“Having access to legal counsel during immigration proceedings is essential to fair outcomes, yet beyond the reach of many.” A recent Vera study found that people facing deportation who had legal representation were 4.7 times more likely to obtain relief than people without attorneys. Vera reported that more than 80 state and local jurisdictions across 28 states have created or funded immigration legal representation programs during the past decade. “People facing criminal charges in this country have the right to a lawyer, but immigrants facing deportation often do not,” Garcia said. “The Fairness to Freedom Act is an urgently needed piece of legislation to establish a right to federally funded legal representation for anyone facing deportation,” Kessler said.