FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 12, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) introduced the Securing Help for Immigrants through Education and Legal Development (SHIELD) Act of 2024 to establish a grant program that will support legal services staffing and infrastructure to address the urgent need to secure fairness and due process in the outdated U.S. immigration system. The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), leading sponsor of the Fairness to Freedom Act, and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL), and endorsed by 45 local and national organizations.

A companion to the Fairness to Freedom Act—legislation that will establish a right to legal representation for people facing deportation—the SHIELD Act will create a $100 million grant program and provide four-year renewable competitive grants to support programs in states and localities to recruit and retain a legal services workforce to better meet the representation needs of people facing deportation. In removal proceedings, people who cannot afford an attorney are not guaranteed one but the federal government is represented every time. Legal representation for people facing deportation supports family unity and economic prosperity and ensures greater fairness in the outdated U.S. immigration system.

“As an immigrant myself, I know first-hand how hard it is to navigate our immigration system and how hard finding quality legal representation can be. That is why the SHIELD Act is working to fix our outdated and overwhelmed immigration system, creating grants to increase the number of immigrant legal defenders,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “This bill addresses our immigration system’s current problems and sets up the system to be successful long-term. As Mayor of Long Beach, we proudly established the Long Beach Justice Fund to help provide access to representation, and I am proud to build on that effort.”

“To secure universal representation nationally, we must resource and build up legal infrastructure locally. The SHIELD Act will do just that: invest in the building blocks of a sustainable immigration legal services field nationwide, laying the groundwork for the Fairness to Freedom Act by providing needed federal funds for states and localities to support legal service providers working on deportation defense,” said Shayna Kessler, director, Advancing Universal Representation initiative, Vera Institute of Justice. “We are grateful for Rep. Garcia’s leadership on the road to universal representation, and look forward to working with him, Rep. Torres, Rep. Ramirez, and other members of Congress to promote due process for our communities.”

“As the co-leader of the Fairness to Freedom campaign, we are grateful to Rep. Garcia for his leadership in support of this critical step for universal representation. With millions of pending deportation cases nationwide, a shortage of immigration legal professionals across the country, and the continued arrival of people seeking safety, we have no time to waste in building infrastructure that will help shield our communities’ families from separation and guarantee their right to due process when facing deportation,” said Nicole Melaku, executive director, National Partnership for New Americans. “As a companion to the Fairness to Freedom Act led by Rep. Norma Torres, the SHIELD Act will not only help address the issues ailing the U.S. immigration system, but also prepare it to meet long-term needs.”

"As the United States seeks to find protections for immigrant communities, it is legislation like the SHIELD Act and the Fairness to Freedom Act that take steps forward to improve our immigration system,” said Angelica Salas, Executive Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA). “In its role as a legal service provider, CHIRLA sees the outsized needs of our community and knows that these bills will enable organizations to provide representation to the most vulnerable, allowing for a more just and equitable system."

"Universal representation is critical to protecting migrants and asylum seekers against our broken immigration system and essential for keeping families together. During a time of attacks on our asylum system and a misguided shutdown of the southern border, the SHIELD Act is a welcome breath of fresh air," said Lindsay Toczylowski, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef). "By providing long-term capacity to provide high-quality, holistic, and linguistically appropriate legal services, this common-sense solution will give those under the threat of deportation a fighting chance in court. We are incredibly grateful to Rep. Robert Garcia and all co-sponsors for promoting fairness and due process in our immigration courts through this legislation.”

"At The Resurrection Project, we have led and cultivated a strong and sustainable immigrant legal defense field by creating an infrastructure that supports recruitment, training, retention, and development of staff and resources,” said Eréndira (Ere) Rendón, Vice President of Immigrant Justice, The Resurrection Project (TRP). “I’m proud to stand with NPNA and Vera to support the SHIELD Act because this legislation will not only help address the issues ailing the U.S. immigration system today, but also prepare it to meet long-term legal service needs."

The following 45 organizations endorse the SHIELD Act: Acacia Center for Justice, Alianza Americas, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc., American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Borderlands Resource Initiative, Brooklyn Defender Services, CASA, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Central American Resource Center of Northern California - CARECEN SF, Church World Service, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, FAITH IN TEXAS, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Human Rights First, Immigrant ARC, Immigrant Children Advocates’ Relief Effort (ICARE), Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Immigrant Justice Corps, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), ISLA: Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, Just Neighbors, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants (LORI), Make the Road Nevada, National Employment Law Project, National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), ORALE, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, San Francisco Public Defender Office, Save the Children, Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, The Advocates for Human Rights, The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), The Immigration Project, The Resurrection Project, UNITED SIKHS, Vera Institute of Justice, and the Washington Defender Association.

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Fairness to Freedom: The Campaign for Universal Representation was launched by the Vera Institute of Justice and the National Partnership for New Americans in April 2022 with a coalition of over 200 organizations and legal service providers. The campaign’s goal is to support the passage of the Fairness to Freedom Act to establish a federal right to representation for all immigrants facing deportation.