Report highlights detained immigrants' struggle to find legal counsel

A report released on Nov 2 by the City Bar Justice Center is calling for all immigrant detainees who cannot afford an attorney to be appointed government-funded legal counsel.

Unlike criminal proceedings in which defendants are given the option of having counsel appointed by the government, immigration proceedings are civil proceedings, and do not guarantee the same rights.

Finding that the vast majority of detained immigrants held at the Varick Federal Detention Center in New York City could not access or afford private attorneys, the City Bar Justice Center—the pro bono wing of the New York City Bar Association—coordinated with other legal service providers to organize a pro bono clinic at the facility beginning in December 2008.

The pro bono attorneys interviewed 158 detainees and found that 39% of them had claims for immigration relief, but would not have known it without speaking to a lawyer.

"Given this substantial number of detainees apparently eligible for relief from removal,” the report reads, “the City Bar Justice Center recommends that all detainees be assigned counsel so that they can navigate the complex laws and regulations applicable in removal proceedings."

Though San Francisco is known as an area rich with legal resources for immigrants, immigrants detained in the region still face an uphill battle finding legal counsel. It’s expensive and challenging for attorneys to represent clients in far away detention facilities, and pro bono or low cost options do not meet the huge demand. 

The Bar Association of San Francisco sends volunteers to represent all immigrants—both detained and undetained—in court for their first appearance before a judge. But if they apply for relief or anything that requires a second hearing, they must find an attorney who will take on their case.

On the same day the City Bar Justice Center report came out, about 20 detained immigrants in San Francisco appeared before Judge Michael Yamaguchi for routine Master Calendar hearings at 630 Sansome Street.

When Judge Yamaguchi told one Santa Clara County jail detainee that he would reschedule his next hearing in a week to give him more time to find a lawyer, the man--an immigrant from Mexico—was not optimistic that he would succeed in securing counsel by then.

"I feel as if I am incommunicado in Santa Clara," he said in Spanish, explaining that he is having a hard time accessing a phone from jail that he can use to call lawyers to help him apply for asylum.

Though he has a list of low cost or pro bono lawyers that the court provided, he told the court he hasn’t yet reached anyone. He said the only calls he can make are collect, and none of his calls have gone through.