PRO BONO WEEK 2011–KINDNESS TO STRANGERS By Lee Ann Russo and Bob Glaves Fixing the Immigration System A Roadmap for Reform, A Roadmap for Reform, and a Place for the Legal and a Place for the Legal Community to Lead Community to Lead W HEN THE TOPIC OF IMMIGRATION comes up, seemingly the only thing all sides agree upon is that the system is broken. We’re a nation of laws and a nation of immi- grants, but the current system does justice to neither of these core values. And it’s becoming increasingly complex and dysfunctional by the day. As complicated as the system has become, fjxing it is relatively simple: a comprehensive overhaul that deals honestly and justly with the current problems while setting the system on a sustainable course going forward. Unfortunately, it’s the louder extremes that dominate the debate today, and we’re all worse ofg as a result. Tie legal community can and should play more of a leadership role in reshaping this debate and leading us toward real solutions. We can do that by informing ourselves on these issues, providing pro bono representation to the large number of immi- grants caught within the system and unable to afgord counsel, and taking a more active role in advocating for a comprehensive and responsible solution. In this article, we briefmy review the sources of the current problems in the system, highlight their con- sequences for our country and the justice system, and provide a roadmap for a comprehensive, bipartisan solution. We also provide a list of resources where you can get reliable information on these issues and a snapshot of available pro bono opportunities in the Chicago area. 36 OCTOBER 2011
PRO BONO WEEK 2011–KINDNESS TO STRANGERS The Sources of the Problem Flaws in the system. Fundamental and long- Contested immigration matters are resolved in standing fmaws in our nation’s laws govern- a federal administrative system that for the most ing immigration are the underlying source of today’s broken system. Rather than a part is ill-equipped to properly handle the serious system that sets immigration limits on a rational basis, for decades we’ve had arbi- and sometimes life-and-death decisions inherent trary and infmexible limits on legal immigra- tion that have little relation to economic in immigration. Tiat problem has been further needs or realities. Tiis had led to gaps in the labor market for high-skilled and low- aggravated by the growing volume of people skilled workers that can’t be fjlled through existing legal channels. caught up in the immigration enforcement Tiese gaps are underscored by recent reports that more than 3 million jobs are system, with huge backlogs increasingly open right now in the U.S. that employers developing in the immigration courts. are having trouble fjlling even in this time of high unemployment due to a mismatch of skills or location. Some of those jobs members who are U.S. citizens or legal ways for immigrants to gain legal status, for eventually can and should be fjlled through most there efgectively is no way to legalize residents. Living in this legal limbo not continued improvements in our education only limits mobility and life options for in the current system. Piecemeal attempts system and increased use of training and to clamp down on enforcement without these immigrants and their families, it retraining programs for American work- makes them more vulnerable to a host of addressing the fundamental systemic fmaws ers. But just as has been true throughout for the most part have only made the system other legal problems, from consumer fraud our nation’s history, immigrant workers are and various employment-related abuses to even more complex and dysfunctional. needed to fjll a signifjcant share of this gap Due process often lacking. Finally, and domestic violence and human traffjcking. to keep our economy dynamic and growing. More enforcement without fjxing system cre- signifjcantly for us as lawyers, the current Without adequate legal channels in the immigration enforcement and adjudication ating other problems. Increasingly aggressive current system, many companies report that enforcement without fjxing the underlying system too often inhibits access to counsel they have no choice but to expand outside and lacks key due process protections. problems in the system is creating many of the U.S. when they otherwise would have other issues. Families are being divided by Immigrants, even those detained, do not here, and/or artifjcially limit their expansion have access to appointed counsel. Con- the deportation of otherwise law-abiding in this country, neither of which helps our people. Often the family breadwinner is tested immigration matters are resolved in economy. For lower-skilled workers and a federal administrative system that for the deported, leaving the remaining members their families, a dangerous black market of a previously stable family in economic most part is ill-equipped to properly handle has developed for them to obtain open jobs the serious and sometimes life-and-death distress. here, making lawbreakers of many thou- The increasing involvement of local decisions inherent in immigration. Tiat sands of people who want nothing more problem has been further aggravated by authorities in immigration enforcement, than to follow the paths of our ancestors sometimes voluntary but often not, has the growing volume of people caught up in toward a better life. the immigration enforcement system, with frayed relations between local law enforce- All or nothing penalties. Current penalties ment and their communities in much of the huge backlogs increasingly developing in for violating these unworkable immigration the immigration courts. country. When people who are not crimi- laws are virtually always “all or nothing,” nals or have committed only minor infrac- further aggravating the problems of the The Consequences of the Problem tions are deported after contact with local broken system. Either deportation or some Millions of people in legal limbo. There are authorities, community policing efgorts are type of deferred action are the basic options now believed to be more than 11 mil- compromised, which ultimately can nega- for the millions of immigrants who are here lion people living in the U.S. without tively impact public safety. Recent policy and don’t qualify for legal status under the legal status, and more than 500,000 in announcements by Immigrations and Cus- current laws, with few available penalties in Illinois alone, many of whom have family toms Enforcement (ICE) to use prosecuto- between. While there are some very limited CBA RECORD 37
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