The North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) says the figures should prompt a serious national discussion about access to legal representation.NAPA Executive Director Satnam Singh Chahal said immigration enforcement and access to justice should not be treated as mutually exclusive issues.“America has the right to enforce its immigration laws, but enforcement must operate within a process that gives people a meaningful opportunity to understand the case against them and present their own case,” Chahal said.He said the state-by-state disparities are particularly concerning.
“When representation among newly filed cases can be around 70% in one state and below 20% in another, policymakers should ask why access to qualified legal assistance is so uneven,” Chahal said.NAPA also urged immigrants to be extremely cautious about immigration fraud and to seek assistance from licensed attorneys or legitimate nonprofit legal-service organizations rather than unqualified individuals promising guaranteed immigration results.
A National Problem Requiring a National Response
The figures from TRAC should not be reduced to a debate over whether immigration enforcement is necessary.The larger issue is whether the immigration court system has sufficient legal resources to handle the enormous number of people appearing before it.Congress, federal agencies, state governments, bar associations, nonprofit organizations and philanthropic institutions could all play a role in expanding legitimate immigration legal services.The goal should not be to guarantee a particular outcome for anyone.
The goal should be to ensure that people facing the extraordinary consequence of removal understand the process and have a genuine opportunity to present their legal claims.The latest numbers leave policymakers with a difficult reality:In the U.S. Immigration Court system, having a lawyer can depend heavily on whether you can afford one, whether one is available—and increasingly, where you happen to live.For a nation built ar v. ound the principle of equal justice, that is a disparity worthy of serious attention.
Source: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), Immigration Court representation data, August 2026.