Ramirez, Garcia, Torres Introduce SHIELD Act to Bolster Immigration Legal Aid Access

Washington, D.C. – This week, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) joined Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) and Congresswoman Norma Torres (CA-35) in introducing the SHIELD Act to ensure that immigrants receive high-quality legal representation in immigration court. The SHIELD Act would create a grant program to support the recruitment, training, retention, and development of staff and resources for immigrant legal defenders. 

Under current law, there is no right to counsel in immigration court. Millions of people, including children, face complicated deportation proceedings without lawyers. The SHIELD Act aims to increase the quality of legal representation for individuals facing deportation and create a more just and humane immigration system for our country.

"Outdated immigration policies and years of under-resourcing the immigration legal system have created historic immigration court backlogs that are straining essential legal providers. To ensure a fair, fully functioning system, we must invest and support immigration legal professionals and strengthen the legal infrastructure," said Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez. "I'm proud to join Representatives Robert Garcia and Norma Torres and immigration advocates in introducing the SHIELD Act, a commonsense solution to expand access to fair representation, clear backlogs, keep families together, and protect our communities."

“As an immigrant myself, I know first-hand how hard it is to navigate our immigration system and how hard finding quality legal representation can be. That is why the SHIELD Act is working to fix our outdated and overwhelmed immigration system; creating grants to increase the number of immigrant legal defenders,” said Congressman Robert Garcia. “This bill addresses our immigration system’s current problems and sets up the system to be successful long-term. As Mayor of Long Beach, we proudly established the Long Beach Justice Fund to help provide access to representation, and I am proud to build on that effort.”
 
“No one should ever be forced to navigate life-altering legal proceedings alone and without counsel, including immigrants facing immigration court, especially when the future of their children and families are at stake. Unfortunately, throughout the Inland Empire communities I represent, many individuals who are our neighbors, friends, family members, and even children are facing just that — deportation proceedings without counsel. That’s why I authored the Fairness to Freedom Act, to ensure universal access to legal counsel for immigrants,” said Congresswoman Norma Torres. “And that's why I am so proud to co-lead the SHIELD Act with Rep. Garcia, to establish a grant program to support recruiting, training, and retaining personnel and resources for immigrant legal defenders. If we are to provide this critical legal support, we must build the workforce to do so. Ultimately, this is about fairness, and by advocating for high-quality legal representation in immigration court, we can help ensure that individuals receive the support they need and deserve to have their fair day in court.”
 
“Many legal service providers nationwide are at capacity, unable to support people at risk of deportation who are struggling to defend their rights, remain with their families, and build safe and stable lives. The SHIELD Act will help overcome this challenge and provide a way for state and local programs and other deportation defense initiatives to access funding to support the deportation defense field. It is heartening to see federal legislation inspired by first-hand experience working in local jurisdictions. As Mayor of Long Beach, Rep. Garcia helped establish the Long Beach Justice Fund, in partnership with local immigrants rights leaders and Vera’s SAFE Network, which was the first universal representation program to serve that district. We are grateful for congressional deportation defense champions Rep. Delia Ramirez, alongside Rep. Robert Garcia and Rep. Norma Torres, for prioritizing due process and fairness to keep immigrant communities safe,” said Shayna Kessler, Director, Advancing Universal Representation initiative, Vera Institute of Justice.
 
“With millions of pending immigration cases nationwide, a shortage of immigration legal professionals across the country, and the continued arrival of people seeking safety, we have no time to waste in building infrastructure that will help shield our communities’ families from separation and guarantee their right to due process when facing deportation. NPNA was founded with our member organizations building legal services programming to implement immigration policy victories both large and small. The implementation of the SHIELD Act – a bill that will resource our members and partners in legal service programming – is a commonsense step to improve our immigration system, close the representation gap, and advance fairness and family unity,” said Nicole Melaku, National Partnership for New Americans’ Executive Director.
 
The SHIELD Act would allocate $100 million for a federal grant program to enhance the legal services workforce tailored to meet the needs of those facing deportation. The bill prioritizes support for pre-existing state and local programs that need additional funding and are in underserved areas while also offering four-year renewable competitive grants through the Department of Justice’s Office of Access to Justice for state and local governments, nonprofits, and educational institutions. 
 
The bill has been endorsed by Alianza Americas, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Borderlands Resource Initiative, CASA, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Central American Resource Center of Northern California - CARECEN SF, Church World Service, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, FAITH IN TEXAS, Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, Human Rights First, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), ISLA: Immigration Services and Legal Advocacy, Just Neighbors, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Make the Road Nevada, National Employment Law Project, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA), ORALE, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, The Advocates for Human Rights, The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), The Immigration Project, UNITED SIKHS, Vera Institute of Justice, the Washington Defender Association, BAJI, and Brooklyn Defender Services. 

The bill text can be found here.

BACKGROUND

As the proud daughter of immigrants, the wife of a Dreamer, representative of IL-03, and the Vice Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Committee, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez has worked tirelessly to humanely address immigration, bring resources back to the district and has stood against the scapegoating of immigrant communities throughout her time in Congress. 

• Congresswoman Ramirez is co-leading with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) the bipartisan American Dream and Promise Act, legislation that provides a pathway to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) recipients.
• Congresswoman Ramirez co-sponsors H.R.1698, the American Families United Act, bipartisan legislation to keep families together by granting immigration judges and officials the authority to assess the impact that family separation would have on a U.S. citizen and allow the sponsor of their spouses and children for green cards even in cases where immigration bars prohibit it.  
• On June 14, 2024, Congresswoman Ramirez, joined by Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), led 65 members of Congress on a letter to President Biden outlining a series of executive actions he should take to protect Dreamers and modernize and strengthen the DACA program, including a pathway to legal residence and work permits. 

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