Brooklyn Defenders Blog Post
Happy 59th Birthday Gideon v. Wainwright! On March 18th, we celebrated this incredible Supreme Court decision, which held that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments guarantee a right of legal counsel to those who are accused of a crime. As we celebrate National Public Defender Day, I pause and remember the people public defenders serve as well as those who still don’t have the right to representation.
As an immigrant myself, and as a child of immigrants, the people we serve are the reason I wake up every day excited for this work. I am proud to say that as a public defender my work focuses on defending people against immigration detention and deportation. For me, this is not just a job. This is extremely personal. I immigrated to the US at the age of 9—which for me meant separation from my mother and from the only family I really knew. It meant living in a big, new, strange world, learning a whole new language. Despite those struggles, immigrating offered me the opportunity to become the first, the only, lawyer in my family. When I defend immigrants in detention facing deportation, they tell me about their own struggles, and it reminds me that what we advocates are doing is defending their opportunities. Often, I remember how many people’s opportunities are not defended—how many people don't have the right to be defended against the injustices of the immigration system. A system that cages people just because they have the power, the discretion to do so. Being the only abogada in my family can be a heavy burden to carry but for me it is truly a badge of honor and pride to represent and help my community, my people.
As we celebrate National Public Defender Day this year, I also recognize all the work that is left to do. In many jurisdictions and nationally, immigrants facing deportation are not guaranteed due process or the assistance of an attorney. Without a lawyer to help navigate racist and inhumane immigration laws and zealously advocate for them in court, the majority will be unjustly detained, deported and separated from their families.2 Legal representation is essential to protect immigrants’ safety and human rights. I am proud to be a public defender at Brooklyn Defender Services (BDS), one of three offices that provides free defense to immigrants in detention facing deportation. In 2013, BDS fought to make New York City the first city in the nation to publicly fund universal representation of all detained indigent immigrants in deportation proceedings. The program, New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP) has been a resounding success, but the vast majority of immigrants in detention do not have access to free legal assistance.
I am also proud that BDS partners with the Vera SAFE Initiative (Safety & Fairness for Everyone) which is working together with governments, immigration legal service providers, and advocates to build a movement for universal representation—a public defender system for all immigrants facing deportation. We must continue the fight to guarantee that all immigrants in the US have the right to counsel in deportation proceedings.
I’m proud to work at a public defender organization, where we can provide representation for all. I celebrate defenders: immigration defenders, housing defenders, education defenders, employment defenders, family defenders, and criminal defenders. I celebrate the right to legal representation through Gideon and programs such as NYIFUP, while also continuing the fight to extend that right to everyone.
Happy National Public Defense Day my fellow, fearless warriors! ¡Si, Se Puede!
Authored by: Catherine Gonzalez, Senior Attorney and Policy Counsel in the Padilla Unit of the Criminal Defense Practice at Brooklyn Defender Services.
