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Restoring Due Process in Santa Ana: SAFE Initiative Annual Report (Data February 1, 2018 — February 28, 2021) April 2021 The SAFE Initiative is a growing movement of communities convened bythe Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) that are dedicated to publicly funded, universal representation for immigrants facing detention and deportation! Universal representation advances a public defender system for people facing deportation, one in which every person facing deportation is represented by a lawyer regardless of income, race, national origin, or history with the criminal justice system. Immigrants facing deportation do not have the right to a public defender if they cannot afford a lawyer. Yet, the government trying to deport them always has counsel. The obstacles facing unrepresented immigrants are substantial. Immigration law is among the most complex areas of American law —it has been described by federal courts as "labyrinthine" with one former immigration judge saying that an immigration case "often involves life and death consequences [that] amount to death penalty cases heard in traffic court settings:'z Immigrants in detention, like those served by the Santa Ana SAFE program, are particularly defenseless —detained immigrants are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, the least likely to secure representation, and the most vulnerable to deportation.' The loss of liberty and free movement that characterize detention introduce additional obstacles into the already daunting process of an individual trying to represent themselves effectively. Especially amid the current public health crisis, the stakes for immigrants in detention could not be higher. As a result, most people fighting for their lives in immigration court —including 70 percent of people in detention nationwide —navigate the complexities of immigration law alone.' At the Adelanto Immigration Court, which hears the cases of SAFE's Santa Ana clients, 74 percent have gone unrepresented over the last five years. Over the past 20 years, this number is even starker, with 86 percent of cases in Adelanto lacking representation.5 In response, communities like Santa Ana are advancing universal representation through the SAFE Initiative and are leading the way toward restoring fundamental fairness and dignity to everyone facing deportation. Vera Center on Immigration+Justice