After years of concerted effort, immigrant advocates around the state have been celebrating the passing of the establishment of a statewide Immigration Legal Defense Fund for Colorado. While it still awaits the governor’s signature, advocates are also celebrating that Colorado has become the first state in the Union to offer public funds toward appointing counsel to indigent immigrant clients.
“It’s very historic,” said Sarah Plastino, senior attorney of the Detention Program at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. “We’re so proud to be the first state in the nation to pass legislation like this. I think Colorado is really leading by example, and we hope the federal government will take note and continue the moment for appointing counsel for immigrants.”
The bill, formally titled HB21-1194, looks to start the immigration legal defense fund, with the Colorado Department of Human Services as administrator of award grants to qualifying nonprofit organizations providing legal advice, counseling and representation to indigent clients subject to immigration proceedings.
The bill was primarily sponsored by three state legislators, all of the Democratic party, including Rep. Kerry Tipper and Naquetta Ricks, and in the Senate by Sen. Dominick Moreno.
“No one should have to face a judge alone just because they can’t afford a lawyer,” Tipper said in a statement. The passage of this bill ensures meaningful steps for due process and dignity for everyone in this state.”
The bill text cites data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse stating that 70% of immigrants detained in civil immigration custody in the Aurora Contract Detention Facility faced deportation hearings without a lawyer. Further, the bill states that “many people” in immigration court proceedings have valid legal claims to remain in the U.S. but are unable to argue their cases effectively without a legal expert in the complex area of immigration law.
“Only five percent of immigration cases were won between 2007 and 2012 without an attorney, while ninety-five percent of successful cases 21 involved persons who were represented by an attorney,” the bill text states.
The bill states that deportation and detention are costly for the state, and the Colorado Fiscal Institute reported that Colorado could save “nearly $18.6 million by providing universal representation for Coloradans in immigration court.”
House Bill 1194 includes a fiscal note of $100,000. The funding is a start, and RMIAN hopes that with each passing year, the fund will grow to provide representation to more people in need. The fund is a public-private partnership, meaning it will receive funding from both the state government and private donors.
Jennifer Piper, the organizing director with the American Friends Service Committee in Colorado and also a member of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition who spearheaded the movement, earlier explained to Law Week that the public-private aspect of the bill was an important feature for not only allowing a large number of clients to be served, but also to show support for universal representation for immigrants.
She said that the funds received from the state would be matched by the Vera Institute, an advocacy group working to transform the legal and immigration systems in America. With that amount of funding, it’s anticipated that the statewide fund could serve the same number of clients as the DISLF served in their first year — but for people living across Colorado.
“[Both AFSC and I are] really excited to see the bill pass both houses,” Piper said. She was a member of the CIRC group spearheading the effort. “We’re excited to see the governor sign it, hopefully soon.”
While some states, such as New York, currently offer legal representation programs of varying kinds, Colorado is breaking new ground by housing a fund through the state and offering it to people across the varying geography of Colorado.
Piper said that this movement for legal representation of immigrants is part of a wider national movement that is growing. Vox reported that New York is making an effort to give every immigrant an attorney, and Wisconsin’s News Chanel 20 reports that state lawmakers want to study a public defender model for undocumented immigrants.
Plastino agreed that there is a broader national movement on appointing counsel for immigrants, and with the infrastructure being put in place by the bill and with growing funding every year, more individuals will be able to benefit more and more from the fund.
Outlining the permissible uses of the grant money awarded from the fund, 1194 also requires each nonprofit getting funds to report certain information, like age and sex, to the DHS, and services provided.
“The fund is necessary because there is no right to appointed counsel in federal immigration proceedings, even if the immigrant is a child, detained, or an asylum seeker,” a RMIAN press release states. By providing free legal representation to low-income immigrants facing deportation and detention in the state, Colorado became the first state in the country to pass legislation establishing such a fund.
For rural areas of the state, Plastino said this was a helpful bill as it will help with supplying lawyers. For those currently in detention, this bill will help address a “great need” for lawyers helping individuals return to their families and out of holding.
In the Metro area, Denver residents have had access to free universal representation via the Denver Immigrant Legal Services Fund since 2018, another public-private partnership.
“We’ve seen the Denver Immigration Legal Services Fund help hundreds of individuals in the city access legal counsel and defend their rights in court,” Moreno said.
“Now it’s time for all immigrants across the state to have guaranteed access to attorneys. Colorado can uphold due process in our state.” — Sen. Dominick Moreno
Qualifying organizations for the grants awarded from the fund must provide legal representation before immigration court in Colorado in the Board of Immigration Appeals within the Department of Justice, but doesn’t include providing clients with representation before district, circuit or U.S. Supreme Court on an appeal from immigration orders or other related matters.
When fully approved, 1194 will create an Immigration Legal Defense Fund in the state treasury, and “the money in the fund is continuously appropriated to the administrator,” according to the bill text. The DHS as administrator is authorized to make the grants from the fund to qualifying organizations representing these individuals appearing before an immigration court in Colorado lacking private counsel.
“The fund is very necessary — representation is the difference between families being together or being separated, children being with their parents as they grow or not,” said Erika Vargas, a AFSC advocate.
For an in-depth look at the struggles facing immigrant legal defense and public attempts at providing representation elsewhere in America, check out this investigative article by Reporter Avery Martinez from last year.