Colorado's Immigrant Defense Fund, established by the Democratic-controlled Colorado legislature back in 2021 to assist people facing deportation, originally put aside $100,000 to help immigrants get lawyers and pay for the immigration court equivalent of public defenders. The fund was small yet proportional to the number of immigrants fighting to stay in the country at the moment.
However, after more than 43,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Denver since late 2022, the Fund is now facing major challenges amid a surging immigration court backlog, limited resources and a court backlog that has increased from 18,000 to 78,000 pending cases, as The Colorado Sun reports. In that time, the fund has grown to $700,000, yet remains insufficient given the current demand.
