Immigrants

bilitative services to people facing removal from the United States.

Legal representation is among the most important factors determining whether an immigrant in

federal removal proceedings gets to stay in the country. Yet the majority of people facing deportation do not have legal representation, data shows.

In fiscal 2022, 58.3% of Californians facing deportation — 50,982 people — did not have legal representation, according to TRAC, a nonpartisan immigration

database. That same year, 76.7% of people who lost a removal case in California and were ordered deported lacked legal representation.

By contrast, national statistics show that lawyers represented 94% of the people who won their cases in immigration courts. A comparable statistic

was not available for California.

Assemblymember Bill Essayli, a Republican from Riverside, said the people Jones-Sawyer's bill is likely to help already had due process of law in criminal court.

“Every person has a right to a defense in a criminal case,” he said.

“The people we're talking about in this bill have already been convicted of a serious felony, after being afforded their government-paid defense. I see no legal or rational basis for why the California taxpayer should then be financially responsible for defending the deportation proceeding of a convicted

felon.”

Essayli added that the state doesn't have funds for its other priorities.

“We are facing a budget deficit, and tax dollars must be prioritized for hardworking Californians struggling to make rent, buy groceries and pay the electric bill. This bill does not do that,” he said.