HARLINGEN, Texas (Border Report) — The White House is calling on the legal community to help with immigration and asylum cases of migrants in the United States to help reduce the court’s historic backlog of cases.
“The administration is announcing a call to action for members of the legal community, including law firms, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and other stakeholders to make commitments of pro bono support for those who are unrepresented in immigration proceedings,” the White House announced Wednesday.
The American Bar Association immediately responded by announcing the organization “is leveraging its existing resources to help and encourage more lawyers to provide pro bono support to unrepresented noncitizens in immigration proceedings,” ABA President Mary Smith said.
To encourage participation, the ABA is offering free online resources and toolkits for immigration law practitioners and pro bono coordinators. (In addition, there is a list of potential cases at this link for lawyers to consider lending their services.)
“The ABA remains concerned about the growing backlog of cases (in) immigration courts, especially due to a lack (of) representation by counsel,” the ABA posted on X.
“The legal profession is uniquely qualified to help reduce the growing immigration court backlog by increasing access to pro bono counsel for those eligible. In doing so, we support our courts in operating more fairly and efficiently and we promote principles of due process fundamental to our legal system,” Smith said.
There are currently nearly 3.7 million pending U.S. immigration cases, according to data from Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) of Syracuse University, which tracks immigration cases.
That’s the most ever recorded and the backlog jumped by nearly 1 million cases from Fiscal Year 2023 to 2024, TRAC reports.
Florida has the most pending cases — over 555,000 — followed by Texas, California, New York and Illinois, according to TRAC.
TRAC studies have found that migrants with legal representation fare better in their case outcomes.
And a new policy that allows immigration lawyers to provide legal assistance to immigrants facing deportation in immigration court without taking on the responsibility of the entire case has seen tremendous growth since its implementation in 2022, according to a recent TRAC report.
From Nov. 14, 2022, through May, immigration lawyers and other designated legal specialists have assisted pro se immigrants 23,516 times, TRAC reports.
“There’s such an extreme shortage of attorneys and I think it’s great,” Zenab Youssef, of the nonprofit Lawyers For Good Government, said of the government’s call to action this week.
Since 2021, Lawyer for Good Government has operated Project Corazon in South Texas, pairing attorneys with migrants and asylum-seekers who cross the border and need free legal representation.
This week the group also held a free legal clinic in New York City for LGBTQ clients that was attended by dozens of migrants in need of legal advice, Youssef said.
The organization focuses on the most vulnerable populations and its representatives have previously told Border Report that there are always thousands of clients in need of legal help.
“We support this announcement from President Biden but it probably isn’t enough. There are thousands of people at the border who need help,” Youssef told Border Report on Thursday.
Youssef was critical of the executive order Biden issued in early June, limiting asylum claims to only those with CBP One app appointments and who cross at legal ports of entry. The new rules prevent asylum claims from those who enter the United States illegally when the number of encounters of daily migrants exceeds 2,500 for seven days.
The order has been in effect since early June and this week the Department of Homeland Security announced that the current number of daily border encounters is about 1,900. If levels drop to 1,500 for seven consecutive days, the order could be lifted.
“Other executive actions taken recently are exacerbating conditions for asylum seekers,” Youssef said. “They’re calling for more lawyers but actually preventing people from crossing and claiming asylum.”
In its statement, the White House said it isn’t limiting its call to action to just lawyers but to anyone who can help.
“The administration welcomes additional commitments from interested stakeholders to build upon these efforts,” the administration said.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@Borderreport.com.