The Growing Role of AI in Immigration Law

Three years ago, an asylum seeker in court had a 50 percent chance of gaining protection. Today, this has plummeted to 6 percent. A recent rule allows asylum officers to bypass interviews and send seekers straight to immigration court, aiming to tighten standards and speed up deportations. Many legal experts feel the system is increasingly closed, making legal battles seem pointless. However, during this challenging time for immigration, legal representation is crucial.

Immigrants with legal assistance are 4.7 times more likely to succeed in their cases compared to those without representation. Skilled lawyers can guide clients through asylum applications and lesser-known protection options. As immigration processes become more complex, having legal expertise can be the difference between deportation and safety. Despite this, over half of immigrants nationwide remain without legal support due to cost and accessibility issues. In rural America, the lack of representation is even more urgent.

Roughly 1.8 million immigrants reside in rural areas, representing only 5 percent of the population yet playing key roles in society. For instance, 28 percent of the rural agricultural workforce and 14 percent of rural medical professionals are immigrants. However, finding an immigration attorney in these areas is challenging. Although 20 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural regions, only 2 percent of practicing lawyers work there. These ‘legal deserts’ have a severe shortage of attorneys. Those available often handle heavy caseloads or work pro bono across vast areas, where clients can rarely afford to pay and courthouses are far away.

AI offers significant potential in these rural legal deserts. Preparing an asylum application typically requires about 50 to 75 hours of research, management, and document review over several months. AI excels in these tasks, creating capacity in under-resourced systems by reducing the time spent on research and routine processes. This allows more time for direct client interaction and handling additional cases. While a student in Vermont and New Hampshire’s Upper Valley, I spent three summers assisting a local immigration attorney focused on supporting gender-based violence survivors. The lack of staffing often meant turning away promising cases. This experience led me to develop AI research software to help attorneys gather sources for asylum claims, enabling them to accept more clients.

AI use in the legal field is expanding rapidly. Many law firms and organizations are integrating AI into their operations. Thomson Reuters reported that its AI for Justice program reduced preparation time for case materials by up to 75 percent in legal nonprofits. The Innocence Center halved the duration needed for wrongful-conviction petitions, cutting it from a year to six months. A University of California-Berkeley study revealed that 90 percent of legal aid lawyers enhanced their productivity using generative AI, particularly for research and document preparation.

AI products have limitations, such as generating inaccurate statistics or sources. Well-designed tools can address these issues with audit logs and source verification. They still require oversight and direction from attorneys. Ultimately, AI is valued for its potential to enhance lawyers’ capabilities, not replace them. Discussions often focus on the job threats AI might pose but insufficiently on how AI can augment capacity in under-resourced sectors. In rural immigration law and other areas, we should explore how AI can expand representation and necessary services in underserved communities.

Ella Tesone is a high school student from Norwich, Vt. She founded Asyla LLC, a social enterprise providing AI-powered software for immigration attorneys.