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In Rendon v. Holder the Ninth Circuit clarified when a statute is truly “divisible” under the categorical approach, and held that California burglary (Penal Code § 459) never constitutes the aggravated felony “attempted theft.” This holding also means that California burglary never is a crime involving moral turpitude, under the categorical approach.

In 2013, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a Parental Interests Directive to provide federal guidelines regarding immigration enforcement against parents and legal guardians. The Directive emphasizes that ICE should respect an immigrant parent’s rights and responsibilities, and seeks to ensure that “immigration enforcement activities do not unnecessarily disrupt” parental rights.  This resource summarizes the key provisions of the Directive and provides tips to those working within the dependency system on how to best ensure an immigrant parent can meaningfully participate in the dependency proceedings.

On September 30, 2012, the state of California enacted the Reuniting Immigrant Families Act (“SB 1064”).  SB 1064 is the nation’s first law addressing the reunification barriers faced by many immigrant families involved with the child welfare system. The law clarifies that maintaining children’s ties to their families remains the priority despite barriers imposed by immigration status, including immigration detention and deportation.

This letter was sent to all California County Counsel and Sheriff Offices to advise on Miranda-Olivares and urge jurisdictions to stop complying with Immigration detainers, unless or until such detainers are accompanied by a judicial determination of probable cause to satisfy the requirements of the Fourth Amendment.

On July 21, 2014, Governor Brown signed into law a provision that will make a California misdemeanor have a maximum possible sentence of 364 days. This will provide crucial help to immigrants convicted of minor offenses.

USCIS Form I-821D with annotations.

These are step-by-step instructions on how to complete the form.

This op-ed on Unaccompanied Alien Children was written by one of our summer law interns, Kathleen Kavanagh. In recent months, we’ve seen an unprecedented jump in child arrivals mostly from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The Official Border Patrol statistics show that over 47,000 unaccompanied minors have already been apprehended in the first eight months of fiscal year 2014.Read the entire article below.

This summary provides details on recent groundbreaking federal court rulings related to immigration detainers. Learn what these decisions mean and how to use this information with your own local sheriffs, other law enforcement, and elected officials.

A permanent resident with convictions from before April 1, 1997 may be eligible for a powerful waiver under the former INA § 212(c)—even if the offense was an aggravated felony. Yielding to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Judulang, the BIA has dramatically increased the type of offenses that can be waived. See practice advisory by the NIPNLG and IDP, entitled "Matter of Abdelghany: Implications for LPRs Seeking § 212(c) Relief" at https://nationalimmigrationproject.org/PDFs/practitioners/practice_advisories/crim/2014_14Mar_matter-abdelghany.pdf.

This memorandum was sent to all California County Counsel offices on December 19, 2013.  The letter discusses interpretation and implementation of the TRUST Act.  Advocates may use this letter to better understand the Act as well as in advocacy.

Immigration Center for Women and Children (ICWC) administers a database of information sourced from more than 700 advocates nationwide with helpful information about law enforcement agencies who certify victim helpfulness for U cases and consulates abroad who issue U visas. The database includes information on who the U certifying officers are and where to send the requests, as well as the most updated policies and practices, nationwide. The goal is to update information on every state and federal agency, whether they do or don’t sign certifications. The database also includes information about consulates’ and embassies’ practices in processing U visa cases. These are both critical resources to any organization or office with a U visa caseload.For more information on these and other U-related databases that ICWC administers, go to http://icwclaw.org/services-available/icwc-u-travel-and-certifier-database/. If you’re new to using Zoho databases (the platform for ICWC’s databases), watch the helpful video below.

This guide explains how the California TRUST Act interacts with other ICE enforcement programs in California jails, such as the Criminal Alien Program, 287(g), and Secure Communities.

Deferred Action is a form of prosecutorial discretion that provides a work permit and relief from removal for two years to certain eligible undocumented youth. This fact sheet outlines the benefits of DACA, who is eligible and the requirements.

Starting January 1, 2014, a conviction for transportation under H&S 11352 and 11379 will automatically qualify as a drug trafficking aggravated felony.  AB 721, signed into law on October 3, 2013, redefines transport to include only transportation for sale and now excludes transportation for personal use. 

Immigration reform has only been approved by the Senate, but as the bill currently stands, S.744 changes several things about the family-based system and also adds merit-based tracks.  This document summarizes the proposed changes and additions. 

This practice advisory summarizes the immigration benefits for same-sex spouses after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor declared section 3 of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) unconstitutional.  It covers family-based petitions (including VAWA) and nonimmigrant visas for same-sex spouses and children.

USCIS issued these frequently asked questions that address the eligibility and application process for same-sex spouses applying for immigration benefits.

The Department of State answers frequently asked questions regarding non-immigrant and immigrant visa benefits for same-sex spouses.

The powerpoint focuses on the paths to citizenship, future flow, and enforcement provisions that are in the Senate immigration reform bill titled “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S. 744).

The charts lay out the path to citizenship for undocumented individuals, DREAMers, and agricultural workers based on the Senate bill “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013” (S.744).  It also summarizes the eligibility requirements and bars at each stage of the process.

A manual for organizers on how to prevent local law enforcement from holding immigrants for ICE.