Immigration lawyers in the United States have been facing a difficult situation for years. In the absence of definitive statistics, there are probably fewer than 20,000 attorneys specializing in immigration matters in the entire country: the 16,000 members of the official national association, which is almost all of them, plus the few who are not.
In a country where there are currently more than three million open immigration cases, a number that increases daily, none can keep up. If in 2019, 65% of migrants had legal representation, by 2023 it would be 30%. Now, when immigration detentions have reached record levels, that number is surely even lower, although there are no official data on this.
In U.S. Immigration courts, unlike criminal courts, the government does not provide a lawyer to those who cannot afford one. So if the shortage already meant a limited supply, the explosion in demand is pushing the system to breaking point. Some lawyers warn that the time will soon come when they will be completely overwhelmed and there will be no one to defend immigrants’ rights in the courts.
Faced with this disheartening outlook and maximum pressure, some have been thrown in the towel, but the majority remain standing, like Allen, driven by the conviction that for their clients, they are the last hope of remaining with their families, of living the American dream, of being considered as individuals with rights.
Despite everything, the biggest challenge is constantly adapting to the changes imposed by the administration. One day, humanitarian parole is ending; the next, Temporary Protected Status (TPS); and the next, immigrants are being arrested at immigration courts, something that has never happened before.
