Deportation Defense: Nonprofits Sue to Keep Legal Aid in Courts
Imagine facing a deportation hearing with no lawyer and no one to explain your rights. That is the reality for thousands of immigrants every year. Now a major nonprofit is fighting in court to make sure free legal help stays available inside immigration courtrooms.
The Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) — one of the largest networks of nonprofit immigration legal services in the US — filed a lawsuit against the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the federal agency that runs US immigration courts. The lawsuit challenges government actions that CLINIC says are blocking or limiting nonprofit legal organizations from helping immigrants during removal proceedings (the official process where a judge decides if someone must leave the country).
Why This Case Matters for Your Immigration Court Hearing
When immigrants face removal proceedings, they have the right to hire a lawyer — but the government is not required to provide one for free. Nonprofit organizations like CLINIC have long filled that gap, offering free or low-cost legal help to asylum seekers, green card holders, and others in deportation defense cases. If the court sides with the government and restricts nonprofit access to immigration courts, many immigrants could be left to face judges alone, without any legal representation.
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Legal representation makes a significant difference in immigration court outcomes. People with lawyers are far more likely to win their cases — whether they are applying for asylum, fighting a removal order, or trying to stay in the US on another legal basis. This lawsuit is specifically about protecting the ability of nonprofits to appear in court and represent clients, not about changing immigration law itself.
What to Do
- If you have a removal hearing scheduled, contact a nonprofit immigration legal services organization in your area as soon as possible — do not wait for this lawsuit to be resolved.
- Ask your local immigration court or a nonprofit if free or low-cost legal help is available to you before your hearing date.
- Keep all court notices and hearing dates. Missing an immigration court hearing can result in an automatic removal order (called an "order in absentia") issued against you.
- If you cannot find free help, lawyers recommend consulting a private immigration attorney — even a single paid consultation can help you understand your options in removal proceedings.
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If you are in removal proceedings, you have the right to be represented by an attorney at your own expense — and that right is worth exercising. Even if this lawsuit ultimately expands nonprofit access to courts, you should not count on that outcome before your hearing date. Find legal help now, document every court notice you receive, and never miss a scheduled hearing. Consult an immigration attorney to review your specific situation and options.