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Redefining public defense.

The Bronx Defenders Our Projects - New York Immigrant Family Unity Project

What Will Trump Do with Half a Million Backlogged Immigration Cases?

New Yorker writer Jonathan Blitzer visited BxD to speak with our client Christian Yarleque about his experience in immigration detention. Mr. Yarleque, a long-time New York resident with a green card, spent over a year and a half in ICE custody before being reunited with his wife and children. His story highlights the human cost…

New York’s Mayor Junks Due Process

“As a former judge, I know firsthand the importance of having an attorney in court proceedings. Nonlawyers are rarely able to protect properly their own legal rights. Immigration proceedings are no less important or complicated than criminal ones. Yet immigrants who cannot afford an attorney are not provided one. New York City has sought to…

Capital New York: Officials: Expand legal program for immigrants

Members of the state Assembly and advocates want to expand a public defender program for immigrant New Yorkers who are facing deportation. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) aims to decrease the rate of deportations of New Yorkers who, for the most part, have been living lawful, productive lives despite their unresolved legal…

WBAI’s On the Count: Immigration and Detention Post-Obama Executive Order

The Bronx Defenders Immigration Attorney Conor Gleason joined Abraham Paolos of Families for Freedom to discuss the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) and the impact on families of deportations post-Executive Action Orders on WBAI’s “On the Count” with guest host Khalil Cumberbatch last Saturday, January 10, 2015. Listen to the segment here:

BxD’s New York Immigrant Family Unity Project Honored at the Families for Freedom 12th Annual Fundraiser

The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) was honored last Friday, November 14, 2014 by Families For Freedom at their 12th Annual Fundraiser. NYIFUP, which is implemented by The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, and the Legal Aid Society, is the first institutionally-provided public defender program in the country for immigrants facing deportation. NYIFUP…

New bill passed makes New York City a safer, more just place for immigrants and their families

“Thanks to the City Council’s groundbreaking leadership on this issue, dozens of the Bronx residents we have represented are home with their families, supporting their children, and contributing to their communities” said Robin Steinberg, Executive Director of The Bronx Defenders. “The proposed expansion will mean fairness and justice for more immigrant families in the Bronx.”…

Associated Press: NYC immigrant public defender system breaks ground

NEW YORK (AP) — When Curtis Edmund first heard that a government official had come by his Bronx home looking for him, he couldn’t figure out why. But he agreed to a meeting early this year, and when he arrived, he was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Edmund, a longtime U.S….

New York Times: New York City Council Expected to Approve 2 Plans Aiding Immigrants

Building upon the pilot project implemented by The Bronx Defenders, together with Brooklyn Defender Services,  over the past year, The New York City Council announces approval for renewed funding to provide legal representation to undocumented immigrants in New York City at Varick Street in Manhattan as well as in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. A long-sought…

The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project Draws Attention

A recent article in Congressional Quarterly, by Christina Carr, highlights the effectiveness of The Bronx Defenders’ New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) and its potential for scalability. The pilot project, which started late last year with funding from the New York City Council, is the first institutionally-provided public defender program in the country for immigrants…

Los Angeles Times: New York program gets public defenders for immigrants

NEW YORK — Anderson Cadet arrived at the Varick Street courthouse in an orange jumpsuit, shackled at the wrists, prepared to fight his deportation without an attorney. In immigration court, there is generally no right to free legal counsel. Many immigrants represent themselves. But on this cold February morning, Cadet was greeted by a public…

MSN Latino: Avanza programa de defensa de inmigrantes

NUEVA YORK (AP) — Oscar Hernández se disponía a firmar su orden de deportación a México cuando un joven abogado que no conocía se presentó en la corte migratoria de Nueva York y le convenció de que no lo hiciera. Ahora Hernández ya no lleva el uniforme naranja de preso: camina libre, trabaja y estudia…

El Diaro: Proyecto en NY logra frenar deportaciones de inmigrantes

Nueva York — Sentados en fila sucesiva en una modesta banqueta y mirando casi todo el tiempo al suelo, cinco personas esposadas y con indumentaria color naranja aguardaban ayer su turno para acercarse a la mesa de la juez de la Corte de Inmigración de Nueva York, Noelle Brennan. Es una imagen habitual en esa…

NPR News: New Pilot Program Gives Immigrant Detainees Public Defenders

“The court helped find my son not only a lawyer but an angel” – Brunilda Fontanillas Rico’s mother, Brunilda Fontanillas, says she and her son couldn’t afford a private attorney. He was detained in October after an earlier landlord-tenant dispute that escalated into an arrest. Rico’s attorney says that as a lawful permanent resident who…

New York Times: New Help for Poor Immigrants Who Are in Custody and Facing Deportation

The new initiative, called the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, emerged from several years of study and lobbying among immigration lawyers and immigrants’ advocates. They were concerned that the absence of competent legal representation for many of New York’s immigrant detainees was resulting in unnecessary deportations that ruptured families and put an undue financial…