Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition Celebrates Prince George’s County Council’s Continued Commitment to Funding Legal Representation for Immigrants who are Detained and Placed into Deportation Proceedings

by CAIR Coalition Staff

CAIR Coalition applauds Prince George’s County Council for voting to provide $200,000 to support the Immigrant Services & Language Assistance (ISLA) Initiative, doubling last year’s funding. 

Created in 2017, ISLA is part of the SAFE Cites Network, a national network of 12 geographically and politically diverse jurisdictions committed to employing an innovative model of public-private partnerships to address the pressing legal needs of our immigrant community members.  Following Prince George’s County’s lead, Baltimore City has also applied for and joined the SAFE Cities Network. 

With funding from ISLA, CAIR Coalition has conducted legal consultations with over 40 detained residents of Prince George’s County in four detention centers across Maryland during the program’s inaugural year.  We look forward to continuing to partner with Prince George’s County to ensure that all detained immigrants from Prince George’s County who cannot afford a private attorney, have access to legal counsel.

According to Kelly White, CAIR Coalition’s Detained Adult Program Director, CAIR Coalition’s partnership with Prince George’s County provides essential representation for vulnerable families, and residents of Prince George’s County, including one young man who is the primary caregiver for his disabled father.  “Thanks to the pro bono assistance he received from CAIR Coalition through ISLA, this young man is now back home caring for his father,”  said Ms. White. 

"Deni Taveras' bold leadership forged the way for this historical program,” according to Ms. White.  “Taveras' story is one of empowerment, the daughter of immigrants, who was the first to propose the initiative, and found particular strong support from council members Danielle Glaros, Todd Turner, and Mel Franklin.”

The decision of Prince George’s County Council to provide funding for residents in deportation proceedings, proved invaluable. Recent decisions by the U.S. government have placed large numbers of people nationwide on a path toward losing legal status (including cancellation of DACA and Temporary Protected Status for nationals of several countries), and swept increasing numbers of immigrants into deportation proceedings irrespective of their criminal records.

A strong majority of Prince George’s County backs the ISLA model for legal representation. For example, a recent poll of likely voters in Prince George’s County found that two-thirds (66.9%) support or strongly support paying for legal representation for everyone who cannot afford an attorney, including detained immigrants and immigrants facing deportation. After hearing information detailing how the vast majority of immigrants do not have a lawyer in immigration court and the improved success rates for immigrants with access to legal representation, Prince George’s likely voters’ support for paying for legal representation increases to 77.3%.

In our adversarial legal system, due process depends upon access to counsel, but 86% of immigrant and asylum-seeking detainees go to court without legal representation.  In addition to ensuring justice, funding legal representation for immigrants leads to savings for taxpayers. A 2012 report by the U.S. Department of Justice found that detained immigrants spend less time in detention if they are provided with basic legal counsel, netting an annual savings of $17.8 million dollars to the U.S. government. Furthermore, the state of Maryland pays an estimated $571,100 for child health insurance costs and $327,800 in foster care costs for children whose parents have been detained or deported.

CAIR Coalition is committed to exploring additional partnerships with other local governments that want to follow in the footsteps of Prince George's County, Baltimore City and other jurisdictions nationwide that are helping to fund legal representation for their detained residents facing deportation.

To make a donation to the CAIR Coalition and support their ceaseless work serving detained immigrant communities, please click here.

For more information, visit www.caircoalition.org.

 

bW

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