Results

This resource identifies and explains some key provisions that cities and counties can enact in order to protect immigrants from discrimination and deportation.

An analysis of America’s counties and their voluntary assistance with deportations.

President Trump issued an Executive Order on immigration enforcement in January 2017.  The Order included sections ordering that sanctuary cities would not be eligible to receive federal funding.  This fact sheet breaks down the key issues raised by the Executive Order, examining the possible meanings of the order, and the legal limitations on what the President can do.

Immigrants who are alleged to be involved with gangs are top immigration enforcement priorities for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is true even if they have no criminal convictions and DHS is targeting them based on allegations alone. If such individuals choose to apply for immigration benefits, they may be exposing themselves to serious risk. This practice advisory discusses what gangs and gang databases are, how allegations of gang membership arise in immigration cases, the over-inclusive process law enforcement employs to allege gang membership, and strategies to identify whether your client may be labeled a gang member or associate. The purpose of this advisory is to help immigration advocates better understand how law enforcement in the United States documents and alleges gang membership or association, such that advocates are able to identify red flags in cases, and are better prepared to work with clients to assess possible risks in filing for relief.

The Know Your Rights Skit is a guide for presenting know your rights materials in the case of contact with ICE. The document includes a skit which is designed to educate participants while reducing fears.

Local criminal justice policies, such as vagrancy laws and cash bail requirements, endanger vulnerable immigrant populations and undercut the promise of “sanctuary” cities, according to a report released today by Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project, the Immigrant Defense Project, and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center. The report urges city and county leaders who want to protect immigrants to act swiftly to end harmful criminal justice practices that criminalize poverty and send undocumented residents into the deportation pipeline.

Report by the ILRC that estimates the number of current and future undocumented immigrants that could be deported without due process under President Trump's forthcoming expansion of expedited removal.

This sample ICE detainer is annotated to highlight what advocates should look for, and explains some of the legal problems with detainers.

In March 2017, DHS created a new policy where they would send an administrative warrant along with all ICE detainer requests. Along with this policy, they released new ICE warrant forms: I-200, and I-205. These annotated forms explain what ICE warrants mean and whom they are directed to.

This detailed memo analyzes the authority of ICE administrative warrants and why they fail to meet Constitutional standards. The memo examines why DHS has decided to issue ICE warrants along with ICE detainers, and explains the similarities and differences between these two types of documents. The memo focuses on how the existence of administrative ICE warrants does not confer immigration authority onto local and state law enforcement officers.

This short summary explains what ICE warrants (also called administrative immigration warrants or civil immigration warrants) do, and links to resources for further information and analysis.

In May 2017, Attorney General Sessions issued a memo clarifying the interpretation of Trump's Executive Order to de-fund "sanctuary furisdictions." The Memo narrowly defines "sanctuary jurisdictions" and explains that the de-funding threat only applies to a few grant programs. This advisory explains what Sessions' Memo said, and how it affects communities that might be considered "sanctuary jurisdictions."

Cities, counties, commissioners, mayors, sheriffs, and other elected officials have all sued the state of Texas over its controversial anti-immigrant law, SB4.  This backgrounder explains the primary claims of the lawsuits, who all the parties are, and what is happening with SB4.

This resource explains key provisions that Texas cities and counties can enact in order to protect immigrants in light of SB 4.

This guide provides fundamental Know Your Rights information to immigrants in California’s criminal justice system.  It provides a review of what immigrants should know once in criminal custody, as well as what to expect if they are transferred to immigration custody.

The attached document is a compilation of resources to help organizations and service providers prepare for immigration enforcement actions.

Recent California legislation, SB 29 and AB 103, places a check on the expansion of immigration jail in our state. This infographic provides an overview of these two new bills and explains how they work together to limit the growth of the immigration detention system.

This toolkit provides advocates with the tools to effectively meet with local law enforcement regarding the California Values Act (SB 54) and enforcement policies generally. The toolkit includes the steps advocates should take prior to any law enforcement meeting, a sample agenda, sample questions, a FAQ section, and other tools.

Sanctuary policies have continued to grow over the first year of the Trump administration.  This detailed report describes what sanctuary policies are and how they are enacted across the country, detailing the changes in 2017 and providing context to the public discourse about local policies related to immigration.

This is a summary of the California Criminal and Immigration Laws Passed over the last several years to mitigate the impact of deportations, immigration enforcement, and immigration detention.

This table provides state law statutes and descriptions of existing laws that require people to identify themselves to law enforcement officers—also known as Hiibel laws or Stop-and-Identify laws. The nuances of requirements under these laws may vary, but the chart provides a preliminary survey and research of statutes across the country, to educate individuals about their own state requirements and provide a first step for deeper research.

This advisory discusses the provisions of SB 54 (De Leon) and the California Values Act, relevant to criminal defense counsel who represent noncitizen clients. In addition to discussing specific provisions of the California Values Act, this advisory discusses how to incorporate this new law into your defense practice.

Schools across the country are working to protect their students and students’ families from immigration enforcement activities on campus. However, the school to prison to deportation pipeline is often overlooked in efforts to keep students safe. This resource explains how an incident at school can result in a youth facing deportation, and encourages schools to review their disciplinary polices to ensure they are not sending students to ICE.

Statement for the Record by the ACLU, IDP, IJN, ILRC, NIJC and NIP on the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration for the May 23, 2018 Hearing Titled "TVPRA and Exploited Loopholes Affecting Unaccompanied Alien Children": In this statement for the record, the ILRC, along with our partners discuss the dehumanizing and cruel responses by the Trump Administration and immigration hardliners to children seeking safety in the United States.

287(g) is a program for allowing state and local agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents. Under 287(g), ICE forms an agreement with a state or local agency - most often a county sheriff that runs a local jail - and this agreement delegates specific immigration enforcement authority to designated officers within the local agency. These agreements are also known as “287(g) contracts” or “MOAs” (Memorandum of Agreement). The program gets its name from section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

This resource contains a chart comparing various federal legislative proposals attacking sanctuary jurisdictions.

This report details findings from a national survey of legal practitioners concerning the increased use of gang allegations against young immigrants as a means of driving up deportation numbers, at the encouragement of the Trump administration. The report suggests emerging best practices for immigration attorneys to employ in both fighting against unfounded gang allegations and working to mitigate the impact of prior gang involvement.

This toolkit is aimed at providing you–the advocate– with the tools to provide valuable know your rights (KYR) information. This toolkit will teach you how to do a KYR presentation, including everything from the logistics of organizing an event to the substantive topics you should cover. If all you want to do is learn how to put together a KYR presentation, you can review the section Nuts & Bolts: Putting Together a KYR Presentation. If you would like a deeper and more substantive discussion of certain KYR topics (not necessary for everyone), please reference the section Deep Dive: KYR Substantive Topics. This toolkit is aimed at California audiences and contains advice that is California-specific.

A brief summary of recent court precedents that analyze the limits of the federal government’s power to tell states how to regulate, and what this means for 8 USC § 1373. One court so far has found 8 USC § 1373 unconstitutional, and others are pending. These cases mean that a key anti-sanctuary weapon of the federal government may be struck down by the courts, and communities may be legally able to stop any communication with ICE and CBP.

Overview of ILRC’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request