Last year, CPD and its partners secured a $500,000 grant from the New York City Council to pilot the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, the nation’s first-ever public defender program for immigrants who are detained and facing deportation, and a major step forward for New York.

This pilot program, launched in November and staffed by attorneys from The Bronx Defenders and Brooklyn Legal Services, is already taking bold steps to protect immigrant residents from detentions and permanent deportations.

In just the first nine days of intake, the attorneys have undertaken representation in 62 cases. They have obtained release for nine clients, and two more New Yorkers were freed after NYIFUP lawyers won their cases. As the New York Times observed, the NYIFUP pilot is producing real benefits for both New Yorkers who would otherwise lack quality representation and the immigration courts themselves.

As our recent report reveals, our current system of detention and deportation imposes millions in costs on New York State businesses and public programs. Yet for an investment of just 78 cents per personal income tax payer, a statewide system of deportation defense would generate $5.9 million in savings each year.

The opportunity is clear. New York has a chance to be the first state in the nation to send an unequivocal message about how much it values its immigrant residents, how seriously it takes fairness and due process and how committed it is to making the wisest possible investments with public dollars.

CPD is proud to partner with a number of pro-immigrant groups in the legal community toward ensuring that all New Yorkers who are detained and facing deportation are able to benefit from the highest impact legal services available.