- Letters
Council, Partners, Renew Advocacy For Meaningful Access to Counsel in Detention
Published
The American Immigration Council, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and nearly 90 legal service provider organizations sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner highlighting the obstacles to attorney access that exist in immigration detention facilities nationwide and making recommendations for improvements.
The letter describes barriers people in detention face in accessing legal representation and calls for an end to the restrictions placed on the most basic modes of communication that detained people need to connect with their lawyers and the rest of the outside world. It also provides recommendations to remove these obstacles and ensure adequate access to counsel and a meaningful opportunity for people to represent themselves. It emphasizes that ICE must implement interim measures to guarantee access to counsel at smaller facilities as it expands the Virtual Visitation Program at larger ones. ICE must likewise implement rigorous oversight of all access to counsel requirements.
Help us fight for immigration justice!
The research is clear – immigrants are more likely to win their cases with a lawyer by their side. But very few can get attorneys.
Introducing the Immigration Justice Campaign Access Fund.
Your support sends attorneys, provides interpreters, and delivers justice.
Immigration Justice Campaign is an initiative of American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association. The mission is to increase free legal services for immigrants navigating our complicated immigration system and leverage the voices and experiences of those most directly impacted by our country’s immigration policies to inform legal and advocacy strategies. We bring together a broad network of volunteers who provide legal assistance and advocate for due process for immigrants with a humane approach that includes universal legal representation and other community-based support for individuals during their immigration cases.