prosecutions. Consequently, migrants appearing in Removal Proceedings are entitled to appointed counsel, as they would be not in criminal proceedings. Therefore, the role of private attorneys, and particularly those serving on a pro bono or bono” basis, “low as many of you in this room are doing or have done in the past, become absolutely critical to achieving due process. This problem is particularly acute in so-called courts.” “detention We that representation makes a Represented know huge difference. individuals succeed at rates four to five times greater than unrepresented individuals. Accordingly, an Attorney General interested in due truly process, fairness, and efficiency, would emphasize the need to insure adequate access to counsel. Instead, Sessions has gone out of his way to characterize attorneys as potential wrongly who supposedly are impeding the progress of his “fraudsters” railway” with dilatory requests for continuances “deportation and applications for asylum provided by U.S. and internal law. Session’s distortion of what is happening in intentional really Immigration Court should who cares outrage every American about the Constitutional right to due process and integrity and from U.S. government officials! intellectual honesty
prosecutions. Consequently, migrants appearing in Removal Proceedings are not entitled to appointed counsel, as they would be in criminal proceedings. Therefore, the role of private attorneys, and particularly those serving on a pro bono or “low bono” basis, as many of you in this room are doing or have done in the past, become absolutely critical to achieving due process. This problem is particularly acute in so-called “detention courts.” We know that representation makes a huge difference. Represented individuals succeed at rates four to five times greater than unrepresented individuals. Accordingly, an Attorney General truly interested in due process, fairness, and efficiency, would emphasize the need to insure adequate access to counsel. Instead, Sessions has gone out of his way to wrongly characterize attorneys as potential “fraudsters” who supposedly are impeding the progress of his “deportation railway” with dilatory requests for continuances and applications for asylum provided by U.S. and internal law. Session’s intentional distortion of what is really happening in Immigration Court should outrage every American who cares about the Constitutional right to due process and integrity and intellectual honesty from U.S. government officials!