The New York City Bar Association released a study supporting its position that federally-funded counsel for immigrants facing deportation would save the government more than $200 million by reducing costs for detention and speeding up resolution of immigration cases.
The study, solicited by Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, working pro bono on behalf of the bar, said providing public defender services would cost $208 million annually, but detaining those facing deportation would shrink costs by at least $173 million to $174 million. Foster care for children of detainees and deportees also would drop between $31 million and $34 million annually, the report said.
