Rebecca Carballois reporting for the Times Union the New York State Bar Association is proposing the state provide legal counsel to low-income people in immigration court. This summer, the group wrote a resolution requesting Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo create a system that would provide lawyers to immigrants who could otherwise not afford one. Camille Mackler with the New York Immigration Coalition, one of the authors of a report on the matter, said lawyers are necessary to navigate a complicated legal system. Mackler also said lawyers can help move people out of an overwhelmed court system more efficiently. The state bar association is pushing for action at the same time the American Bar Association is supporting the creation of a federally funded system to provide legal counsel to indigent immigrants. For years, ICE focused on deporting individuals with criminal records. However, under the Trump Administration, their orders have changed. People who had been living in the U.S. for years started to be deported. Those who are represented by counsel tend to have more favorable outcomes, Mackler said. Opponents of the proposal argue that lawyers are not always necessary and providing paid counsel to low income immigrants would cost too much. Read the full story in the Times Union.