Margaret O' Connor quoted in National Immigrant Justice Center commentary
Supports FAIR Proceedings Act legislation to help ensure efficiency in the immigration court system
Goldberg Kohn Litigation associate Margaret O'Connor was quoted recently in a commentary on the National Immigration Justice Center's website supporting the passage of the Funding Attorneys for Indigent Removal (FAIR) Proceedings Act, S.2389 / H.R. 4155, which was recently introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate and Representatives Zoe Lofgren and Donald McEachin in the House of Representatives. The FAIR Proceedings Act takes critical steps to ameliorate the due process crisis in the U.S. immigration courts by requiring the appointment of counsel where most needed.
The commentary quotes a number of attorneys who do pro bono work for the NIJC, including Ms. O'Connor, who stated, " “’Justice delayed is justice denied’—with a hefty price tag. Without appointed counsel, vulnerable populations routinely must ask for continuances to try to secure private counsel. When that fails and the individual is forced to proceed pro se, more often than not, a series of inefficiencies compound and create a haphazard, expensive, and drawn-out process.”
To read the full commentary, please click here.