San Francisco Public Defender's Office

For nearly 100 years, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office has been a leader in providing effective and competent legal representation to people who are charged with a crime and unable to afford an attorney.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office is one of only a handful of public defender offices to also provide legal representation for immigrants in the federal immigration courts who are indigent and facing deportation, with a focus on immigrants who are detained and unable to afford a lawyer to represent them.  

Unlike in criminal court, non-citizens in immigration detention do not have the right to court-appointed counsel. As a result, in the vast majority of cases, these individuals do not have attorneys, and are forced to attempt to represent themselves in complex and high-stakes legal proceedings. Individuals fighting deportation while in ICE custody are at a particular disadvantage without an attorney to help them prepare their cases. With legal assistance, however, detained immigrants are roughly six times more likely to win their cases.

We are seeking dedicated and passionate volunteers with lived experiences related to immigration, or public defense work, and or others interested in defending immigrants.