Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | November 17, 2025 | wbjournal.com Fighting for immigrants Central Mass. attorneys are combating funding cuts, rapidly shiing policies, and burnout as demand for legal representation rises in the second Trump Administration BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer W hen President Donald Trump won the presidential election for the second time in November 2024, Jessica Pelletier became barred in federal district court. An attorney and director of the Immi- gration Legal Assistance Program at As- centria Community Services in Worces- ter, Pelletier suspected that Trump's crackdown on immigration would mean she would need to represent her clients in federal court sooner or later. at day came on Sept. 24. One of Pelletier's clients was driving to work when he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. e young man, who was legally employed through a work authorization document card and did not have a re- moval order, had been in the states since he was a minor. "is person did not have a criminal record in this or any other country. He did not have any driving of- fenses. He was not driving erratically," said Pelletier. Pelletier and her team moved swi- ly. at same day they asked the federal court to keep their client from being removed from the area and be given an opportunity for a bond hearing. Both requests were granted. e client was released from ICE custody on Oct. 21 and is now involved in an ongoing open removal case. Unfortunately, Ascentria's client was in the minority, in that he had legal representation at all. e vast majority of those in remov- al proceedings don't have an attorney, said Lilian Chukwurah, an immigra- tion lawyer and owner of Lilly Legal in Worcester. While estimates range depending on case type and location, only about 30% to 40% of immigrants have attor- neys. at figure drops to just 14% for detained immigrants, according to the American Immigration Council, a non- profit out of Washington, D.C. "It's hard to win an asylum case as an attorney. It's nearly impossible to win it by yourself," said Chukwurah. Across Central Massachusetts, demand has risen for legal representation in asylum and removal proceedings, putting strain on the region's limited resource pool of attorneys who are themselves facing burnout as they attempt to keep pace with Trump's rotating door of policy changes. "e first Trump administration was very hectic," said Chukwurah. "is is much worse." Funding cuts About half of the clients at Central West Justice Center in Worcester are in removal proceedings, said Ellen VanS- coyoc, senior supervising attorney for the CWJC Immigration Law Unit. CWJC has seen many people detained over the past year who normally would not have been priorities for detention, but who are now in need of representa- tion before ICE. "at's, I would say, the number one PHOTO | EDD COTE Immigration attorney Lilian Chukwurah hold about 90% of her client meetings virtually, both as a convenience and because clients aren't comfortable with the risk of encountering ICE if they go out in person. Jessica Pelletier, director of the Immigration Legal Assistance Program

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