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“We are grateful that in the recently enacted fiscal year 2023 budget, New York State’s funding for immigration services was increased to $20 million,” said Shayna Kessler, state advocacy manager for Vera. “But there are still thousands of people across New York who are forced to fend for their lives in highly complex immigration proceedings without a lawyer.”
Until this happens people like the single mother with the crying baby, the two sisters clutching each other, and the elderly man with his cane, risk being deported back to countries where they may face unspeakable violence if they are not able to attain adequate legal representation. According to Jordan, 85% of immigrants with legal representation are granted asylum as opposed to the 13% of people without representation. Only 16.5% of immigrants had legal representation in removal proceedings, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
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