One in ten Oregonians is an immigrant, while one in nine residents is a native-born U.S. citizen with at least one immigrant parent. Immigrant Defense Oregon exists to provide information and legal services to our non-citizen community members in order to confront and resist mass deportation. We focus on serving and educating Oregonians who are at risk of deportation. We actively seek to be a project that recognizes and values the diversity, differences, and complexity of our communities. We strive to provide removal defense representation for Oregonians who cannot afford to pay for an attorney and make every effort to protect our clients’ due process rights through our representation.

As an organization, Metropolitan Public Defender is dedicated to informing and influencing the trajectory of an immigrant client’s criminal case to minimize immigration consequences wherever possible. That is why as part of its holistic defense practice, each non-citizen criminal defense client receives advice from an immigration attorney regarding the potential immigration consequences of their criminal charges as early as possible in their case. This gives both the criminal defense attorney and the client as much assistance as they might need in navigating the treacherously complicated intersection between criminal law and immigration law, as well as during potential subsequent removal proceedings.

Our non-citizen community members are especially at risk when they enter the criminal justice system and even a speeding ticket may lead to deportation proceedings. We seek to help people achieve a more permanent status in order to lower or eliminate the risk of removal through asylum and other immigration benefits. Many of our clients in removal proceedings are unaccompanied minors, a particularly vulnerable immigrant population. Immigrant Defense Oregon understands the unique needs and vulnerable position our clients are in and this understanding informs all stages of representation.