Supporting individuals who are at risk of deportation
Discover how a service design approach provided essential legal support for vulnerable individuals facing deportation, making advocacy more accessible and impactful.
Clients: Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC)—a pro bono legal resource center for Michigan’s immigrant communities
U.S. Department of Justice EOIR (Executive Office for Immigration Review) and OLAP (Office of Legal Access Programs)
Sector: Nonprofit, Education, Government
Project Type: Consulting
Collaborators: Immigrant Justice Lab—Dr. Jesse Hoffnung Garskof and Aleck Stephens
Partners: University of Michigan—Carceral State Project’s Documenting Criminalization, Confinement, and Resistance (DCCR) research initiative, Harvard University, Vera Institute of Justice
Duration: 4 years
Award: 2022 Recipient of the AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) Chapter Pro Bono Champions award in Michigan
Services:
Qualitative research
Prototyping & testing
Workshop facilitation
Content design & strategy
Project management
Overview
There is a lack of concise, publicly available information outlining legal processes around deportation proceedings, making it even more difficult for detained individuals to access such information.
The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) needed clear, concise documents to outline immigration legal processes for immigrants without access to legal representation, which the U.S. government does not provide.
To address this gap, MIRC partnered with the Immigrant Justice Lab (IJL) at the University of Michigan to co-develop advocacy and educational materials. I was invited to join as the design lead for this initiative.
Our exploration focused on the question:
How can legal information be made more accessible to people in vulnerable contexts, enabling them to assert their rights in immigration court?
Later, the DOJ EOIR (Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review) became involved to coordinate the adapted designs of ten flowchart posters and two Frequently Asked Question guides, all available in English and Spanish. These materials are being distributed to approximately seventy DOJ-EOIR courts with Self-Help Legal Centers (SHLCs) across the United States.
Outcome
We created a series of 16+ materials, including 8 guides and 8 posters, available in both English and Spanish, along with a website to access resources. Each guide provides detailed information on specific legal immigration processes, empowering individuals to develop "pro se" (self-representation) strategies to assert their rights within the immigration legal system. These guides have been distributed in Michigan jail law libraries, community partners, and across the U.S. in Immigration Court Self-Help Legal Centers and law schools.
Unfolding clarity: This guide folds out into a detailed poster, offering a clear, step-by-step breakdown of the Bond Hearing process to empower individuals in the immigration system.
Process
"Welcome to the Rube Goldberg immigration system..."
– MIRC immigration attorney
Our goal was to create legal advocacy materials that are trusted, user-friendly, and effective in vulnerable situations. To achieve this, I defined principles around accessibility, ease of use, and cross-cultural understanding, employing service design principles for holistic and user-centered outcomes. One significant constraint was that the printed guides could not include staples, as they are considered contraband in ICE detention and jail facilities. This led us to explore many different formats.
I refined the legal content for clarity and comprehension, transforming complex immigration processes into accessible and accurate information. The restriction against using staples led to exploring various formats, including an eight-page mini-zine, posters, and saddle-stitched guides. Eventually, I designed a dual-language website for both print and digital access. Initially, we translated the guides into Spanish and Arabic, but due to the iterative nature of legal updates, we focused on English and Spanish, with plans to add Arabic.
The process revealed that every detail in immigration law can significantly affect outcomes, emphasizing the need for precise and accurate legal materials.
Later, the DOJ EOIR coordinated the design of ten OLAP-approved flowchart posters and FAQ guides in English and Spanish for nationwide distribution.
Methodology
Using human-centered design methods, we engaged in iterative research, design, content strategy, prototyping, and usability feedback to ensure the materials were user-friendly and effective. This approach allowed us to overcome challenges like limited user access, approval processes, and budget constraints, ensuring every detail was accurate and impactful.
By integrating service design principles and methods, we ensured that our materials were practical, reliable, and tailored to the specific needs of our users.
Sketching Legal Processes
Visual sketches illustrating key steps in the immigration bond process, highlighting interactions with judges, attorneys, and the necessary documentation required for hearings.
Ensuring Participant Privacy and Trust
We protected undocumented participants' privacy with icebreakers like renaming ourselves as superheroes, creating a trusting virtual environment. We conducted usability testing in Spanish and one-on-one interviews, ensuring safety through consent forms, compensation, and encrypted correspondence.
Understanding User Needs
In workshops, I used empathy mapping to visualize user needs and move beyond legal jargon. This revealed barriers like financial constraints, eligibility issues, limited language proficiency, and lack of digital access.
Folding Mini-Zine
Demonstrating the easy folding technique of the mini-zine format, designed to provide accessible and user-friendly legal information without the need for staples.
Comprehensive Legal Process Mapping
A detailed flowchart mapping out various immigration legal processes, including required forms, fees, personal documents, and other essential steps, ensuring clarity and organization for each guide.
Key Outcomes
Multiple Legal Self-Defense Guides
Covering eight critical legal processes such as immigration bonds, distinguishing deportation from "voluntary" departure, steps for requesting asylum, and the process for applying for cancellation of removal.Streamlined legal content with minimal jargon and visual icons
Print + Digital Formats with dual language options
In-house printing capabilities
New Immigrant Justice Lab Website
An extension of the MIRC website, featuring a resource guide for accessible forms and court document templates, with downloadable PDFs in dual languages.Distribution to 54 Immigration Court Self-Help Legal Centers (SHLCs)
Ten OLAP-approved flowchart posters and two FAQ guides in English and Spanish distributed to 54 SHLCs across the U.S., including 54 existing, 4 in progress, and 12 planned SHLCs.Display guide designed with limited budgets, space, and resource access in mind.
Ethical Engagement
Adhered to consent, digital privacy, compensation, and trauma-informed practices.Recognition
In 2022, the Immigrant Justice Lab received the AILA Chapter Pro Bono Champions award in Michigan for our commitment to pro bono work and advocacy for underserved immigrant populations, with personal acknowledgment for my contributions.
Insights:
Understanding Time Constraints: Immigration attorneys' demanding schedules, shifting policies, and urgent client needs slowed collaborative activities and feedback. Legal content, evolving procedures, and ICE approval made the process more waterfall than agile, requiring numerous edits. For future projects, an agreed-upon agile process is recommended.
Accessible Digital Formats: Prioritizing the website was essential, as families and individuals commonly use WhatsApp for communication.
Visual Language is Key: The poster flowchart effectively visualized legal processes, serving as a valuable tool for immigration attorneys, community partners, impacted communities, and law students. Every detail matters when navigating complex legal processes.
Translating Guides: Using a single translator for consistency and completing one language before moving on is crucial. Finalizing and approving all legal content before translation ensures accuracy and clarity.
Testimonials
Ashley has a profound commitment to creating accessible, user-centered design that responds to the specific interests of the communities for which a project is intended.
As the only designer on our team of attorneys and historians, she participated and listened carefully in conversations about content that frequently went deep into the weeds. She used her careful notes and attention to the details of those discussions to inform ingenious designs, which she then ran through thoughtful testing with potential users.
Ashley took an initial idea for a set of resources for people faced with the daunting task of representing themselves in Immigration Court and ran with it, demonstrating tremendous skill and creativity in the physical and visual design of a series of legal guides that far exceeded our expectations in both their form and function.
— Aleck S.
Ashley’s creativity and experience with integrative design made her an indispensable part of our interdisciplinary team.
She helped us to transform conversations about literally hundreds of arcane and minute details of legal procedure into useful self-defense guides for people facing deportation who cannot afford attorneys.
She was an ideal partner—helping other members of the team learn and apply design principles, and cheerfully making adjustments as we subjected our guides to testing and review.
— Jesse H.