Asylum-seekers face 'serious shortage of lawyers' to help them
A surge in migrants crossing the southern border has created a case backlog in immigration courts and “a serious shortage of lawyers to help navigate the notoriously complicated legal process” for asylum-seekers. (Image from Shutterstock)
A surge in migrants crossing the southern border has created a case backlog in immigration courts and “a serious shortage of lawyers to help navigate the notoriously complicated legal process” for asylum-seekers, according to the New York Times.
The immigration-court backlog has increased from 300,000 cases in 2012 to more than 3.5 million today, the newspaper reports, citing data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
Only about 30% of migrants are able to find a lawyer to represent them in pending cases, down from 65% five years ago, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reports.
“There has always been a shortage of immigration lawyers, but the shortage has become more evident in recent years,” said Amy R. Grenier, a policy and practice counsel with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, in an interview with the New York Times.
The New York Times chronicled the plight of Jander Durán and his family, who left Colombia after guerrillas threatened them, likely because of political activism by Durán’s father.
The first lawyer hired by Durán and his wife agreed to take their case for about $10,000 and helped them get work permits. But he said he needed more money for the asylum case.
When the couple’s case was called by an immigration judge, the lawyer said via video he was withdrawing because there was no agreement on his fee. The judge agreed to delay the case to allow the Duráns to find a new lawyer.
The task of handling their case seemed too difficult for the fDuráns. Hundreds of pages of paperwork would be needed, along with proof of threats and the activism of Durán’s father.
“Most immigrants founder there; more than 80% of asylum cases are rejected,” the newspaper reports.
The couple searched for a new lawyer by asking every migrant they met if their lawyer could take their case.
They finally found a lawyer, Jeff Peek, who told the New York Times that Durán “has a strong case, and we’re excited to get in there and make an argument for him.”
