BOSTON — At a press conference Friday, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey unveiled legislation aimed at expanding access to legal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation, as advocates warn that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies have left thousands navigating the legal system without counsel.
The proposed legislation, introduced as the Securing Help for Immigrants through Education and Legal Development (SHIELD) Act, would create federal grants to strengthen immigration legal defense programs across the country and help ensure immigrants have access to legal representation.
According to the Vera Institute of Justice, the bill “will build the long-term infrastructure needed to sustainably scale up legal defense programs across the country in support of due process for all.”
Vera reports the bill was developed in response to the fact that “people facing detention and deportation are not provided a lawyer if they can’t afford one,” and while many individuals facing deportation lack legal counsel, “the government is represented by a lawyer every time.”
The organization notes that access to legal representation “remains one of the biggest determinants of whether someone will secure their release and assert their rights to remain in the United States.” Those who are represented are “10.5 times more likely to obtain a successful case outcome than those without.”
According to Vera, the bill is supported by the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition and the Fairness to Freedom Campaign, led by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and the Vera Institute of Justice.
Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the MIRA Coalition, said that “this marginalized population is constantly facing threats to their constitutional rights.”
She added that investing in the SHIELD Act “will undoubtedly help to protect their rights and hopefully to avoid unnecessary deportations.”
Nicole Melaku, executive director of NPNA, said that “immigrant communities—our neighbors—need a last line of defense” amid what she described as secret police violence and courthouse arrests.
She noted that the demand for representation is not new, pointing out that “more than 70 jurisdictions nationwide have invested in legal representation programs since 2013, attempting to meet rising demands for deportation defense.”
Although jurisdictions have invested in such programs since 2013, Markey said “Donald Trump and his administration are violating immigrants’ civil rights through unlawful detentions and removals.”
According to Markey, the actions of the Department of Homeland Security have left immigrants “being forced to defend themselves in court without a lawyer,” including five-year-old children.
Vera also states that “the Trump administration’s immigration operations have been lawless, violent, and indiscriminate.”
At the same time, the organization notes that “legal service providers are stretched beyond their limits,” contributing to the fact that “55 percent of people facing deportation in immigration court lack legal counsel.”
The legislation has also received support from members of Congress in California and Illinois.
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia of California said “we’ve seen the unconstitutional, illegal, and terrifying ways the Trump administration has treated immigrants,” adding that “we need to be doing everything we can to protect our immigrant communities.”
Garcia said the SHIELD Act would provide people “the tools and resources they need to get a fair day in court.”
U.S. Rep. Norma Torres of California highlighted the financial burdens immigrants face in immigration proceedings, saying “due process should not depend on your income or immigration status.”
She added that “immigrants, including children, are forced to navigate immigration court without a lawyer.”
U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois pointed to systemic issues in the immigration court system, stating that “outdated policies and years of under-funding have created historic court backlogs, strained legal resources, and stripped immigrants of due process.”
Combined with what she described as the Trump administration’s undermining of immigrants’ rights to representation, Ramirez said “we must invest and support immigration legal professionals…to ensure representation, clear backlogs, keep families together, and protect our communities from Trump and Noem’s cruel ‘administrative errors.’”
Shayna Kessler, director of the Advancing Universal Representation initiative at the Vera Institute of Justice, said that “the SHIELD Act will bring urgently needed resources to sustain and grow the critical field of immigration legal service providers.”
She urged senators to support the measure in order to “defend due process” and “help shield our communities and loved ones as they confront the cruel weight of the president’s mass deportation machine.”
Markey said the legislation is necessary to ensure fairness in the immigration system.
“We must pass my SHIELD Act, which invests in immigrant legal defenders and ensures immigrants get the legal assistance they need,” Markey said.
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