Thread: Lawyers difficult to obtain in immigration cases

Lawyers difficult to obtain in immigration cases
Free representation is not assigned in such proceedings, leaving 58% of respondents nationwide without attorneys.
By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 2, 2008
Upon hearing his name, Alberto Pancho walked alone to the front of the courtroom in downtown Los Angeles.

"Do you have a lawyer?" the immigration judge asked during a recent hearing.


Pancho, a native of Equatorial Guinea whose student visa had expired, explained that the attorney to whom he had paid $5,000 didn't show up at the last hearing and he couldn't find another one.

"You told me if I didn't have a lawyer I'd have to represent myself," he said. "But I don't think I'm capable of doing that."

Immigration judges in Los Angeles heard 27,200 cases in the last fiscal year, and stepped-up enforcement is expected to result in more this year.


Some involve foreigners fighting for asylum; others involve people with possible criminal records who are trying to avoid deportation.

Unlike defendants in criminal courts, individuals in immigration court do not have the right to free representation. Though there are no local statistics on the number of people who appeared in immigration court without lawyers, 58% of respondents nationwide were unrepresented, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the courts.

"Immigration laws are extremely complex," said Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges. "It's a tremendous aid to us when someone is competently represented."

But finding an inexpensive or free attorney can be extremely difficult, advocates and lawyers said. And the stakes are high: Foreigners can face deportation, family separation and even political persecution.

"Someone who is not an immigration attorney cannot possibly understand the complexities to do what they need to do to have a fighting chance," said Judy London, who directs the immigrant rights project of Public Counsel, a Los Angeles pro bono law firm.

The federal government, private firms and nonprofit organizations are launching new efforts to increase pro bono representation. But advocates said the only solution would be a public defender program.

"Nonprofits just don't have the resources to represent everybody," said Donald Kerwin, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.

The Executive Office of Immigration Review has expanded pro bono programs for unaccompanied children and legal orientation seminars for detained immigrants, and has increased the number of court-sponsored training programs for attorneys willing to take cases at no cost.

Actress Angelina Jolie, Microsoft Corp. and other businesses are kicking off a nationwide project to ensure free lawyers for children in immigration court.

And in Los Angeles, nonprofit groups including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights are raising money for representation of immigrants arrested in raids at work sites. About 45 local attorneys have agreed to cap their fees on such cases.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said he doesn't have a problem with pro bono representation by private attorneys but believes immigrants shouldn't have a right to publicly funded counsel.

"It's not a criminal process," he said. "There is simply no justification for taxpayer-funded lawyers."

During Pancho's hearing in Los Angeles, Judge Philip DiMarzio gave him one more extension.

"I want to give you every opportunity to retain a lawyer," he said. "By the same token, your case needs to move forward."

Pancho, 36, arrived in the U.S. on a student visa and later married a U.S. citizen. He said his visa probably expired before his family petition was approved. He said he doesn't understand immigration law or know how to fight deportation.

"I have a family," said Pancho, who lives in Riverside. "If I make a mistake, who will take care of them?"

Advocates said the situation is worse for detained immigrants, who may have an even harder time finding attorneys. To address this, the federal government contracts with organizations to provide legal orientation in immigration detention centers nationwide.

Locally, attorneys from Catholic Charities of Los Angeles visit the Mira Loma Immigration Detention Center in Lancaster three times a week to inform detainees of their rights and to try to match some with attorneys willing to work at no cost.

During a presentation this spring, Julianne Donnelly, director of Catholic Charities' immigrant rights project, told detainees that she was there to answer their questions about the law, and explain possible defenses against deportation and how they can obtain a bond.

But Donnelly said the orientation is a "short-term fix for the larger problem."

"It's immigration law 101 in two hours," she said. "How much can you really take away from that?"

anna.gorman@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 2464.story

Judges and elected official have not been working; but coasting and ignoring the illegal criminal alien problems we have and are having in Amerida.

They should have courts running a 24 hour schedule. We pay these public servants. When did all the public servants become better than the people they are to serve?

Is this the way it is to be?

Give me a break! First of all the taxpayers are getting raped by having to spend millions each year to defend illegal aliens that commit serious crimes.

Second, everyone is aware that immigration attorneys are making money hand over fist right now thanks to illegal immigration.

I'm getting so sick of these boo hoo stories in the papers each day.

W

"But advocates say the only solution would be a public defender program."

Why is this the "only solution"? How about simply enforcing our present immigration, employer sanctions, and labor laws so that most of them will not come here illegally in the first place? Get ready to have to finance another public program to subsidize other people's crimes, and which would allow illegal aliens to stall and stall their way through our court system rather than being returned promptly to their home countries.

Pancho, 36, arrived in the U.S. on a student visa and later married a U.S. citizen. He said his visa probably expired before his family petition was approved. He said he doesn't understand immigration law or know how to fight deportation.

"I have a family," said Pancho, who lives in Riverside. "If I make a mistake, who will take care of them?"

Your visa "probably" expired before your family petition was approved! Guess he doesn't care much about our laws and the need to comply with them. This guy has already had two bites of the apple. He had a student visa and milked that for all it was worth. Then when that was about to expire (or was expired), he married a US citizen with the hopes of staying in this country.

Maybe you should "probably" be deported then.

Originally Posted by Texas2step

"But advocates say the only solution would be a public defender program."

Why is this the "only solution"? How about simply enforcing our present immigration, employer sanctions, and labor laws so that most of them will not come here illegally in the first place? Get ready to have to finance another public program to subsidize other people's crimes, and which would allow illegal aliens to stall and stall their way through our court system rather than being returned promptly to their home countries.

Yes... T2S! I think your right! It would seem to be headed in that direction now! Illegals are going to be able to delay deportation proceedings simply because they do not have counsel, even though they are not guaranteed that right to counsel (I don't think) in a simple deportation proceeding.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, said:
"It's not a criminal process," he said. "There is simply no justification for taxpayer-funded lawyers."

NO TO PUBLIC FUNDING! Americans are already having our tax dollars used up by illegal aliens. Just deport them.

Let the Ford Foundation pay for their lawyers, they have $8 billion, and they wanted these illegals here in the first place.