Lawyers difficult to obtain in immigration cases

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Immigration judges in Los Angeles heard 27,200 cases in the last fiscal year, and stepped-up enforcement is expected to result in more this year, writes Anna Gorman.

Some involve foreigners fighting for asylum; others involve people with possible criminal records who are trying to avoid deportation.

Unlike defendants in criminal courts, individuals in immigration court do not have the right to free representation. Although there are no local statistics on the number of people who appeared in immigration court without lawyers, 58% of respondents nationwide were unrepresented, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which oversees the courts.

‘Immigration laws are extremely complex,’ said Immigration Judge Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Assn. of Immigration Judges. ‘It’s a tremendous aid to us when someone is competently represented.’

Read on about the lack of legal representation for some immigration and asylum cases here.

For more on immigration, click here.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City