Compounded Disadvantage: Race, Criminal Record, and Access to Justice in Immigration Courts

For immigrants, even minor and relatively routine interactions with law enforcement—such as a traffic stop—can dramatically increase the chances of detention and deportation. This is true even for lawful permanent residents and those with deep social ties to the United States. Detention and deportation are widely recognized as devastating life events with enduring negative consequences not only for the individuals, but also for their families and surrounding communities. Yet because there is no right to government-appointed counsel for immigrants in removal proceedings, most immigrants lack legal representation. As a result, immigrants in removal proceedings are one of the most vulnerable, yet least legally protected groups in our justice system. This project investigates how these immigrants fare in our immigration court system once they enter the immigration adjudication process. Such an investigation is critical to developing policies that promote a more fair and equitable justice system that ensures access to justice for all individuals in the United States. This project will address three key questions. First, are there racial/ethnic disparities in case outcomes in removal proceedings for immigrants with criminal history? Second, what is the role of judicial bias in generating racial and ethnic disparities in these case outcomes? Third, are immigrants of color less likely to have legal representation in these proceedings, and are the benefits of legal representation smaller for them even when they are represented? To address these questions, this project will collect and analyze several major datasets on immigration court cases and immigration judges in the United States. This unique dataset will widely expand the study of immigration adjudication across multiple disciplines including law, public policy, sociology, political science, criminology, and other related fields. In addition, findings from this research will generate new insights about how racial disparities across multiple legal institutions can have mutually reinforcing effects that generate compounded disadvantage for marginalized communities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.