Resources
Publication Date
07/11/2019
This community resource provides a brief explanation of the Immigration Court experience. It gives an overview of what happens in Immigration Court, how to confirm information about a case in Immigration Court, and what a person in removal proceedings should do if they do not have an attorney to represent them at an upcoming hearing. This information is useful for community members and advocates working with the immigrant community.
Resources
Publication Date
06/28/2019
Noncitizen victims of violence, serious crimes, and persecution may be eligible for certain forms of immigration protection and status. These options are often referred to as Humanitarian Forms of Relief. They include: T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, VAWA self-petition, asylum, and special immigrant juvenile status.
Resources
Publication Date
06/27/2019
This advisory is the second in a two-part series on unlawful presence and unlawful presence waivers. This advisory covers the requirements and process for the provisional waiver, as well as updates and pitfalls to avoid in light of recent changes that have made pursuing the provisional waiver process more challenging. These include: State Department updates to public charge guidance and increased visa denials based on public charge inadmissibility at the consulate, Attorney General decisions in Matter of Castro-Tum and Matter of S-O-G & F-D-B- making it more difficult to pursue the provisional waiver in removal proceedings, heightened risk pursuing the conditional I-212 option as part of the provisional waiver expansion given updated enforcement priorities, and new considerations for preparing and filing provisional waiver cases in light of new USCIS policy memos on RFEs/NOIDs and Notices to Appear.
Resources
Practice Update: Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Denied Humanitarian-based Immigration Cases
Publication Date
06/21/2019
Over the last month, some practitioners have reported that USCIS has issued a number of NTAs in connection with denied U and T visa applications. Given these reports, ILRC, ASISTA, CAST, Freedom Network USA, American Association of Immigration Lawyers (AILA), and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles created a practice update to address some of the actions practitioners can take in individual cases as well as to support policy-level advocacy efforts.
Resources
Publication Date
06/19/2019
Advocates and community members can work together to fight messages of fear and panic by helping community members learn about their rights and how to protect themselves from ICE. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center has created a variety of materials to educate the community and prepare individuals for possible encounters with immigration authorities.
Resources
Publication Date
06/18/2019
It is time that we pass laws to build communities that are healthy and thriving, instead of ones torn apart by criminalization, biased policing, incarceration, and deportation. To secure the full human rights of all members of our communities, we need a new way forward for immigrant justice—one that ends senseless divisions of “good versus bad” immigrants and recognizes that all communities deserve dignity, restoration and repair, not further criminalization. This one-pager explains A New Way Forward campaign.
Resources
Publication Date
06/17/2019
This practice alert provides a brief overview of some of the main changes practitioners can expect with the proposed change to fee waiver eligibility and process, most significantly by eliminating receipt of means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver. Given that these significant changes to the fee waiver process will make it more difficult and time-intensive to establish inability to pay an immigration filing fee, we urge practitioners to advise clients who are eligible for a fee waiver based on receipt of means-tested benefits to apply as soon as possible, before this option is eliminated.
Resources
Publication Date
06/17/2019
On June 5, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a third notice regarding its plans to dramatically change fee waiver eligibility and process. The June 5 notice attempts to provide additional justification for its plan to eliminate means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver, among other changes, following April 5 and September 28 notices that lacked rationale for why such changes to fee waivers are justified. Now, USCIS is also claiming lost fee revenue as a reason for its proposed changes to fee waivers, making clear its intention to reduce the number of fee waivers that are granted. If finalized, these proposed changes will discourage eligible individuals from filing for fee waivers and immigration benefits and place heavy time and resource burdens on those who do still apply for fee waivers.
Resources
Publication Date
06/14/2019
For noncitizens, even a low level offense like a shoplifting conviction can lead to mandatory deportation. However, this can be avoided when people secure post-conviction relief to erase or modify their old convictions. If the convictions are vacated, or the sentences reduced, the grounds for removal often evaporate.
Resources
Publication Date
06/13/2019
This community alert provides key information about upcoming changes to the fee waiver process, which allows some applicants to submit their immigration applications without having to pay the filing fee if they cannot afford it. In the coming months, one of the easiest and most straightforward ways of proving that you qualify for a fee waiver request will be going away. Find out more information about this upcoming change and submit your application now if you might qualify for a fee waiver!
Resources
Publication Date
06/11/2019
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), any noncitizen who “within five years from the date of entry, has become a public charge from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen since entry is deportable.” In current practice, this ground of deportability rarely comes up in pending removal proceedings or as a reason for the initiation of removal proceedings.
Resources
Publication Date
06/04/2019
Gubernatorial pardons have become an increasingly important and accessible tool for immigrants to erase certain immigration consequences of criminal convictions. This two-page primer, written in collaboration with the UCLA School of Law Criminal Defense Clinic and available in both English and Spanish, provides an overview of the California Pardon process for potential applicants and their advocates.
Resources
Publication Date
05/29/2019
Diversion refers to a variety of programs that seek to avoid the processing of a defendant through the traditional criminal legal system. The goal of diversion is to direct an individual who has been accused of a crime into a treatment or care program as an alternative to imprisonment and/or prosecution.
Resources
Publication Date
05/16/2019
This advisory covers three possible immigration remedies that beneficiaries might be able to pursue if a family member dies during the immigration process.
Resources
Publication Date
05/13/2019
As the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies have increasingly come under scrutiny, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has played an increasingly significant role in carrying out brutal tactics to target immigrants for deportation.
Resources
Publication Date
05/09/2019
Starting in June 2019, Bexar County and San Antonio will implement "cite and release," a new administrative policy that seeks to reduce arrests. The policy directs law enforcement officers to use their discretion to issue citations for low-level, non-violent offenses.
Resources
Publication Date
05/06/2019
This comment period has closed. Click here respond to the latest notice of proposed fee waiver rule change.
Resources
Publication Date
04/30/2019
This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses how mandatory detention impacts individuals. IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Resources
Publication Date
04/30/2019
This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses the immigration consequences of discriminatory practices within the criminal legal system. IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Resources
Publication Date
04/30/2019
This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses the immigration consequences of discriminatory practices within the criminal legal system. IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Resources
Publication Date
04/17/2019
These flyers inform community members of the fact that it is very dangerous for any noncitizen, including a permanent resident, to discuss marijuana use with any official. This is true even if the person used marijuana in their own home and it was legal under the law of their state (because of medical or legalized marijuana state laws). Get legal counsel and get informed!
Resources
Publication Date
04/15/2019
The Trump administration has vowed to increase 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local law enforcement officers to undertake various duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Indeed, as of the date of this publication, 49 of the 78 total 287(g) agreements were created during this current administration, and the number will likely continue to increase. However, all of the current 287(g) agreements will expire on June 30, 2019, unless they are renewed.
Resources
Publication Date
04/15/2019
The 287(g) program allows designated local law enforcement .officers to enforce civil immigration law s According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the 287(g) program led to more than 7,000 deportations in 2018.
Resources
Publication Date
04/15/2019
Collected pages from a FOIA to ICE that relate to the 287(g) program. Includes documents from all over the country, including 287(g) applications and needs assessments, emails about joining the program, MOAs, and other records.
Resources
Publication Date
04/14/2019
The 287(g) program allows designated local law enforcement officers to enforce civil immigration laws. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the 287(g) program led to more than 7,000 deportations in 2018.
Resources
Publication Date
04/05/2019
Immigration law has its own definition of what constitutes a criminal "conviction." Because most, although not all, immigration consequences require a conviction, if your client does not have a conviction the immigration case might be saved. This Advisory discusses which dispositions that come out of criminal court actually constitute a conviction for immigration purposes, and how to avoid a conviction. It has been updated to include the BIA's decision that a conviction on direct appeal of right does not have sufficient finality to be a conviction for immigration purposes.
Resources
Understanding Unlawful Presence Under § 212(a)(9)(B) and Unlawful Presence Waivers, I-601 and I-601A
Publication Date
03/28/2019
This advisory explains unlawful presence under INA § 212(a)(9)(B) and the differences between the I-601 and I-601A waivers of unlawful presence. It covers who needs a waiver of unlawful presence, what are the requirements for a waiver of unlawful presence, and which waiver process to use depending on the applicant’s circumstances.