The New York Immigrant Family Unity Program (NYIFUP) was profiled today in The New York Times’ “Fixes,” which looks at solutions to social problems and why they work. The pioneering initiative is the nation’s first public defender system for detained immigrants in deportation proceedings, and is jointly staffed by three organizations — The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Bronx Defenders.

Since NYIFUP’s launch, immigrants in the Varick Street Immigration Court are now 11 times more likely to win their cases, and the legal representation model is now being replicated across the country, in states such as Texas and Illinois. But the Trump administration has sought to undermine the New York program, which at first had support from federal officials, by making it more difficult for detained immigrants to get access to the program’s lawyers.

“It was heartbreaking to go to Varick Street and to see folks who were without lawyers in these proceedings. [They] totally have no idea what is going on, how to best defend themselves. They’re shackled in orange jumpsuits. It was appalling,” said Jennifer Williams, Deputy Attorney-in-Charge of the Immigration Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society.

Learn more about the New York Immigrant Family Unity Program’s work protecting immigrants facing deportation.