Illinois state-created immigration right to counsel task force releases report

In 2022, the Illinois Legislature enacted SB 3144, the “Right to Counsel in Immigration Proceedings Act”, which declared that

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).

The bill then created a task force to study how to implement such a right, with the task force being comprised by an assortment of government officials.  On May 2, 2024, the task force released its report.  Some of its major findings included:

• Over 5,000 Illinois residents faced deportation each year, and that was before Texas started busing some immigrants to Illinois.  About 68% had incomes below 250% of the federal poverty level.
• The average cost per case for representation was $10,0685, which factored in training, supervision, materials, and other components in addition to the attorney time itself.
• The state had roughly $25.3 million committed to various immigration legal services programs, which was “far short” of what was needed (roughly $53 million even based on the pre-busing figures).
• The state should expand capacity of existing immigrant representation programs by ” increasing
  funding to improve salaries, benefits, and training opportunities that help attract, retain, and develop
  qualified legal staff.”  It noted that “Organizations are severely challenged to commit to multi-year cases without a guarantee that the funding will be available for the life of the case.”  And while it supported the use of full representation for detained immigrants, it suggested exploring additional options for non-detained immigrants, such as “pro se clinics, unbundled legal services, public-private partnerships, and representation initiatives in collaboration with the Chicago Immigration Court.”

Because the Act specified it would be repealed on July 1,2024, any interpretation that the Act itself created a right became moot.