Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr. speaks about the Immigration Division within the public defender's office becoming permanent during an event Tuesday. [Michael McDevitt/The Daily Line]

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle joined officials to announce that a pilot program that provides legal representation to immigrants with ties to Cook County who cannot afford counsel will become a permanent fixture within the public defender’s office. 

Speaking at a news conference at The Resurrection Project in Pilsen Tuesday alongside Cook County Comm. Alma Anaya (D-7), county Public Defender Sharone Mitchell, Jr. and others, the board president said the solidification of the program represented the opening of a door “to the halls of justice.”