Legal aid services for the indigent are extremely difficult to obtain. A report last year found that legal aid clinics turn down an estimated half of their potential clients (about one million people in total) because of insufficient resources. In Illinois, the state deficit has made the problem even more acute. After cutting funding administered through the state-based Lawyers Trust Accounts by one-third last year, the state is now more than seven months behind on issuing payments to municipalities for its share of public defenders' salaries.

For the past 12 years, the Chicago-based American Bar Association (ABA) and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) have convened an annual Equal Justice Conference to address this issue, providing an opportunity for over 800 lawyers to meet in mid-May and collaborate on strategies to better serve the poor. This year, however, there's one big problem: the conference is scheduled to take place in Phoenix, AZ, home to the nation's most anti-immigrant state government. And that's leading some Chicago-based attorneys to call for a boycott.

This morning, representatives from the Latino Union of Chicago, Chicago Workers Collaborative, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, and Working Hands Legal Clinic delivered a letter to ABA's national headquarters (based here in Chicago) demanding that the Equal Justice Conference be cancelled and rescheduled as a virtual webinar. In an phone interview this morning, Working Hands Legal Clinic executive director Christopher Williams cited the "obvious irony of holding an Equal Justice conference in a state that endorses treating ABA attorneys of color different than white ABA attorneys."

The ABA has already released a statement acknowledging that, while they find Arizona SB 1070 to be "very objectionable," they have no plans to cancel the conference. Instead, they will expand the program's immigration offerings and provide a full refund to conference participants who opt to boycott the event.

Even so, the pressure on the ABA is growing. The NLADA already pulled its support for the conference and Williams tells us the situation in Chicago is "very dynamic." So far, individuals at least 12 organizations have canceled, including several speakers. A large email advisory the group blasted out last night has also generated strong email support this morning. And at least six lawyers have volunteered to postpone their trips to Arizona until May 28 and act as legal observers when immigration advocates descend on the Arizona statehouse for a National Day of Action.

The ABA effort is just one of a growing number of Arizona boycotts. In the past month, 19 conferences have been canceled in the Grand Canyon State as a result of the restrictive legislation. Moody’s has even warned that a significant dip in tourism could cause a corresponding drop in Arizona's bond rating.

Chalk it up as yet another reason why the business community should throw all of its weight behind comprehensive immigration reform.