TRAC: Too Few Immigration Attorneys; Where You Live Impacts Representation

Check out the latest report from TRAC: Too Few Immigration Attorneys; Where You Live Impacts Representation.

The latest available court data show that in August 2026 only one in four (24%) immigrants, including unaccompanied children had an attorney to assist them in Immigration Court cases when a removal order was issued....

the overall odds of having representation in Immigration Court completed cases has dropped from 63 percent in FY 2021 to 32 percent in FY 2026. ...

For new cases arriving at the Immigration Court in the last 90 days, seven out of ten (70.5%) new immigrants to Maine had already found representation. Maine tops the list of states with the highest representation rates for new Court cases. The governor’s office in Maine has made a concerted effort to assist new immigrants through its Office of New Americans to help address the state’s workforce needs.

Hawaii follows closely behind Maine also with seven out of ten (70.2%) residents receiving Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Immigrant Court in the last 90 days already finding representation. Hawaii has long ranked high on its representation record and was at the top in May 2017 when TRAC first began monthly tracking of representation figures by state, county and local communities within each county. ...

At the other extreme with the lowest proportion of its residents who had found representation after receiving NTAs in the last 90 days was New Jersey. Fewer than one out of five (18.2%) individuals residing in New Jersey had found representation. Other states with particularly low initial representation rates were Alaska (24.0%), Kentucky (24.3%), Arkansas (24.5%) and Illinois (25.6%). ...