Public Act 102-0827
 
SB3144 EnrolledLRB102 22746 LNS 31892 b


  
    AN ACT concerning civil law.
  
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Right 
to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings Act.
 
    Section 5. Purpose; findings.
    (a) The State is committed to fair and equal treatment of 
all individuals, and, in particular, of individuals at risk of 
removal and separation from their families through the federal 
immigration detention and deportation system.
    (b) While an individual in removal proceedings has the 
right to legal representation, the representation is at the 
individual's own expense and may be beyond the financial 
capacity of low-income households.
    (c) Nearly two-thirds of all individuals facing 
immigration removal proceedings throughout the United States 
lack legal representation. Among the individuals in 
immigration detention, only one in 6 individuals were 
represented by counsel. Among the individuals facing removal 
proceedings in this State, less than one in 3 individuals, 
generally, and less than one in 8 individuals in detention 
were represented by counsel.
    (d) Legal representation is essential to effective 
identification and presentation of avenues for release from 
detention and relief from removal. Individuals in immigration 
detention are 4 times more likely to win release if 
represented by legal counsel than individuals without 
representation by legal counsel. In removal proceedings, 
detained individuals are 11 times more likely to succeed in 
claims for relief if represented by legal counsel than 
individuals without representation by legal counsel.
    (e) Legal representation in removal proceedings has 
improved the efficiency of the proceedings and the 
administration of justice as individuals are better able to 
present their defenses and claims for relief.
    (f) It is the public policy of this State that all covered 
individuals should have the right to ongoing legal 
representation in covered proceedings. This right to counsel 
should include provisions of funds sufficient to ensure that 
legal service providers are funded to:
        (1) engage support staff, interpretation staff, and 
    investigative staff;
        (2) contract as reasonably necessary with independent 
    experts, including country conditions experts and forensic 
    medical experts; and
        (3) contract as reasonably necessary with social 
    service providers providing supportive and rehabilitative 
    services to covered individuals during the course of their 
    removal proceedings.
    (g) This State should establish a program and a dedicated 
fund to provide the legal services described in subsection 
(f).
 
    Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Covered individual" means any individual subject to 
removal proceedings under 8 U.S.C. 1225, 1228, and 1229a or a 
final order of removal under 8 CFR 1241.1, including any 
related covered proceeding, regardless of age, who is: (i) a 
domiciliary of this State; or (ii) an individual who is not a 
domiciliary of this State if removal proceedings are conducted 
against the individual in this State.
    "Covered proceeding" means any proceeding in which a 
covered individual is a party and is seeking an avenue of 
relief from removal from the United States or is challenging 
his or her arrest or detention under the Immigration and 
Nationality Act and its implementing regulations. "Covered 
proceeding" includes:
        (1) a proceeding or hearing in an immigration court 
    and any related application to United States Citizenship 
    and Immigration Services connected to the proceeding or 
    hearing;
        (2) an immigration proceeding conducted by telephone 
    or video teleconference;
        (3) a proceeding in a State court for purposes of 
    obtaining a special findings order;
        (4) a proceeding in a State court for purposes of 
    vacating a conviction or modifying a sentence in which the 
    conviction or sentence is relevant to the immigration 
    proceedings at issue;
        (5) a credible fear interview or reasonable fear 
    interview;
        (6) a habeas corpus petition to a federal district 
    court challenging detention under the Immigration and 
    Nationality Act;
        (7) a motion to reopen or reconsider under 8 U.S.C. 
    1229a;
        (8) a petition for review under 8 U.S.C. 1252;
        (9) a remand to a federal district court from the 
    United States Court of Appeals for fact-finding purposes; 
    and
        (10) any appeal related to any of the foregoing to the 
    Board of Immigration Appeals, the United States Court of 
    Appeals, or the United States Supreme Court.
    "Domicile" means a true, fixed, and permanent legal home 
of an individual or the place to which the individual intends 
to return even though the individual may reside elsewhere.
    "Domiciliary" means an individual who has established a 
domicile with respect to a particular jurisdiction.
    "Immigration court" means a tribunal of the Executive 
Office for Immigration Review, or a successor entity, tasked 
with deciding the inadmissibility or deportability of a 
noncitizen of the United States that is presided over by an 
immigration judge as defined in 8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(4).
    "Legal services" means individual legal assistance in a 
single consultation, or ongoing legal representation, provided 
by a legal services provider to a covered individual, and all 
legal advice, advocacy, and assistance associated with the 
service.
    "Legal services provider" means an individual, 
organization, or association that has the authority to provide 
legal services.
 
    Section 15. Task Force on Counsel in Immigration 
Proceedings.
    (a) The Task Force on Counsel in Immigration Proceedings 
is established.
    (b) The Task Force shall consist of the following 7 
members:
        (1) the Governor, or his or her designee;
        (2) the President of the Senate, or his or her 
    designee;
        (3) the Minority Leader of the Senate, or his or her 
    designee;
        (4) the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or 
    his or her designee;
        (5) the Minority Leader of the House of 
    Representatives, or his or her designee;
        (6) the Attorney General, or his or her designee; and
        (7)  the Secretary of Human Services, or his or her 
    designee.
    (c) Members of the Task Force shall serve without 
compensation.
    (d) The Department of Human Services shall provide 
administrative and other support to the Task Force.
    (e) The Task Force shall investigate the implementation of 
universal representation for covered individuals in 
immigration removal proceedings as described in subsection (f) 
of Section 5. The Task Force investigation shall include, but 
is not limited to, the following matters:
        (1) the estimated number of covered individuals facing 
    a covered proceeding;
        (2) the current infrastructure for providing 
    independent, competent, and zealous legal representation 
    in a covered proceeding;
        (3) the additional resources, including salaries and 
    benefits for attorneys and support staff, training, 
    supervision, and material resources that would need to be 
    added to the existing infrastructure described in 
    paragraph (2) in order to provide independent, competent, 
    and zealous legal representation for the number of covered 
    individuals described in paragraph (1), including 
    mechanisms for subcontracted relationships with 
    independent experts and social service providers;
        (4) the estimated annual cost of the additional 
    resources described in paragraph (3);

        (5) funding sources, public and private, that are or 
    would be available to pay for the additional resources 
    described in paragraph (3); and
        (6) the estimated annual cost of bond payment support 
    needed for covered individuals facing a covered 
    proceeding, and the feasibility of a State-sponsored bond 
    fund for those individuals.
    (f) In order for the Governor and General Assembly to 
evaluate different scopes of legal representation in 
immigration court proceedings, the Task Force investigation 
described in subsection (e) shall provide additional findings 
in the following categories:
        (1) State domiciliary versus non-State domiciliary 
    covered individuals, and, among the State domiciliary 
    covered individuals, the regions of residence within the 
    State;
        (2) household income above and below 250% of the 
    federal poverty line;
        (3) type of proceedings in which the covered 
    individuals need legal representation; and
        (4) current percentages of covered individuals in 
    covered proceedings with and without legal representation.
    (g) The Task Force shall submit a report of its findings in 
the investigation described in subsection (e) and its 
recommendations for how to fully provide legal representation 
for covered individuals facing covered proceedings no later 
than July 1, 2023.
 
    Section 20. Repeal. This Act is repealed on July 1, 2024.
 
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
becoming law.