Nearly 85% of Individuals on Biden’s New Expedited Docket for Families Seeking Asylum Do Not Have Lawyers.
Denver, CO, January 19, 2022 - Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) and the Colorado Lawyers Committee are holding a two-part training series, “Representing Families Fleeing Persecution and Seeking Asylum in the United States,” to train lawyers with no prior immigration experience to represent families seeking asylum on a new expedited docket for recently-arrived asylum-seeking families, called the “Dedicated Docket” in Denver.
Part One of the training program will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2022, from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm.
Part Two of the training program will be held on Thursday, February 3, 2022, from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm.
On May 28, 2021, the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security selected Denver as one of just ten cities across the United States to start an expedited “Dedicated Docket.” [1][2][3]
According to data recently analyzed and released by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, nearly 85% of asylum seekers on the expedited docket have been forced to navigate the high-stakes, complex and adversarial proceedings in immigration court entirely on their own [4]. In fact, over 72,000 cases involving asylum-seeking families have been assigned to the expedited docket, and only 13 people on the expedited docket have been granted asylum or another form of lawful relief from deportation thus far.[5]
“Rather than promoting its stated goal of ensuring fairness and justice, this docket has the exact opposite effect. What we see are families -- parents fleeing persecution and seeking a safer, better life for their young children -- forced to proceed in complex legal proceedings, in a language that is not their own, with the fewest resources to obtain legal representation on an impossible timeline. The report confirms that this docket prioritizes individuals for failure, on the very basis of their identified vulnerability,” said Emily Brock, Senior Staff Attorney, Children’s Program, RMIAN.
With no appointed counsel in immigration proceedings, these numbers should come as no surprise. The expedited docket contemplates completion of each family’s case within 300 days (about 10 months), much faster than the average of 58 months, or nearly 5 years, most immigration cases take to go through the court system. [6][7] When families have sufficient time to access work authorization and save money, they are much more likely to be able to hire a lawyer to represent them in immigration court. However, due to the waiting period requirement and processing times for work authorization applications, it is effectively impossible for any of the families on the new expedited docket to access work authorization within 300 days.
The Department of Justice memo justifies the selection of the designated cities for the expedited docket, in part, by noting that these cities have “established communities of legal services providers,” and notes that DHS and DOJ will “refer families to pro bono legal service providers for possible representation.” However, RMIAN and over 130 organizations across the country have unequivocally communicated to DHS and DOJ [8] that legal service providers in the designated cities do not have excess capacity to meet the representation needs of the large number of families on the expedited “Dedicated Docket.” Rather, legal service providers were unable to meet the need for legal representation in their communities prior to the creation of the new expedited docket.
Alyssa Telander, Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney for RMIAN’s Children’s Program, said, “The training program starting tomorrow is our effort to fill a small portion of the enormous gap in legal representation for families on the Dedicated Docket. We are so incredibly thankful to all the volunteers who are stepping up to represent the families who are being rushed through this expedited docket process. However, the sad reality is that there are so many families that we will not be able to help. The only real solution is to end the Dedicated Docket.”
While RMIAN shares the administration’s concerns about the growing backlog of cases in immigration court, RMIAN rejects the expedited “Dedicated Docket” as a viable solution to the problem. The docket raises due process concerns for the families rushed through the process and all but guarantees that thousands of families will face an immigration judge without an attorney and be ordered deported. RMIAN calls on the Biden Administration to rescind the “Dedicated Docket” process immediately.
Reporters seeking more information about RMIAN’s response to the Dedicated Docket can contact Emily Brock at ebrock@rmian.org. Lawyers who wish to volunteer can register for the upcoming training program or email probonochildrens@rmian.org.