In Chicago's Immigration Court, One of the Largest in the US, Only One in Four Have an Attorney
Only one out of four immigrants had a lawyer among the 211,096 persons whose cases were backlogged in Chicago as of December 2023, according to TRAC.
That put the Chicago court among those with lower rates of representation. In comparison, the rate was 49% in California and 44% in New York state.
But having a lawyer can be essential to navigating the court system — from knowing when their court date is, understanding how to update their address, knowing what immigration relief forms they apply for, as well as ultimately having someone to represent them and plead their case in front of the judge.
According to the National Immigration Forum, someone’s chance of winning their asylum case is five times higher if they have an attorney to represent them.
Archived at web.archive.org/…/immigration-court-federal-backl…