2015 NLADA Annual Conference

The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) is a city funded program launched in 2013 that provides high quality legal representation to detained New York City immigrants in removal proceedings. In the first two years of the program, NYIFUP has improved outcomes 1,000 percent as compared with detained immigrants who do not have counsel. NYIFUP’s success has sparked a national conversation about access to justice for detained immigrants, received considerable local and national press, and inspired replication efforts across the country. This session will be targeted to service providers and advocates who are interested in starting an access to counsel program in their own cities. The session will describe the advocacy that led to NYIFUP's success, describe political and logistical obstacles that were overcome, and lay out the essential components of both the campaign strategy and the actual program. Speakers from other jurisdictions (including Boston and San Francisco) currently in the process of building new local access to counsel programs will share their insights and advice, highlighting the important role of public defenders in ensuring the success of these initiatives.