Defending Immigrants' Rights

The crossover between immigration and criminal law is one of the most complex and technical areas of law today. The ILRC is recognized as a national leader in this field, in analysis, teaching, and policy work.

As part of the national Defending Immigrants Partnership, the ILRC educates and assists indigent criminal defenders about immigration consequences of crimes. Directing the project in the Ninth Circuit, the ILRC provides resources, holds trainings, and mentors a group of representatives from indigent defense offices. To learn more about the Defending Immigrants Partnership, to see analyses of the law of several states, and to access a national resource library on the immigration consequences of crimes, go to www.defendingimmigrants.org. To access free on-line resources created by the ILRC, including the Quick Reference Chart and Notes for California Convictions or Arizona convictions, see below.

As a part of the national Immigrant Justice Network (IJN), the ILRC works to build an organized effort to eliminate unjust immigration penalties for immigrants entangled in the criminal justice system and to end the criminalization of our immigrant communities through legislative advocacy, public education, outreach, organizing, collaborating and media and messaging. To learn more about IJN go to www.immigrantjusticenetwork.org or contact ajunck@ilrc.org.

PUBLICATIONS Since 1990 the ILRC has published California Criminal Law and Immigration, aka "the Bible," an in-depth analysis of Ninth Circuit and administrative law for immigration and criminal defense counsel representing non-citizens. For 2007 we have updated the book and expanded its coverage of state law throughout the Ninth Circuit. This edition is entitled Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit: Impact of Crimes under California and Other State Law, and it is available now. To order it go to here.

SEMINARS The ILRC, in cooperation with the Law Offices of Norton Tooby, presents full-day seminars on immigration consequences of crimes to immigration and criminal defense attorneys. Our annual seminars take place in Los Angeles and San Francisco. See seminars.

CONSULTATION SERVICES The ILRC provides consultation services on the immigration consequences of criminal convictions, to assist criminal defense attorneys to better advise and defend their clients, and to assist immigration attorneys to argue that their clients are not removable or are eligible for relief. There is a lower fee for offices of the Public Defender. See consultations.

FREE ONLINE RESOURCES

The Quick Reference Guide to California Convictions is a guide to assist public defenders and others to determine the immigration consequences of selected California offenses. The Chart can be viewed organized {numerically by Penal Code section} or {alphabetically by name of offense}

The Quick Reference Chart and Notes for Arizona offenses is a guide to assist public defenders and other to determine the immigration consequences of selected Arizona offenses.

Effect of Selected Drug Pleas After Lopez v. Gonzales, a quick reference chart on the immigration consequences of drug pleas for criminal defenders in the Ninth Circuit.

Defending Noncitizens Accused or Convicted of Domestic Violence Offenses, Stalking, or Child Abuse, Abandonment or Neglect, by Katherine Brady and Angie Junck, provides a comprehensive review of the consequences of domestic violence and related offenses and arguments and strategies for both immigration attorneys and criminal defenders handling these cases.

Defense Strategies for Applying for the former § 212(c) Relief in Light of Matter of Blake, by Katherine Brady and Joseph Justin Rollins, provides strategies for asserting that aggravated felonies that are not related to controlled substances can be waived under the former § 212(c); available in Word.

Brief: Sexual Abuse of a Minor. The ILRC’s amicus brief in support of a petition for rehearing in Valencia v Gonzales, 406 F.3d 1154 (9th Cir. 2005). The brief argues that statutory rape under Cal. P.C. §261.5 is not categorically an aggravated felony, either as a crime of violence or as sexual abuse of a minor, and opposes the court’s conclusion that consensual sex between a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old is a crime of violence. It includes national statistics about incidence of sexual activity among older teen-agers.

Practice Advisory: Update on Shepard, the Record of Conviction, and the Aiding and Abetting Defense. The Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit have beneficial new law on important defenses.

Practice Advisory: Stipulating to the Police Report is Harmful for Non-Citizen Defendants

Practice Advisory: DUI and Obtaining a 364-Day Sentence -- New Concerns

Practice Advisory: New Developments in Defending Fraud and Theft Offenses