In mid-July, a group of attorneys and legal workers visited Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington to meet with women in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention for a legal orientation.

The visit brought into focus a reality the lawyers have become familiar with: without legal representation, immigrants face steep odds, and ICE’s frequent transfer of people between states makes access to legal counsel increasingly challenging.

The group found nine women in ICE detention, twice the number they expected. Most of the women weren’t represented by an attorney or weren’t sure if they had a lawyer.

Some women had been arrested in Vermont, while others had been transferred from facilities in other states, said Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asyl

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