Sponsors (15)
The bill substantially expands guaranteed, higher-quality legal representation for low-income immigrants and builds local and federal capacity to deliver it, but does so at substantial fiscal cost and with administrative, procedural, and enforcement trade-offs.
Low-income noncitizens in removal proceedings will be provided government-funded appointed counsel, expanding who gets representation in immigration cases.
Detained and other respondents will get faster and more continuous access to counsel — including prompt (within 24 hours) and confidential in-person access, plus continuity through appeals — reducing uninformed self-representation and improving case continuity.
People in immigration proceedings will benefit from higher-quality defense because the bill requires training, continuing education, compensation standards, and caseload/management standards for appointed attorneys.
Taxpayers and federal/state budgets will face substantial new spending to fund appointed counsel, reimburse expanded expenses, and staff the Office and local organizations, likely increasing appropriations and potentially crowding out other programs or raising taxes.
Creating and running a new Office, hiring a large attorney corps, establishing IPDOs/Local Boards, and managing Local Administrators adds administrative complexity and implementation burdens that could produce rollout delays and coordination challenges with DHS/DOJ.
Proceedings could be delayed or paused to ensure counsel is appointed and due to required waiting periods after document disclosure, potentially prolonging detention or slowing case resolution for some individuals.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal right to government-funded counsel for eligible low-income people in most immigration-related proceedings and establishes an Office to provide and oversee counsel.
Official title: To establish the right to counsel, at Government expense for those who cannot afford counsel, for people facing removal.
Introduced April 30, 2025 by Norma Judith Torres · Last progress April 30, 2025
Creates a federal statutory right to government-funded legal counsel for people who cannot afford representation in removal, exclusion, deportation, bond, expedited removal, and related immigration proceedings. Sets financial eligibility at 200% of the federal poverty level, mandates timely appointment and access to counsel (including detained persons), and bars use of seeking appointed counsel as a public-charge factor. Establishes a new independent nonprofit Office of Immigration Representation (OIR) to recruit, appoint, train, reimburse, and oversee counsel; creates a Board and an Immigration Representation Advisory Board; requires DHS reimbursement of reasonable expenses; and sets a statutory funding floor tied to federal immigration enforcement appropriations with appropriations authority for the OIR to carry out the law.