Battling Deportation Often a Solitary Journey

Legal representation at the Arlington and Baltimore immigration courts -- which decide all cases from Virginia, the District and Maryland -- is higher than average, largely because of their locations near metropolitan areas. In fiscal 2005, 42 percent of cases in Arlington were completed with an immigration lawyer; that figure was 58 percent in Baltimore.

In court, judges hand immigrants a list of charities that offer free or low-cost legal services. They can help. According to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, government data show that 34 percent of all non-detained immigrants with attorneys won their cases in fiscal 2003, compared with 23 percent without. Of non-detained asylum seekers, 39 percent with attorneys won their cases; that figure was 14 percent of those without attorneys.

To help, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that runs the nation's 54 immigration courts, has been facilitating and expanding pro bono efforts. But volunteer legal aid services are often overwhelmed and have to turn people away. Many of the nine groups on the Arlington court's list will not take the cases of detainees or criminals.

Alberto M. Benitez, a law professor who directs the George Washington University Immigration Law Clinic, one provider on the list, said he and the students he supervises must sometimes temporarily shut down their service, which operates only during the school year, to catch up.

"Once it's open, it's a deluge of calls and walk-ins and referrals," Benitez said.

Some organizations, including the American Bar Association, have called for a congressionally ordered, court-appointed system for the indigent and mentally ill. But backers concede that the idea has little viability as tension simmers over illegal immigration. Lawyers have made little headway in courts by arguing that the absence of counsel violates immigrants' due process rights.

So now advocates focus on efficiency, saying lawyers save the system money by speeding up the process, often by telling the many immigrants without a good case to accept deportation. But no study has included a cost comparison.

The claim is unconvincing to some.

"I'm not aware of any evidence that says the system would work better if people just had access to more lawyers," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks a reduction in immigration. He added: "Any good immigration lawyer at this point says that every illegal alien is just basically a potential legal one if . . . you find some loophole or make the process long enough."

After 11 a.m., the courtroom was drained of lawyers. A Mexican man approached, attorneyless.

Minutes later, the clerk called 677.

"Six-seven-seven," Velasco echoed in English, standing to cross the chilly room.