Right to Counsel

The United States has long-been a beacon of hope for individuals around the world seeking protection and refuge. Our immigration policies must continue to protect those who need it. Learn more about how America can continue to provide humanitarian protection to those in times of crisis.

Recent Features

  • Special Report

Access to Counsel in Immigration Court

Immigrants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. The lack of legal representation has a profound impact on immigrants’ outcomes in removal proceedings.

All Right to Counsel Content

  • Special Report

Access to Counsel in Immigration Court

September 28, 2016
Immigrants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. The lack of legal representation has a profound impact on immigrants’ outcomes in removal proceedings.
  • Blog

Thousands of Children Now Covered in Access to Counsel Lawsuit

June 28, 2016

Last week, a federal court certified a class in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s failure to provide legal representation to children in deportation proceedings. Several thousand...

  • Blog

District Court Holds Hearing in Case About Kids’ Right to Attorneys in Immigration Court

March 25, 2016

A federal district court in Seattle heard arguments in a lawsuit on Thursday seeking to ensure that all children in immigration court have legal representation. The case received a flurry of...

  • Practice Advisories

Seeking Remedies for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Immigration Cases

January 19, 2016
This Practice Advisory discusses how individuals can seek a remedy for ineffective assistance of counsel in immigration court proceedings by filing a motion to reopen and provides an overview of the...
  • Press Release

Coercion and Intimidation of Detained Mothers and Children Must Stop

September 30, 2015

Today, Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), the American Immigration Council, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), and the American Immigration Lawyers As

  • Blog

Story of Unaccompanied Child Underscores Importance of Legal Representation Needed for All Refugee Children

July 28, 2015

Elvis Garcia is a migration counselor at the Catholic Charities Community Services of New York. He is also a former unaccompanied child who fled from his native Honduras in 2005 when he was 15...

  • Special Report

A Guide to Children Arriving at the Border: Laws, Policies and Responses

June 26, 2015
This Guide provides information about the tens of thousands of children—some travelling with their parents and others alone—who have fled their homes in Central America and arrived at our southern...
  • Advocacy

Comments on Streamlining and Improving the U.S. Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Systems

January 29, 2015
The Council submitted comments in response to a request by DHS and the Department of State (DOS) for input on streamlining and improving the U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant visa systems. In the comments, the Council recommended that DHS amend 8 C.F.R. § 292.5(b) to ensure that individuals in secondary inspection are provided with a regulatory right to counsel during their examinations, and that DOS promulgate regulations in 22 C.F.R. Part 40 to provide for meaningful access to counsel during interviews at consular posts.
  • Advocacy

American Immigration Council Synopsis: CBP Restrictions on Access to Counsel

October 1, 2014
The synopsis provides a summary of CBP policies related to access to counsel, based on documents obtained through the Council’s FOIA request and litigation. The summary addresses access to counsel in inspections and CBP detention, and policies on advisals of rights and the treatment of children.
  • Litigation

Right to Appointed Counsel for Children in Immigration Proceedings

This lawsuits seeks recognition of a right to appointed counsel for unrepresented children in immigration proceedings nationwide.

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