National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

Criminal & Deportation Defense: Partnerships

Defending Immigrants Partnership

One of the most prominent vehicles for criminal and deportation defense is the Defending Immigrants Partnership, or DIP. DIP has provided thousands of public defenders, private attorneys, and community-based legal workers with the tools necessary to help noncitizens avoid the dire consequences of conviction for relatively minor misconduct. Funded by the Open Society Institute, DIP produced several key resource charts on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions. These charts are listed in our resources section along with quick reference tables produced by other DIP partner organizations.

Board of Immigration Appeals Pro Bono Project

In the U.S., noncitizens do not have the right to a U.S.-funded lawyer. This means that thousands of noncitizens with strong legal cases languish in detention because the system provides them few or no opportunities to develop and strengthen their legal cases. One step of redress is the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) Pro Bono Project. An officially recognized project of the U.S. Department of Justice, the BIA Pro Bono Project provides free legal counsel to noncitizens who are unrepresented and facing a government appeal, who are minors, or who have applied for asylum. Other participants include the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (CAIR) Coalition, and the American Immigration Law Foundation (AILF). The Project receives high praise from the Executive Office of Immigration Review, which notes that it has been “successful in increasing the level and quality of ‘pro bono’ representation for persons in immigration removal proceedings who appeal their cases to the BIA.” The complete report may be downloaded from the BIA website and is also available in our resources section.

Immigrant Justice Network

The National Immigration Project is a member of the Immigrant Justice Network, a collaborative that defends against the criminalization of immigrant communities. Our partners include members of the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the Immigrant Defense Project, and the Washington Defender Association’s Immigration Project. Through alliance-building, technical assistance, and public education about criminal and immigration issues, the Immigrant Justice Network seeks to remediate the immigration legal system so that laws and procedures are more just and fair.

Criminal & Deportation Defense

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one of us directly affects all of us indirectly. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

–Martin Luther King, Jr.