As the US government prepared to implement expedited asylum checks at Border Patrol detention centers a few months ago, authorities promised a key difference from Donald Trump’s version of the policy: migrants would be guaranteed access to a lawyer.
But nearly three months and thousands of reviews later, the promise of access to lawyers appears largely unfulfilled, according to reports from advocacy groups and interviews with people directly implicated, some of whom spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
A group of lawyers estimates that about 100 immigrants have obtained formal representation, and only hundreds more have received informal counseling through calls before expedited checks.
Jones Day, one of the world’s largest law firms, has partnered with the US government to offer free legal advice to immigrants. According to one of the people who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity, her phone bank handled 460 informal phone inquiries, each typically lasting about two hours, through June 21. Jones Day only had two serious clients.
Four other advocacy groups that offer free advice and whose names are listed on the immigration court system’s website have handled far fewer phone inquiries, in part because they started much later, the person said. Representatives of those four groups declined to comment or did not respond to AP requests.
That represents a mere fraction of the thousands of reviews expedited since early April, though an exact percentage could not be determined. US Citizenship and Immigration Services, whose asylum officers are conducting the interviews, did not respond to questions about legal representation.
The objective of the US authorities is to complete the reviews in 72 hours, the limit to retain a person, according to Border Patrol policy. The Department of Homeland Security noted that the expedited deadline is intended to “more quickly provide relief to those who are eligible and to more quickly remove those who are not.” The AP has repeatedly requested to visit a screening facility to better understand the process.
During reviews, known as “credible fear interviews,” immigrants must convince an asylum officer that they have a “significant chance” of convincing a judge that they face persecution in their home countries based on race, religion , nationality, political opinion or membership in a social group. If they pass, they are usually released into the United States while their case moves through the system.
The percentage of people who passed the asylum checks fell by 52% during the second half of May, as the accelerated process accelerated, compared to 77% in the second half of March, just before it began.
The government figures offer no explanation and do not say how many expedited reviews occurred in Border Patrol custody without access to legal counsel. Administration officials have attributed the drop in approval rates in part to a new policy that severely limits asylum to people who travel through another country, such as Mexico, to reach the US border.
A lawsuit filed last month in federal court in Washington seeks to end Border Patrol custodial reviews, saying applicants have just 24 hours to find lawyers after often harrowing trips. The lawsuit contends that “this leaves non-citizens with virtually no time or ability to consult with anyone or prepare meaningfully for these often life-threatening interviews.”
Even immigrants who pass interviews are reluctant to talk about their experiences in order to continue processing their asylum applications. Senator Alex Padilla said in a statement that reports of the lack of access to attorneys at Border Patrol facilities are “worrying and disappointing.”
The US government does not want to say how many of the searches it has made in Border Patrol facilities, which prohibit in-person visits by lawyers, although it is very likely that it is in the thousands. The Department of Homeland Security said on June 5 that asylum officials conducted more than 11,500 border checks in the first three weeks after pandemic-related asylum restrictions ended, though some may have been at immigration centers. Customs and Border Protection, which do allow attorney visits.
Typically, about three in four immigrants pass credible fear interviews, though far fewer ultimately gain asylum. But the results were roughly reversed during the five months of Trump’s presidency expedited reviews program: Just 23% passed, while 69% failed and 9% withdrew, according to the Government Accountability Office. USA.
Biden ended Trump’s flash reviews a month after Democrats took over the White House, as part of an executive order aimed at “restore and improve asylum processing at the border.”
Refreshed reviews began in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley and expanded the following week to similarly sprawling tent complexes in Laredo and El Paso, Texas; Yuma, Ariz.; and San Diego, all temporary Border Patrol detention centers built since 2021 with hundreds of phone booths for interviews.
For about three weeks in April, Jones Day attorneys were able to groom all the migrants who sought informal legal advice over the phone, but they soon found themselves overwhelmed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the effort.
Some legal service providers debated whether or not to participate in the “enhanced expedited removal” program, as the selection process is called. They are not paid and some worried that it could imply approval and give legitimacy.
Americans for Immigrant Justice joined the effort led by Jones Day because the interviews carry “life and death” risks, said Cindy Woods, a national policy adviser. “It’s a difficult situation, especially with the way this new iteration has been approached,” she said.
Calls that come in at night or on weekends are dropped, and lawyers said they have no reliable way to respond to messages.
Obtaining formal representation for the investigation may require a signature, requiring the help of agents who may not be available. One of Woods’ clients spent five hours on the phone waiting for an agent to print a consent form and fax it to the attorney with the immigrant’s signature.
The National Center for Immigrant Justice, which serves clients through the phone bank run by Jones Day, said in a report that six of 23 clients did not have access to pen and paper to take notes.
Jones Day’s lawyers have held the highest ranks of the Trump administration, including White House adviser Don McGahn. Despite ties to the former president, who has called asylum a “sham,” the firm has built a strong free representation practice for asylum seekers known as “Proyecto Frontera,” operating out of an office it opened in 2017 on the shores of the Rio Grande, in Laredo.
Jones Day said it has provided legal training to more than 10,000 migrants. More than 1,100 attorneys have dedicated more than 280,000 hours to her cases, an investment unmatched among large firms.
The firm has refused to comment publicly on its role in providing legal advice for expedited reviews.
