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AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
COMMISSION ON IMMIGRATION
INFORMATIONAL REPORT TO THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES
The Commission on Immigration was established by the Board of Governors in August 2002 to operate in place of the two ABA entities previously responsible for work in the area. The Board of Governors has designated immigration as an ABA legislative priority since 1992. The Commission directs the Association’s efforts to ensure fair treatment and full due process rights for immigrants and refugees within the United States. It advocates for modifications in law and governmental practice consistent with Association policy, provides continuing education and timely information to members of the legal community and the public, and develops and assists the operation of pro bono programs that encourage volunteer attorneys to provide legal representation for individuals in immigration proceedings
The ABA has adopted over 60 policies addressing the substantive and procedural rights of immigrants and refugees, and promotes legislation that comprehensively, realistically, and humanely addresses the undocumented population and the need for immigrant labor. Consistent with these policies, the Commission is actively engaged in pressing for legislative and regulatory reform to restore judicial review and other due process rights and to minimize the reliance on and effects of immigration detention on adults and children.
The Commission operates hands-on pro bono legal services projects off site in two states: the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) in Harlingen, Texas and the IJP in San Diego, California. Through these projects, beginning with ProBAR over 20 years ago, the Commission provides direct legal services and recruits, trains, and mentors pro bono attorneys to represent vulnerable noncitizen children and adults. Project volunteers, who include members of the ABA and state and local bars, benefit from training and very close mentoring from staff; those who are not already ABA members get to see firsthand the worthwhile work that ABA staff and Commission members are engaged in, as they develop representation skills and court experience working with underserved populations. In June 2013, Meredith Linsky, Pro Bar Director, was recognized at the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting and received the J. Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award, which recognized her commitment to the poor. As of December 2, 2013, Ms. Linsky became Director of the Commission.
The ABA Immigration Justice Project in San Diego fills a unique and critical role in the San Diego legal community. Through its legal orientation program, the IJP is the only provider of regular know-your-rights presentations to detainees and individuals facing removal in the San Diego immigration courts, the third largest in the U.S. After identifying clients with viable claims, the IJP seeks to secure pro bono representation for them through recruitment and training of pro bono attorneys on the IJP Pro Bono Panel and, where appropriate, through referral to other non-profit legal providers in San Diego whose caseload is limited to specific client criteria, such as asylum seekers, children, or battered women. As of September 1, 2013, the IJP has provided 953 group rights presentations, and conducted 3,719 individual intakes at the Otay Mesa detention center and the San Diego immigration court.7,144 individuals have received services since the IJP’s launch in 2008. The IJP celebrated its fifth year anniversary in October, 2013 at a reception attended by its Advisory board, San Diego law firms, community members and all of the San Diego immigration judges and featuring as its keynote speaker California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzales. Elizabeth Knowles became the Director of IJP in June 2013.
With the direction of Ms. Knowles, in May 2013, the IJP received the first ever U.S. Department of Justice award of a contract to provide direct legal representation services to detained respondents in immigration proceedings who are found unable to represent themselves due to a mental disability. The IJP pilot project became become a nationally implemented project this month, with IJP as one of the three sites selected to be funded to provide the representation.
In Setember, 2013 the Commission hosted ABA President James R. Silkenat at IJP. His visit included observing the legal orientation presentation by IJP staff attorneys to detainees at the immigration detention facility at Otay Mesa, California, followed by a tour of the facility and the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The group then joined ICE Customs and Border Protection agents in a “ride-along” along 25 miles of the Mexican/U.S. border. At the conclusion of the border tour, Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego hosted President Silkenat and the Commission at a reception where President Silkenat engaged the audience in a “town hall” discussion. The visit was featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The tour of the Otay Mesa detention facility included reference by Immigration and Customs Enforcement of its use at the facility of the Know Your Rights video released in May 2012 by the Commission. The video is an educational video in English, Spanish, and French shown nation-wide to almost 400,000 men and women detained in over 160 facilities each year. The video, which was funded with a grant from the ABA Enterprise Fund, serves as a resource to help individuals navigate the complexities of the immigration system and know what to expect in court. For the thousands who do not have the benefit of counsel, this video serves as the primary resource for information on whether or not they qualify for relief from removal and what to expect in the immigration court system. The video script was developed in consultation with representatives from organizations with expertise in removal defense and rights presentations, with additional, in-depth review from offices within DHS and DOJ.
The September visit to IJP and the Otay Mesa facility were part of the Commission’s AIRR Project. On July 30, 2013, the Commission launched the first phase of the Acting on Immigration Reform and Representation (AIRR) Project. The focus of the AIRR Project is collaboration within and outside the ABA on implementation of immigration reform efforts and representational needs beyond reform or in the absence of reform, applying expertise the ABA can uniquely offer. The July 30 conference was attended by more than 30 participants, including the Association of Pro Bono Counsel, Equal Justice Works, Appleseed, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Human Rights First, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Chicago Bar Foundation, and national law firms. The second phase of the AIRR Project took place at the Annual meeting in San Francisco on August 11, 2013 with ABA leaders invited for a roundtable discussion. The focus of the discussion was application of ABA expertise and resources to immigration reform and representation and the role of the ABA as an agent of best practices and innovative collaboration. The work from the July 30th launch and the August 11th leadership meeting serve as the foundation for the Commission’s ongoing development of the A.I.R.R. Project. The third phase of the Project will take place by mid-2014 at a summit inviting ABA leadership andoutside experts for development of final implementation plans for the Project.
The Commission continues to implement adopted policy resolutions to improve the quality of legal representation of those in immigration proceedings and to combat immigration practitioner fraud. The Commission presents training programs several times a year for pro-bono representation of adults and children in immigration proceedings. It has developed and offered a series of full-day trainings on the essentials of immigration practice in Washington, D.C., Miami, New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and in San Francisco at the 2013 Annual Meeting. Beginning in October 2011, the Commission partnered with the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice (GPSolo) Division Public Service Committee in conducting trainings in Denver, Charleston, and Seattle for pro bono representation of unaccompanied minors. This partnership continues in 2013 as Commission members help to organize and contribute subject matter expertise at these joint trainings with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), most recently at the GP Solo National Conference in Lexington, Kentucky in October, 2013. The Commission in working with GP Solo and the Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service on future training programs which are scheduled for Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Boston and San Antonio in 2014. The Commission is also assisting with a naturalization ceremony which will take place during GP Solo’s national conference in San Antonio in October 2014.
The Commission sponsored two successful educational programs presenting a range of views on significant immigration issues at the 2013 Annual Meeting. The Commission’s program titled “What’s Next with Immigration? Behind the Scenes with the Decision Makers” was selected by the SOC annual Meeting Task Force as a “late-breaking” showcase program and included John Morton and Julie Meyers Wood, each recent directors of DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Juan Osuna, Director of DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review. The second program, “The Government/Private Prison Experiment: New Laws, Rising Populations & Changing Conditions” also included former Director Morton as a panelist, along with Judith Greene, a criminal justice policy analyst and a founder of Justice Strategies and Wayne Calbrese, Consultant to The GEO Group, Inc and its former President and Chief Operating Officer.
The Commission hosted a well-attended briefing for Congressional staff entitled “Immigration Detention: How it Works, What it Costs and Proposals for Reform” on Friday, February 1, 2013, with Commission members and Donald M. Kerwin Jr., Executive Director, Center for Migration Studies and Acting Executive Director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. The briefing provided an overview of the immigration detention system and how its operations impact the federal budget as well as families and communities in every state. The panel discussed alternatives to detention that are available at a fraction of the cost of detention and have been proven effective. The panel also discussed the new ABA Civil Immigration Detention Standards, which were developed under Mr. Kerwin’s guidance when he was a Commission member, to provide a guide for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) announced transition to a civil detention system appropriate to its civil detention authority.
The Commission continues its work on immigration reform, including assisting in drafting of proposed immigration reform legislation . Commission staff, with the Governmental Affairs Office, is frequently invited to meet with Congressional offices to discuss ABA priorities, including access to counsel and detention and due process issues.
Commission staff in Washington, D.C. also operate two additional major pro bono projects. Through its Detention Standards Implementation Initiative (DSII), the Commission organizes bar associations, law firms, and other volunteers to visit detention facilities—primarily state and local jails—to ensure the full and effective implementation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) national detention standards, which are in effect at over 160 detention facilities across the country. The ABA negotiated the original national standards with DOJ and the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to ensure access to counsel and fair, humane treatment of detained immigrants. To date, more than 125 DSII delegations have taken place. Commission staff met with ICE in February 2013 to review two reports prepared by the DSII. The reports were prepared from tours conducted by Alston & Bird to the Wakulla facility in Florida and the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston County, South Carolina.
The Commission’s detainee mail project continues to receive approximately 300 detainee calls and letters each month. In February 2013, the Commission was invited to present to the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Office of the Public Advocate retreat regarding how the Commission responds to detainee callers. The Public Advocate used this input as their launched their detainee hotline. One goal of the detainee mail project is to seek action on detention conditions complaints. The Commission forwards complaints to ICE, the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and the DHS Office of the Inspector General. These include concerns regarding access to telephones, religious access, and law library access.
The Commission’s Fight Notario Fraud project combats unethical “notarios,” or immigration consultants, who engage in the unauthorized practice of law or commit fraud against immigrants. This project refers victims of fraud to pro bono consumer protection attorneys to assist with civil litigation, and has developed a collection of resources including training programs and case materials for attorneys who wish to bring civil cases against fraudulent notarios. The Commission has also developed consumer education materials and worked with a number of state bar associations and advocacy groups to develop potential legislation to protect immigrant consumers. As part of an ongoing collaboration, the Commission works with representatives from the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association to develop ways to educate individuals on the best practices to avoid fraud and how to locate assistance. At the 2013 Midyear Meeting, the Commission sponsored a CLE program, “Unauthorized Practice of Law: Responses from the Bar,” to address ways attorneys can respond to unscrupulous notarios in their communities. The panel featured the Commission and panelists from the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, the Federal Trade Commission, the Texas Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and State Bar of California.
Additionally, the Commission was invited to participate in the first ABA Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL) School in Denver in August 2013. Panel presentations at the UPL School included a session discussing the factors that give rise to the unauthorized practice of immigration law and a review of federal and community-based initiatives to address these issues. It also included a presentation titled “ A Deeper Look at Combatting Notario Fraud” addressing specific options available to victims of notario fraud including consumer protection remedies, referrals to local law enforcement, relief from removal, accessing information on the USCIS websiteand the best methods of disseminating this information. Panelists included the Commission Chair, Disciplinary Counsel from USCIS and numerous states, and representatives of other government agencies including the immigration courts.
Working with the Commission, ABA Media Relations and Communication Services produced a radio news release that aired in August 2013 in English and Spanish, featuring ABA President James R. Silkenat in the English version, and Commission Chair Christina Fiflis in the Spanish version. The release warned listeners about the practices of unscrupulous “notarios” or immigration consultants, particularly those arising in connection with proposed immigration reform.