The data is clear—lawyers provide life-changing protection in immigration court.
Dear John,
Immigration court hearings should provide immigrants with a meaningful opportunity to contest their deportation. However, immigrants are facing more obstacles than ever to fairly present their cases—from immense pressure from President Trump on enforcement agencies to meet deportation quotas, to the elimination of meaningful enforcement priorities, to the massive expansion of immigrant detention centers.
Amid these barriers, however, one factor stands out as a powerful and consistent influence on outcomes: legal representation.
Access to legal representation is a life-changing protection in immigration court. Of the immigration court cases decided from FY 2019–2024, 62% of immigrants without a lawyer were ordered deported, compared to 27% of those who did have legal aid.
Without a lawyer, the odds collapse, especially for those in detention. Of the courts that had the highest deportation rates, more than 90% of cases involving people in detention ended in removal orders.
Access to legal representation is deeply uneven across geography. Non-detained immigrants in Honolulu had a legal representation rate of 70% , while in Harlingen, Texas, it was just 25%.
Case outcomes shifted sharply between the Trump and Biden administrations. Under Trump (in FY 2019), nearly 80% of cases ended in removal orders. Under Biden (FY 2024), that number was just 40%.
This type of data underscores the importance of the work we do—providing pro bono legal representation to immigrants in need.
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