The Problem
In the U.S. criminal justice system, defendants are entitled to an attorney. If they cannot afford one, a public defender is provided. However, when someone is accused of an immigration offense, if they cannot afford an attorney, none is provided. Immigrants who go to court without an attorney stand very little chance of winning their cases
Our Solution
Pima County Justice for All/Justicia Para Todos is asking our community to support a 2022 ballot initiative that gives indigent Pima County residents facing detention or deportation access to a public defender (aka “universal representation”). If approved by voters, the initiative would establish the Office of Immigration Representation (to be funded by sliding scale fees and public and private funding), to protect due process and fundamental rights, fight poverty, and safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of our residents. Read the full version of the proposition in English or Spanish.
As a state candidate, I support the DREAM act, which would allow undocumented children brought to the United States as minors to have access to in-state college tuition rates.
The Immigration Law Clinic provides legal representation mostly to non-detained immigrants in Tucson, Arizona and to some immigrants detained in Eloy, Arizona, in their deportation cases. Our clients have included asylum seekers, victims of domestic violence, and long-time permanent residents seeking humanitarian waivers of removal. We have represented immigrants from countries including Afghanistan, Mexico, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Nepal.
There are roughly 3,000 immigrants detained in Arizona on any given day, and most have no lawyer to represent them in immigration court. Representing themselves is particularly hard for detainees, given the complexity of the law as well as their limited ability to access information and communicate with the outside world.
Our clinic works in partnership with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, the Immigrant Survivors Legal Assistance program, and other organizations serving the immigrant community, to identify immigrants who could particularly benefit from the clinic's representation.
Students who take the clinic for six units work in pairs to represent an immigrant detainee in a “removal” (deportation) case. They prepare all aspects of the detainee’s case, from drafting declarations and briefs to preparing witnesses, experts, and direct and cross-examination. The work typically culminates in a hearing before an immigration judge at the end of the semester.
CPLC Family Immigration Services helps reunite families that have been divided by international borders or mixed immigration statuses. Serving Tucson, Somerton, and Nogales, Arizona, our services are accredited by the Department of Justice’s Board of Immigration Appeals.
We offer a broad range of low- and no-cost services designed to meet the needs of someone in any stage of the immigration process.
Services include but are not limited to:
Low-cost consultations
Informational sessions
Citizenship/Naturalization
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) renewals
Green card renewals (I-90 Permanent Resident card renewal)
Work Permit Renewals
Family petitions
Consular Processing
Adjustment of status
U-Visas
VAWA