Immigration Representatives Now

Immigration Representatives Now (IRN) is committed to solving the substantial gap in supply and demand. The demand is the backlog of over 1 million cases in the United States immigration  court system and the supply is that there are less than 15,000 immigration attorneys across the country and less than 2,000 Department of Justice (DOJ) Representatives. The lack of supply counts for more ways to increase representation. In 2019, just 1% of asylum seekers had legal representation.

IRN will focus on the end-to-end process of producing DOJ accredited reps. IRN manages the process from recruitment, training, experience and connection to opportunities for accredited reps. 

DOJ representatives are able to practice immigration law in federal courts as non-attorney representatives and able to offer representation for immigrants in court. The global impact comes from the ability to facilitate court representation and the likely hood of being granted asylum in the United States.

Lack of immigration representation is at a global scale. The United Nations has identified 11 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that are relevant to migration as a "cross-cutting issue" (Migration Portal). The United States deportation proceedings affects the number of those that are forced to be displaced and at times killed. Out of 59,241 deportation proceedings in the Migrant Protection Program (also known as the "Return to Mexico" rule) alone, only 5% had representation. According to the California Coalition for Universal Representation's 2016 report, an immigrant is 5 times more likely to be successful in court with representation. 

In 2017, there were 1,804 Department of Justice (DOJ) Accredited Representatives in the United States. In 2019 there were only 1,978 DOJ Representatives, only a 10% increase in 3 years. An average of 58 per year were added out of all the US DOJ mandated Non-Profit Recognized Organizations.

In simple terms, Immigration Representatives Now is an organization that fast tracks interested, willing, and able adults to be able to practice immigration law under the supervision of another Department of Justice Representative and/or Immigration attorney. 

Because DOJ representatives (a.k.a. non-attorney reps) and immigration attorneys are the only ones allowed to represent immigrants in federal court, there is potential to offer these vulnerable communities the chance to find refuge in the United States. Immigration Reps. Now will provide the 40-hour basic immigration law course required for the state, along with partner with immigration attorneys to help with their cases. 

In the current process, the DOJ representatives must stay with the Recognized Organizations that submitted/sponsor their application for accreditation. Those nonprofits have to commit to hiring/salarying whomever they sponsor. As a result nonprofits are submitting applications for accreditation almost exclusively “in-house”. The consequences are a low production of DOJ reps. As an example, the largest DOJ Recognized Organizations in Massachusetts only sponsor 1 to 2 employees a year. 

IRN will need the at least one video camera to record high quality virtual classes, or a hybrid of in-person cohorts to do the 40-hour basic immigration law training.

The target population are those that are deported to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Some of them are being held in detention centers, others are being forced to wait in the current most dangerous city in the world according to homicides: Tijuana.

I was born in Rosarito - about 20 minutes from the Tijuana/SD border. This past summer I spent 10 days in an immigration immersion program visiting immigration shelters, churches, and legal assistance programs. In October, I went back to Al Otro Lado - I was an intern for a week and served as a translator for very tragic and severe cases, as well as sat with asylum seekers and filled out asylum seeker intake forms and part of the I-598 form (Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal - USCIS form). Additionally, I filled out forms for mothers and siblings forbidding the US government to separate them from their children. 

This solution provides a solid form of understanding, solidarity, and probability to reach their end goal of a better life. It provides a legal way to enter the US so they do not risk their lives trying to cross the border outside of the main port of entry.

Immigration Representatives Now, gives the opportunity of untapped communities to prosper by providing access to capital. First-time generation college graduates, like I was, students who may not have the luxury to spend four years in school, or two, and earn a degree, stay at home mothers, undergraduate students wanting a way to impact the community while earning money would directly benefit. A paralegal is paid between $40,000 to $60,000 a year and are not able to represent people in court. A DOJ representative can make between $50,000 to $75,000 and represent people in court.