Evaluating the Impact of the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance Year Two Progress and Recommendations for Scaling
Overview
In March 2022, four organizations—The National Immigrant Justice Center, The Resurrection Project, The Immigration Project, and the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender—formed the Midwest Immigrant Defenders Alliance (MIDA) to collaboratively provide legal services for people in the Chicago immigration court whose cases begin in immigration detention. In the first year of the MIDA program, the collaborative—which has now completed its second year of operation—developed and began implementing a model to provide legal representation on a merits-blind basis to people in immigration detention centers in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. This Year Two interim report provides an overview of trends in the Chicago immigration court and how the MIDA program is helping shape the landscape of detained deportation defense—including the program’s reach, impacts, strengths, and limitations—and provides a roadmap for scaling up the MIDA program to reach all people who are eligible.
Key Takeaway
Cases with representation have historically fared much better in immigration court. MIDA’s goal is to eventually provide legal representation to all people in immigration detention facing deportation in the Chicago immigration court who are eligible. Although local and federal funding in Illinois for direct representation in immigration court has increased, this funding has not met the need of everyone facing deportation before the Chicago immigration court. This report shows promising initial evidence of the program’s impacts and provides recommendations for how to scale up the MIDA program to meet this need and reach its ultimate goal.
Publication Highlights
Despite an increasing demand for attorneys, around half of people on the Chicago detained docket consistently have legal representation, in part due to the work of MIDA.
MIDA provides greater equity in access to representation to people of different countries of origin and linguistic groups than non-MIDA lawyers’ intake systems. MIDA helps close the legal representation gap for Spanish speakers, but the need for more expansive language services remains.
With proper investment, MIDA can grow to reach the entire Chicago detained docket within five years.