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 Putting TRAC to Work |
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Policy and Public Interest Groups |
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The New York Legal Services Coalition |
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March 2026 |
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Keeping Families Together, Upholding the Rule of Law: An Urgent Call for Increased Immigration Legal Services in New York
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A 2024 analysis by the Transactional Records
Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that, in the first year and a half following implementation of a federal rule permitting limited legal assistance to unrepresented immigrants like assistance with
filings or brief consultations - attorneys provided discrete legal help 23,516 times nationwide (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse [TRAC], 2024). While this reflects significant effort by the legal services community, TRAC emphasizes that these limited interventions occurred precisely because the vast majority of immigrants in removal proceedings continue to lack full legal representation. The findings highlight both the extraordinary demand for legal assistance and the inadequacy of stopgap measures in a system where liberty and family unity are at stake (Id.).Research by TRAC and others shows that immigrants with legal representation are significantly more likely to be released from detention, to apply for relief, and to ultimately obtain legal status or
termination of their cases.
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Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Syracuse University
Copyright 2026
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