Thread by @tramontela

New bill by @gillibrandny would expand access to legal counsel for immigrants facing deportation. This is long overdue + the principles within it should be enacted by any means, legislative or administrative.

bit.ly/ImmigrantsNeed…

My friend @Houleyeet23, Pres of @MauritanianFor, says: "decisions made in immigration court are often life-or-death matters. And where is your public defender? I know many people who fled Mauritania with nothing, because they were running for their lives...

...In US, they tried to explain what happened, but didn’t know language, much less how to present ;egal case. My heart hurts for ppl who lost their cases + have been deported, simply bc they didn’t have a lawyer. We need a ‘public defender’ program in the U.S. Immigration Court."

These are the stakes:

In Ohio, immigrants w lawyers are 10X MORE LIKELY to achieve success in immigration court than those without.

In CLE Immigration Court, 50% ppl w/ lawyers allowed to stay, compared to 5% w/o.

91% of ppl w/o lawyers were ordered deported.

@TRACReports

There’s no reason to believe that people without lawyers have weaker cases. What they do have are fewer resources to pay for legal advice. And immigration is a highly complex, often contradictory area of law that even people born in US struggle to understand.

Legal counsel is bare minimum to ensure justice. Per @Reuters @KristinaCooke Trump IJs denied asylum 69%, 42% no immigration experience. Many came from military, more likely to order deportation than those w/ understanding of immigration law. reuters.com/article/us-usa…

.@Houleyeet23 @MauritanianFor: "Ppl fled genocide, slavery+ in Mauritania denied asylum in US bc they didn’t have lawyer. Trump deported to country they fled. Now live in hiding, families are here. All of this pain is so unnecessary. @POTUS @DHSgov must #TPS #ReuniteUS."