Cities across the country have agreed to cover legal fees for immigrants who now face deportation following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory on Election Day. Notably, Los Angeles will have a $10 million fund dedicated to legal assistance in response to Trump’s “dangerous rhetoric,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced.
“We don’t know how far the new administration will go when it comes to our nation’s immigration policy, but we’ve all heard the rhetoric, the dangerous rhetoric of the election,” Garcetti said.
Immigrants facing deportation who are not detained and are able to obtain legal counsel are almost five times more likely to win their cases than those who do not have legal assistance 63 percent versus 13 percent, according to a study released in September. (For immigrants who have been detained, 49 percent with counsel received relief, compared to 23 percent without representation.)
