Detainees in immigration detention centers in the U.S. state of Georgia will soon face new challenges in finding a lawyer to represent them in immigration court, a development that will likely destroy many people's chances of fighting their deportation.
Earlier this month, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal and advocacy group, announced it would end an initiative that had provided legal representation to immigrants detained in Georgia since 2017. That initiative will end in the fall. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, SPLC attorneys were the only ones providing pro bono legal representation in immigration court at the Stewart Detention Center, a privately run prison in the remote town of Lumpkin near the Florida border.
These SPLC staff, whose team within the nonprofit organization was called the Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, also worked with detained migrants in Louisiana. Georgia and Louisiana are the two non-border states with the largest number of detained migrants in the entire country. Most of the detained migrants are border crossers recently apprehended by Border Patrol.
“I was shocked by the news,” said Erin Argueta, a Lumpkin-based SIFI attorney. “I feel deep sadness for my colleagues and also for the detainees. Our number was the only one they could call that offers free, direct representation. It is devastating to know that this resource, which was never enough, has disappeared overnight.”
“It will leave a huge justice gap,” added Monica Whatley, senior project coordinator at SIFI.
Unlike defendants in criminal court, people facing immigration judges are not entitled to a state-provided attorney if they cannot afford one themselves. Private attorneys are out of reach for many migrants, and many of them go into debt to finance their dangerous journey to the U.S. border. Pro bono representation is also hard to come by nationwide — in part because demand for historic border crossings far outstrips supply — and it is especially rare in a place like Lumpkin because of its rural location.
“Detained immigrants in Georgia are often held in remote areas, cut off from society, making it really difficult for them to get representation or contact their family. SIFI was basically the only resource that could help them, and they did an excellent job,” Jason Cade, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law, said in a statement.
Of the nearly 2,900 cases filed in Lumpkin in 2023, less than a quarter involved immigrants with legal representation, according to an analysis of federal data by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
SIFI “was the only option,” said Marty Rosenbluth, an immigration attorney from Lumpkin. “It's going to mean a lot more work for us, and that's not something we're happy about.”ExploreAtlanta advocates urge Biden to protect undocumented immigrants
Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the SPLC, said the organization remains committed to advancing immigrant rights.
She said representing detained immigrants is “really, really important” work, but given the enormous number of people in immigration detention, it “often felt like we were trying to scoop out the ocean with a teaspoon.”
The SPLC will focus on strategic litigation to challenge the immigration detention ecosystem in the larger context.
“We believe the best use of our resources is to challenge systemic practices rather than representing individuals,” Huang said.
This restructuring came at the expense of 60 SPLC staff positions, including the entire SIFI.
For migrants fighting deportation, the services of a lawyer can be crucial.
According to a 2018 study, people in immigration detention won only 3% of their cases when they did not have a lawyer. Detainees who have a lawyer are over 10 times more likely to win the right to stay in the United States. Even non-detained people with a lawyer are significantly more likely to win their immigration cases.
SIFI worked with 257 clients in Georgian prisons in 2023.
Former SIFI employees said their work with detained immigrants also helped create greater oversight in facilities like the Stewart Detention Center that were otherwise shielded from public scrutiny.
“If people are constantly in the detention centers and constantly appearing in court, the government has less chance of getting away with it,” Argueta said. “If no one else goes to the detention centers, they are a kind of black hole where abuses can occur.”
So far in 2024, two people have died in ICE custody in Georgia.
A seven-year run
SIFI was launched in 2017, when the start of former President Donald Trump's administration gave new momentum to immigration enforcement and put it back in the spotlight.
President Joe Biden has expanded some avenues for legal entry into the U.S. and just this month introduced new protections for illegal immigrants married to U.S. citizens. But while the number of illegal border crossings has reached a historic high, he has also implemented restrictions that progressive critics say are similar to those of his predecessor, including a recently implemented policy that limits migrants' ability to seek asylum. In Georgia, immigrant detentions are up 50% compared to the same period last year.DiscoverGeorgia immigrant detentions up 50% vs 2023
SIFI employees say this context makes it more difficult to cope with their layoffs.
“Stopping our immigration work while detentions in Georgia are rising, Biden is cracking down on immigrants and an election is on the horizon really doesn’t make sense,” Whatley said.
She added that staff have begun informing their current clients that SIFI is ceasing operations and that all new requests for assistance are being rejected.
“It's really annoying when you're having that conversation and you can't give them anybody else,” she said. “They don't have a number to call.”
This story is available through a news partnership with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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Based on facts either observed and verified by the reporter himself or reported and verified by knowledgeable sources.
