| Photo by Nathan Aguirre on Unsplash
NEW YORK — Asian immigrants in New York City face some of the steepest barriers to immigration legal services despite being among the most represented groups in the city’s immigration courts, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). The study, Living at the Margins, concludes that systemic gaps in language access, outreach, and funding have left Asian communities “without meaningful access to legal help.”
AALDEF’s findings come as Asian immigrants now account for the largest share of noncitizens in removal proceedings in New York City. Yet the city’s legal‑services infrastructure “remains fundamentally out of reach,” the report states. The research draws on interviews with 10 nonprofit legal service organizations (LSOs) and nine community‑based organizations (CBOs) embedded in immigrant neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
Language Barriers Shut Out Thousands
One of the report’s starkest findings is the near‑total absence of Asian‑language access at the first point of contact. “Most legal services nonprofits do not offer a single Asian language on their intake hotlines,” said Razeen Zaman, AALDEF’s director of immigrant rights. “For many Asian immigrants, that means the first phone call to get help is also the last.”
Between 70 and 100 percent of CBO members require interpretation, yet only one in ten legal‑services hotlines offers any Asian‑language option. Providers that attempt to bridge the gap often rely on “costly, unreliable interpretation vendors” that cannot replace culturally competent staff, the report notes.
High Need, Low Visibility
Asian immigrants are disproportionately represented in asylum and removal cases: China, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh all rank among the top ten nationalities in New York asylum filings. Chinese immigrants alone constitute the largest group of noncitizens and asylum seekers in removal proceedings. Yet some providers told AALDEF they avoid Asian cases due to limited familiarity with the community’s immigration issues.
The report warns that the lack of outreach creates a self‑reinforcing cycle: low visibility leads to fewer requests for help, which in turn is used to justify continued underinvestment. Funding models that reward high‑volume caseloads further disadvantage programs serving Asian immigrants, who often require more time‑intensive support.
Families Turn to Private Attorneys They Cannot Vet
With nonprofit providers stretched thin, many Asian immigrants turn to private attorneys they “are unable to vet or hold accountable,” sometimes losing their cases, immigration status, or even family unity as a result. CBOs—often the only trusted institutions in these communities—lack the funding and institutional support to fill the gap.
A Call for Structural Change
The report situates today’s disparities within a longer history of anti‑Asian exclusion, from the Chinese Exclusion Act to modern enforcement regimes that continue to impact Asian communities disproportionately. AALDEF calls for expanded Asian‑language access on intake hotlines, investment in bilingual staffing, and proactive outreach to immigrant neighborhoods.
“Without targeted intervention,” Zaman said, “this is not just a gap in services — it is a cycle that determines who gets a chance to stay in the country and who doesn’t.”
