The Maxwell Commons Newsletter
A plain language, data-driven newsletter exploring the operational realities of the U.S. immigration system—through the lens of the professionals, technology, and businesses involved.
What is Maxwell Commons?
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit in formation, designed to address the immigration justice gap through education, technology, and service delivery innovation.
Why a newsletter?
We’ll look at both why and how so many individuals fall through the cracks of this justice gap. That means analyzing the organizations and processes behind our immigration system—and where collaborative innovation can grow into downstream impact on industry professionals, their clients, and the general public.
This newsletter is also an attempt at transparent knowledge-sharing toward an immigration system that’s more interconnected with—and more broadly understood by—the local communities that are impacted.
So, we’ll break down some of the nitty gritty of a very broken immigration system, peeling back some of the layers to this rotten onion through plain-language explanations, data visualization, and evidence-based analysis.
Our goal: cut through the misinformation to help identify root causes and actionable solutions.
Who Am I?
I'm Andrew Thrasher, a legal operations consultant who specializes in workflow engineering and digital transformation for immigration law firms. Working with law firms, tech companies, and nonprofits across this space has given me a unique view of both the challenges and opportunities facing immigration legal services.
A ‘Big Picture’ View: Unlike many voices in this space, I'm not an attorney. This lets me question established norms while maintaining the industry knowledge needed to appreciate legal expertise and build pragmatic solutions. It also frees me from certain constraints when advocating for the industry’s professionals and its consumers.
You can learn more about my work on LinkedIn (where I’m reluctantly, and sporadically, active) and my work website.
Issues & Solutions
A few of the key numbers behind our immigration justice gap:
Only 37% of immigrants in removal proceedings have legal representation.1
We estimate approximately 70% of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) applications are filed without legal representation.2
The immigration court has reached a backlog of 3.7 million pending cases.3
As the Vera Institute of Justice concludes in their “Brief Data on Legal Representation and Legal Services Capacity” (2023):
With over 2.5 million cases in immigration court where people are without representation, the number of immigration attorneys and accredited representatives is insufficient to meet the need for representation in the field. [emphasis added]
Behind these numbers are real people navigating a tedious and often cruel system of life-altering bureaucracy—without proper legal advice or even basic administrative support.
Maxwell Commons aims to address these issues through a multi-pronged nonprofit business model:
Professional Education: Specialized training for both attorney and non-attorney professionals to expand legal service capacity.
Technology Innovation: Open-use solutions, implementation support, and other tools designed for resource-constrained organizations.
Service Delivery: Affordable, accessible legal services based on a ‘teaching hospital’ business model that employs attorneys, accredited representations, and allied legal professionals working under appropriate supervision—and with an emphasis on institutional collaboration and partnerships.
At its core, the Maxwell Commons mission is all about addressing the immigration justice gap—and recognizing this effort requires more than just more attorneys. The current moment demands we rethink how legal services are delivered, how non-attorney professionals develop careers, and where technology can extend our limited resources.
Support our mission
Follow along as we get ready for our official organization launch. What to expect if you subscribe:
‘Explorable explanations’ to help break down the U.S. immigration system into more digestible (and visual) concepts.
Straightforward analysis of the policy changes, legal/business news, and other major updates across our immigration system that are particularly relevant to the public.
Expert guests, resource sharing, other recommendations for further research and cited sources.
Data exploration to help understand the interests, perspectives, and organizations involved in our immigration system.
Behind-the-scenes business updates while we build this idea into a reality.
“Access to Counsel” | National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
A note on this estimate: Comprehensive, system-wide data is not available to confirm the number of USCIS applications that include Form G-28 (Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative).
The only public Form G-28 data that’s published by USCIS is specific to naturalization applications (Form N-400):
“In Fiscal Year 2024, 17.8% of those naturalized had a Form G-28 filed by an attorney or accredited representative to represent them in their naturalization proceedings. Over 64% of all applicants who had a Form G-28 filed by an attorney or accredited representative were over the age of 40.”
A 2023 letter to USCIS from the AILA Technology and Innovation Committee also helps inform our estimate:
“It is estimated that over 25% of cases filed with USCIS are prepared by our [American Immigration Lawyers Association] 16,000+ members.”
Immigration Court Backlog | Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) [data from March 25 2025)
