ILRC staff attorneys provide onsite and telephone consultation, training workshops and seminars,
and educational curricula on immigration issues to probono attorneys and nonprofit agencies serving
immigrants throughout the United States. We also offer litigation support in select cases, including
representing clients, filing amicus briefs, serving as expert witnesses, and providing analysis of rules and laws, both proposed and enacted.
ADVOCATING FOR CHILDREN
Through a unique project, the ILRC helps abused
and abandoned immigrant children in foster care
become permanent U.S. residents. The ILRC
consults with juvenile court judges, county workers,
and children's advocates working on "special
immigrant juvenile" petitions. We work regionally
and nationally to promote humane treatment for
all immigrant children.
COMBATING PROVIDER FRAUD
The ILRC works with immigration advocates and
District Attorneys across California to prosecute
scam artists who offer fraudulent immigration
services. The ILRC also published a manual for
District Attorneys on fraud against immigrants.
DEFENDING IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS
The ILRC is part of the national Defending Immigrants Project, whose purpose is to ensure that indigent noncitizens who are accused of crimes receive due process and adequate representation in their hearings. The ILRC has created free resources such as the Quick Reference Chart for determining immigration consequences of California convictions, and provides materials, technical assistance and training to immigration and criminal law practitioners.
IMMIGRATION RELIEF FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND OTHER CRIMES
The ILRC offers training courses and technical support
on Violence Against Women Act relief for battered
spouses and children. These services are available to
legal service organizations throughout California that
receive California State Bar Legal Service Trust Fund
grants, and domestic violence and immigration
advocates and agencies in California. We do not take
individual cases on domestic violence. We also
conduct extensive outreach designed to educate
battered immigrants about the availability of heath
and immigration related benefits. To this end, we
work to establish local networks of domestic violence
service providers including shelter workers,
attorneys, health care workers and law enforcement
personnel. Click on the above link for more information on VAWA, U Visa and our services.
LIAISON MINUTES for Meetings Between Community Based Organizations and the San Francisco District Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Service
Over the past several years the ILRC has been conducting liaison meetings between Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and the Citizenship and Immigration Service (CIS) Offices in San Francisco, Sacramento, and Fresno. These meetings provide CBOs the opportunity to meet with the CIS and discuss the local CIS office's procedures and the office's interpretation of the immigration and naturalization laws and regulations. This forum provides an opportunity to discuss difficult cases, important policies, and promote a dialogue between the CIS and CBOs so the work of everyone can be cooperative, effective, and efficient. Prior to each meeting, the ILRC gathers input from CBOs and sets out an agenda for the meeting. The CIS representatives study the agenda and come prepared to comment on the agenda items.
NACARA and ASYLUM
The November 1997 enactment of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
(NACARA) created significant hope for hundreds of thousands of Central American refugees stranded in the U.S. without legal residency after fleeing their war torn countries in the 1980s. ILRC provides seminars, informational videos, phone, email and fax consultation, a manual: Winning NACARA Suspension Cases, updates on policy and regulation changes and sample pleadings to inform pro bono attorneys and legal service providers about this form of relief for Salvadorans and Guatemalans and to assist them in making use of it for their clients.
PREPARING IMMIGRANT LEADERS
The ILRC offers comprehensive training courses in immigrant leadership skills, such as our three year
collaborative effort in East Palo Alto, California, with the grassroots immigrant based
organization Centro Bilingue. The courses we offered there, some of which were designed
specifically for immigrant youth, successfully resulted in increased community and civic
involvement. Course participants subsequently conducted more than 100 community meetings
for immigrants on topics including citizenship, the advantages of learning English, and the
importance of knowing your rights.
PROMOTING CITIZENSHIP & CIVIC PARTICIPATION
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NATIONAL The ILRC is responding to the crisis
created by 1996 antiimmigration legislation that
targeted elderly immigrants and those with
disabilities. We provide technical assistance and
training to service providers on how to help their
clients become U.S. citizens. Our staff attorneys
conduct onsite workshops around the country.
We also have a telephone hotline and write and
distribute materials on the naturalization process. |
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CALIFORNIA The ILRC provides technical assistance
and information on the issues of naturalization,
family unity, and the effects of recent laws to
immigrant advocates and organizations throughout
California. In the state's Central Valley, the ILRC
is a partner in a collaborative effort that encourages
citizenship and access to English language
instruction. These projects promote civic participation
and leadership development among
California's immigrants. |
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COMMUNITY MEETINGS Here are the ILRC's immigration information packets in Spanish and English. We have produced them in formats: PDF and Microsoft Word so that you can adapt them to use in your community. Please first read our Guide to Organizing an Immigration Community Meetings: A step-by-step Approach, then use
"Guide to Using ILRC's Immigration Packets".
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TRAINING NONPROFIT
SERVICE PROVIDERS
The ILRC designed and coordinates an intensive
national training program on basic immigration
law and practice for nonprofit staff and paralegals who provide
high quality legal services to low income immigrants. Our
staff attorneys update the curriculum, and work with a national network of trainers to stage the 40-hour course in
cities throughout the United States.
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