Philly public defender launches new immigration unit amid growing federal arrests and deportations

The Defender Association of Philadelphia has launched a new initiative to help people facing immigration consequences both inside and outside the criminal-justice system.

The move comes as the Trump administration pursues aggressive new enforcement, where even minor legal cases can put undocumented city residents at risk of detention, family separation, or deportation.

The agency’s Immigration Law Practice is expected to grow to up to 11 staff members. Its creation is to be officially announced at a news conference on Wednesday.

“This is necessary right now,” Chief Defender Keisha Hudson said in an interview. “We’re going to have to sustain this work and expand this work if we’re going to meet the moment.”

The practice will be led by veteran immigration attorney Lilah Thompson, who often represents migrants facing complex legal challenges. She said the work would be done in collaboration with trial attorneys, social workers, and mitigation specialists to shape defense strategies that protect clients and their families.

One area of concentration will be on clients who are in immigration detention despite having no criminal charges, another on people who could face serious immigration repercussions because of what are often minor offenses.

In Philadelphia, attorneys say, people have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as they’re enrolling in diversionary programs or heading to court to plead not guilty.

The Trump administration maintains it is arresting dangerous immigrants, though figures show 74% of all those held in detention have no criminal convictions.

The Defender Association also expects to handle more cases that push back against Trump administration efforts around mandatory detention. Federal judges in Philadelphia have ruled dozens of times against an administration policy that mandates detention for nearly all undocumented immigrants, joining a nationwide wave of decisions criticizing the government.

A challenge is that those cases must be filed individually, and many of those in detention have neither a lawyer nor the money to hire one.

The new practice consolidates and builds on work that was done at the Nationalities Service Center and the Pennsylvania Immigrant Family Unity Project, or PAIFUP.

Thompson said the immigration practice will make sure that clients have accurate information, strong advocacy, and a chance to protect their futures.

“The work changes every day, with the twists and turns of this administration, and the cruelty it inflicts on noncitizens,” she said. “We have to respond to the moment.”