Immigrant Legal Defense Act
Full title: An Act ensuring access to equitable representation in immigration proceedings (H.1954 / S.1127)
Lead sponsors: Reps. Dave Rogers & Frank Moran; Sen. Adam Gomez
The Issue
The new federal administration is committed to an agenda of mass deportation and detention, with new horror stories every day, and Congress has been giving the White House more tools to scale up such efforts.
Unfortunately, the federal government is not required to provide legal representation to defendants in immigration court. Defendants either pay for their own lawyers or navigate the complex immigration system alone, children included.
Having legal representation matters. Immigrants are five times more likely to win relief from deportation if they have representation, and detained immigrants with an attorney are ten times more likely to win relief than those without. Shockingly, a majority of immigrants with pending cases in MA are navigating their cases without a lawyer.
The Solution
This bill establishes the Immigrant Legal Defense Fund (publicly & privately funded) to be overseen by the state Office for Refugees & Immigrants (ORI). This fund will provide no cost legal services to income qualifying Massachusetts residents facing deportation.
Under this law, the ORI will establish a grant process to distribute funding to nonprofits and advocacy groups already engaged in legal representation in immigration court. The goal is to create a statewide system of representation to eligible persons so that legal representation is not dependent on ability to pay.
Similar programs already exist in California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
Contact Your Legislators
Find your legislators’ contact information here.
I urge you to support an Act ensuring access to equitable representation in immigration proceedings (H.1954 / S.1127). I am shocked and appalled that my neighbors’ legal representation in immigration court is dependent on their ability to pay. No person should be denied legal services, under any conditions.
President Trump and the current federal administration are actively targeting anyone they deem to be an immigrant. Many are forced to represent themselves since the government does not provide legal representation (unlike in criminal court). Even children are forced through the archaic immigration court system without legal representation. This bill is an opportunity for Massachusetts to join several other states (California, Colorado, New York, and others) in defending the unalienable right of legal representation for all persons. Income should never be the determining factor in a person accessing their rights.
No one should have to navigate immigration court without a lawyer. Let’s pass #ILDA.
Over half of immigration cases in Massachusetts don’t have legal representation. Income should not be a barrier to due process. #ILDA
With due process under attack, it’s important than ever to guarantee everyone legal representation. #ILDA
Legal representation is guaranteed in criminal court. Why not in immigration court too? #ILDA
California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington all ensure that cost is not a barrier to representation in immigration court. Let’s join them. #ILDA
Write a Letter to the Editor
Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!
The right to due process and legal representation is an unalienable right; it is foundational to our legal system and embedded in our constitution. Yet, the government does not provide legal representation in immigration courts if a person is unable to afford it. This standard makes the unalienable right to legal representation contingent on income…access to a lawyer is behind a paywall.
A new bill known as the Immigration Legal Defense Act, or ILDA (H.1954 / S.1127), would break that paywall by establishing a fund to support nonprofits and community groups providing immigration legal services. Deportations (justified or not), including ICE snatching neighbors off of the streets, have skyrocket under this administration. Many of them are questionable…even erroneous! Supporting this bill is one brick in the wall we can build to protect our neighbors and protect our unalienable rights.
This bill is a chance for Massachusetts to stand for our rights…to defend to right to legal representation…to ensure due process for all especially when our federal government is against us.
Read More
- “Featured Issue: Ensuring Legal Representation for People Facing Removal.” American Immigration Lawyers Association. May 15, 2024. https://www.aila.org/library/featured-issue-ensuring-legal-representation.
- “Immigration Court Legal Representation Dashboard.” Vera Institute of Justice. April 2025. https://www.vera.org/ending-mass-incarceration/reducing-incarceration/detention-of-immigrants/advancing-universal-representation-initiative/immigration-court-legal-representation-dashboard.
- Murphy, Magdalena. “Think Immigration: Children Should Not Face Immigration Court Alone.” American Immigration Lawyers Association. November 19, 2024. https://www.aila.org/library/think-immigration-children-should-not-face-immigration-court-alone.
- “Noncitizen Access to Legal Counsel in Immigration Court Differs by Language Spoken.” Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. April 1, 2025. https://tracreports.org/reports/757/.
Talking Points & Sample Tweets