits these projects and raises
awareness of their important work. Most recently, in November 2010, President-Elect Bill
Robinson visited ProBAR and spoke to members of the bar and media about the difference that
ProBAR and its volunteers are making.
Commission staff in D.C. operate the two additional major pro bono projects. Through its
Detention Standards Implementation Initiative (DSII), the Commission organizes bar
associations, law firms, and other volunteers to visit detention facilities—primarily state and
local jails—to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) national detention standards, which are in effect at over 250 detention
facilities holding more than four hundred thousand noncitizens annually. The ABA negotiated
these national standards with DOJ and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
to ensure access to counsel and fair, humane treatment of detained immigrants. To date, more
than 125 DSII delegations have taken place.
The Fight Notario Fraud project combats unethical “notarios” or immigration consultants who
engage in the unauthorized practice of law. This project refers victims of fraud to pro bono
consumer protection attorneys to assist with civil litigation, and has developed a collection of
resources including case material for attorneys who wish to bring civil cases against fraudulent
notarios. The Commission has also developed consumer education materials and worked with a
number of state bar associations and advocacy groups to develop potential legislation to protect
immigrant consumers and best provide protections to those in need. Recently, the Commission
met with members of the Maryland Bar Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) Committee, the
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) UPL Committee, and members of the
Montgomery County (Maryland) Police Department and Office of Public Engagement to develop
ways to educate Montgomery County citizens on the best practices to avoid fraud, and how to
inform victims of fraud where to locate assistance.
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The Commission’s pro bono projects benefit members of the bar as well as vulnerable
individuals who have few resources at their disposal. In 2010, the Commission’s off-site pro
bono projects represented and/or provided legal rights presentations and information to 5,329
adults and children including asylum seekers from around the world, most of whom were in
immigration detention. Through the Commission’s pro bono projects, almost 1,000 individuals
obtained representation. Representation affects case outcomes: noncitizens who are represented
are significantly better able to access justice through our legal system. Yet currently about 84%
of people in detention must proceed pro se in cases where the law is very complex and the stakes
are very high. The Commission’s work assists in finding counsel when possible, and providing
legal resources in other cases. The Commission’s D.C. office assists more than 3,000 detained
individuals each year who contact the Commission by letter or phone, by providing legal referrals
and basic legal information. The Commission is the only national organization which both
accepts calls from individuals in detention facilities nationwide and provides informational
materials at no cost. Many of the individuals who the Commission and its projects have reached
will be able to remain in the U.S. as a result of the work of our staff and pro bono volunteers,
keeping families together and enabling newcomers and long-term residents alike to remain or
become contributing members of our communities.
The Commission and ABA partner Division for Media Relations and Communications Services
were awarded an Enterprise Fund grant to develop a Know Your Rights video for noncitizens
who are held in immigration detention across the country. The majority of these detained
individuals do not have representation, and about half have no access to EOIR’s Legal
Orientation Program. ICE plans to show the video at every immigration detention facility
nationwide—over 200 facilities. For thousands of noncitizens each year, this video will be the
primary resource for information on legal remedies to removal. The script was developed in
consultation with representatives from organizations with expertise in removal defense and rights
presentations, and the Commission has received detailed comments on the script from ICE, the
DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the DOJ Executive Office for Immigration
Review. The video is currently being edited, and will be finalized this summer.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen T. Grisez
Chair, Commission on Immigration
June 2011
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