California is failing to protect immigrants in the face of potential mass deportations, with inadequate support from the state's legal defense system. Governor Newsom's plan to create an "immigrant support network" and allocate $25 million lacks a focus on public defenders, who are crucial in preventing deportation. Public defender offices are understaffed and deal with excessive caseloads, and many lack immigration specialists. This creates a significant gap in legal services for undocumented individuals, who often do not have timely access to counsel and can be pressured into harmful legal outcomes.
Early access to a public defender with adequate training and resources is therefore the first line of defense against mass deportations.
California simply does not have enough public defenders, and those we do have are overwhelmed by massive caseloads with limited resources.
Collection
[
|
...
]