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create a justice fund for universal representation Orange County Register Page 3 of <br />Not surprisingly, providing counsel to indigent immigrants makes a huge <br />difference In ensuring fair proceedings. Detained Immigrants are among the <br />most vulnerable in the immigration system and the least likely to be <br />represented. However, when detained immigrants are able to obtain a <br />lawyer, they succeed in obtaining relief from deportation more than five <br />times as often as those who are not represented. Detained immigrants who <br />have legal representation are also able to succeed in securing their release <br />from detention at a bond hearing four times more often than those who are <br />unrepresented. Release permits immigrants to return home while they are <br />fighting their cases, allowing them to earn money and gather the evidence <br />they need to prove their claims. <br />Free legal assistance should be provided to those who face deportation so <br />long as they have the economic need for such help. All whose income does <br />not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines should be eligible <br />for assistance. This is similar to how criminal defendants are determined to <br />be eligible for an attorney at government expense. <br />No one should be denied help because of a prior criminal record. Everyone <br />facing deportation —with or without a criminal record — deserves a fair <br />proceeding, which requires the assistance of a trained advocate. Under the <br />Trump administration's approach, even very old or minor criminal charges <br />can render longtime residents vulnerable to deportation. Moreover, recent <br />studies have documented that there Is no benefit in decreasing crime by <br />deporting residents with criminal records. Those who are unlawfully present <br />and who pose a danger, of course, should be deported. But a criminal record, <br />especially when it is for minor or long ago offenses, does not In and of Itself <br />provide a basis for deeming a person dangerous. <br />It is particularly important that universal representation be provided in <br />Orange County, which is home to approximately 313,000 undocumented <br />immigrants and three immigration detention facilities. The Trump <br />administration has been emphatic in Its desire to increase immigration <br />enforcement and deportations. The response must be to ensure that those at <br />risk have legal representation. <br />http://www.ocregister.coml2017/03ll6lcrea2O'Aj,9d-for-universal-representation! 6/9/2017 <br />