Resources
Publication Date
07/14/2022
In 2016, California enacted California Penal Code § 1473.7, a post-conviction relief vehicle allowing people no longer in criminal custody to vacate legally defective convictions. Ever since, the ILRC has supported advocates to implement this law, including helping to defend the vacaturs from DHS attempts to erode its impact. In Arias v. Garland, a case currently pending before the Ninth Circuit, the court will decide whether 1473.7 should be given full effect, erasing the conviction for immigration purposes. The ILRC helped coordinate Mr. Arias’s amicus strategy and we offer his redacted merits brief as well as the extraordinary amicus briefs submitted in support so that they might help practitioners facing similar arguments. The briefing in the Arias case represents some of the most robust arguments for why 1473.7 vacaturs should be recognized, but we also include below the various prior briefs, advisories, and sample materials we have developed in the defense of the full reach of 1473.7.
Publication
Now available and updated for 2013! The Case Update to the Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit: Impact of Crimes under California and Other State Laws. The PDF provides the 2013 update only to the 10th Edition, and does not include the full book.
Publication
Criminal defense attorneys who represent noncitizens and immigration attorneys alike have long relied on ILRC’s expertise and resources in defense of noncitizens in criminal and immigration proceedings. This manual shows step-by-step how to identify, analyze and defend against the adverse immigration consequences of charges, using a combination of user-friendly charts, summaries and practice aids, and in-depth discussion of defense strategies. It includes extensive discussion of California offenses, including new defense strategies for assault, domestic violence, drugs, sexual crimes with minors and other commonly charged offenses. A key section describes new strategies for how to control the record of conviction in pleas to "divisible" statutes. The book includes chapters on defense of juveniles, requirements for immigration applications (asylum, cancellation, etc.), immigration detainers and detention, and post-conviction relief.
Video
Introduction to the Nevada Crimimm Wiki: A Tool for Criminal Defenders Consequences of Common Nevada Offenses WebinarYou can download the PowerPoint file for this presentation here.
Seminar
Are you new to immigration practice and want to be court-ready? Have you been representing people for years on affirmative cases, but afraid to appear in front of the immigration judge? Do you want a refresher on issues related to removal defense? This seminar offers an overview of removal proceedings, and will provide you with the skills to walk into court and plead on behalf of your client. In this seminar, we will focus on procedural basics and essential analytical skills needed to zealously advocate for your client in court. In the morning, we will provide an overview of removal proceedings and the immigration court; how to respond to a Notice to Appear (NTA), including challenging charges of removal. In the afternoon, we will take on more advance topics including representing your client in bond hearings, as well as an introduction to analyzing convictions in immigration cases. We will finish the day with a panel of practitioners to answer your questions on local practice.
Video
This webinar will highlight an innovative pro bono model that ensures every immigrant has their full due process rights protected and no person is deported on the basis of an unconstitutional conviction. Led by Rose Cahn from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Josh Gresham from Latham & Watkins, this training will describe the Immigrant Post-Conviction Relief Project and how the nonprofit and firm partnership has brought essential relief to hundreds of immigrant clients who would face certain deportation without it. This will be of particular interest to nonprofit immigrant legal services providers across the country, as well as to any law firms interested in engaging in a cutting-edge pro bono practice.
Seminar
Location: San Francisco State University – College of Extended Learning, 835 Market Street, 6th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103
Seminar
Location: University of San Francisco School of Law, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
Seminar
Location: Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010
Publication
FOIA Requests and Other Background Checks: A Practical Guide to Filing Records Requests in Immigration Cases provides practitioners with a one-stop guide for information about why, when, where, and how to file background checks in immigration cases. This guide describes the various federal agencies and components that generally hold immigration records, explains how to request records and appeal denials or incomplete responses, and provides tips for certain circumstances, such as representing minors or immigrants in removal proceedings.
Webinar
Convictions and other criminal system contact jeopardize eligibility for asylum and withholding of removal. Recent regulations have expanded these criminal bars to these critical forms of protection from persecution. This webinar will discuss up-to-date case law on the "particularly serious crime" and other regulatory criminal bars to asylum and withholding, strategies for challenging criminal bars in immigration court, and pursuing protection under the Convention Against Torture ("CAT") for clients who are not eligible for asylum or withholding due to convictions or other criminal bars.
Webinar
Crimes involving moral turpitude is one of the most commonly charged crimes removal grounds. The goal of this webinar is to make it easier to do an accurate analysis of crimes involving moral turpitude. This can be tricky, given that there are at least thirteen different sections in the Immigration and Nationality Act that govern different consequences of moral turpitude offenses, and ongoing litigation about how to interpret some of them, and what effect to give state sentences. We will focus on how to cut through this and most efficiently and accurately analyze each case. The training will start with the basics and go on to cover emerging trends in litigation and new defenses.
Webinar
Currently, thirty-seven states - two thirds of the United States - have laws permitting medical use of marijuana, and fifteen of these states also fully permit recreational use. The District of Columbia permits both uses. However, any use of marijuana remains a federal offense, and therefore conviction, admission of use, and even lawful employment in the growing cannabis industry can bring terrible immigration consequences. The Trump Administration made it official policy that even immigrants who used marijuana in good faith and following state law should be punished. This interactive, national webinar will cover how state-legalized marijuana is helpful to immigrants, how it is potentially harmful, and strategies for how to advise and defend noncitizens in order to prevent legal damage. We also will discuss how the laws may change under the Biden Administration and the next Congress.
Webinar
Level: Intermediate - Immigration and Criminal Defense CounselThe categorical approach is perhaps the single most important tool for defending a noncitizen who has been charged with or convicted of a crime. But while the Supreme Court clarified and strengthened this defense in decisions culminating in U.S. v. Mathis (2016), it took a sharp step backward in Pereida v. Wilkinson (2021). In this interactive webinar, experts will take participants step-by-step through how to use the approach to protect clients in immigration and criminal proceedings, and how to avoid or limit the effect of Pereida.PresentersKathy BradyKathy Brady is a Staff Attorney based in San Francisco. She has worked with the ILRC since 1987. Along with expertise in family immigration, immigrant children and youth, and removal defense, she is a national expert on the intersection of immigration and criminal law. She is a frequent speaker and consultant, and has co-authored several manuals including Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit (ILRC), California Criminal Defense of Immigrants (CEB), the chapter on representing immigrants in California Criminal Law – Procedure and Practice (CEB), and Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Courts (ILRC). She helped found coalitions and projects to address these issues, including as a co-founder of the Defending Immigrants Partnership and the Immigrant Justice Network. Kathy served as a Commissioner to the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration from 2009-2012. In 2007 she received the Carol King award of advocacy from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Webinar
Level: Intermediate / AdvancedThe field of post-conviction relief is constantly changing. Tune in to hear about newly enacted state laws, new case developments, and new advice for immigrant post-conviction relief practitioners. This webinar will be geared to people who already have some exposure to post-conviction relief.PresentersRose Cahn, Senior Staff Attorney - ILRCRose Cahn is a nationally recognized expert in the field of immigrant post-conviction relief and oversees the ILRC’s pro bono Immigrant Post-Conviction Relief Project. With over 15 years of experience working in the field of immigrant rights, and a special focus on the intersection of criminal and immigration law, Rose is a frequent speaker and trainer on the subject. Rose has co-authored several manuals including, California Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants (Tooby) and Helping Immigrant Clients with Proposition 47 and Other Post-Conviction Legal Options: A Guide for Legal Service Providers (Californians for Safety and Justice). Rose spearheads federal, state, and local advocacy to help advance the rights of immigrants with criminal convictions and assist providers in understanding how to better serve this population. She is one of the principle drafters of California Penal Code § 1473.7, a landmark piece of legislation that created a legal mechanism to vacate unconstitutional convictions. She serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Clean Slate Clearinghouse and is on the Steering Committee of the American Immigrant Representation Project.
Webinar
Level: IntermediateThis webinar will discuss FOIA requests in immigration cases and provide tips for filing FOIA requests with DHS, including USCIS, OBIM, ICE and CBP. Researching clients’ case histories may become particularly important if any of the proposed legalization bills are enacted.
Webinar
Level: Intermediate / AdvancedJoin us for a review of the criminal grounds that serve as bars to DACA, including how the agency has handled discretionary decisions involving criminal records and allegations. We will also discuss the proposed DACA regulations and who would be able to qualify under the current version of the proposed rule.
Publication
A Guide for Immigration Advocates is a practical and essential tool for beginning immigration attorneys, immigration law firms employing paralegals, DOJ accredited representatives, and nonprofit community-based organizations. The Guide is unique among immigration law manuals because it provides a comprehensive detailed overview of the law that is both practical and easy to use. More than a compilation of immigration law topic articles, it’s a how-to manual containing clearly worded explanations of each subject and includes sample applications, charts, and examples to illustrate the concepts. This invaluable resource also provides practical advice on working with your clients to elicit the information you need to assist them efficiently and accurately.
Resources
Drug offenses cause the harshest, most disproportionate immigration penalties of any offense. Criminal defenders and immigration advocates need information to work aggressively to defend immigrant clients. This advisory provides strategies to avoid a drug conviction, including how and when to use Penal Code § 372.5 (2023), along with practice tips, resources, and arguments to support negotiating for an immigration neutral plea or disposition in criminal court.
Resources
Publication Date
11/02/2022
Survivors of human trafficking and of domestic or sexual violence often are charged and convicted of offenses that arose as a direct result of their exploitation. For noncitizens, the criminal record can cause deportation or destroy their eligibility for humanitarian visas. In the last five years, California has enacted multiple laws to avoid this injustice in criminal court, including a defense to a criminal charge and a vehicle to vacate a past conviction for survivors who were coerced to commit the offense, or in other cases mitigation of sentence. This advisory describes the new criminal laws and their immigration effect, so that criminal defenders and immigration and survivor advocates are aware of these options.
Resources
Publication Date
11/29/2022
his fact sheet describes new Cal. Penal Code 372.5 (AB 2195). As of January 1, 2023, a California defendant who is charged with any of several drug offenses, from infractions to felonies, can ask for the drug charge/s to be dismissed and instead to plead guilty to being a “public nuisance” (Penal Code § 370). Section 372.5 provides that in this circumstance, the public nuisance offense is punishable as an infraction, a misdemeanor, or a “wobbler” offense, depending on the offense level of the drug charge that was dropped. The defense must decide to ask, and the prosecution must agree, to go forward with Penal Code 370/372.5.
Webinar
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
In this webinar, attendees will receive a comprehensive, top-level review of how to analyze an immigration case when criminal history is present. We will provide a top-level overview of the grounds of inadmissibility, grounds of deportability, aggravated felonies, good moral character, and immigration relief. Attendees will leave with the ability to issue spot the key issues in crim/imm cases.
Presenters
Kathy Brady
Kathy Brady is a Staff Attorney based in San Francisco. She has worked with the ILRC since 1987. Along with expertise in family immigration, immigrant children and youth, and removal defense, she is a national expert on the intersection of immigration and criminal law. She is a frequent speaker and consultant, and has co-authored several manuals including Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit (ILRC), California Criminal Defense of Immigrants (CEB), the chapter on representing immigrants in California Criminal Law – Procedure and Practice (CEB), and Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Courts (ILRC). She helped found coalitions and projects to address these issues, including as a co-founder of the Defending Immigrants Partnership and the Immigrant Justice Network. Kathy served as a Commissioner to the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration from 2009-2012. In 2007 she received the Carol King award of advocacy from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Before working at the ILRC Kathy was in private practice in immigration law with Park & Associates in San Francisco.
Kathy attended Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and has taught immigration law as an adjunct professor. She is a member of the California Bar and is conversant in Spanish.
Grisel Ruiz
Grisel Ruiz is a Supervising Attorney in San Francisco where she focuses on the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. This includes advising attorneys and advocates on the immigration consequences of criminal offenses, training on removal defense, and supporting local and statewide campaigns to push back on immigration enforcement. In addition to technical assistance, training, and campaign support in these areas, Grisel also helps lead the ILRC’s state legislative work. Grisel is currently the Board Chair for Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC), a nonprofit that advocates for detained immigrants.
Prior to working with the ILRC, Grisel was a litigation associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and a Stimson Fellow housed at the UC Davis Law School Immigration Clinic and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. As a legal fellow, she co-founded “Know Your Rights” programs at local immigration detention centers, for which she received an award from Cosmo for Latinas.
Grisel is an immigrant herself and earned her law degree from the University of Chicago where she received the Tony Patiño Fellowship. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she dual majored in Political Science and Spanish Literature. Grisel is admitted to the bar in California is fluent in Spanish.
In this webinar, attendees will receive a comprehensive, top-level review of how to analyze an immigration case when criminal history is present. We will provide a top-level overview of the grounds of inadmissibility, grounds of deportability, aggravated felonies, good moral character, and immigration relief. Attendees will leave with the ability to issue spot the key issues in crim/imm cases.
Presenters
Kathy Brady
Kathy Brady is a Staff Attorney based in San Francisco. She has worked with the ILRC since 1987. Along with expertise in family immigration, immigrant children and youth, and removal defense, she is a national expert on the intersection of immigration and criminal law. She is a frequent speaker and consultant, and has co-authored several manuals including Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit (ILRC), California Criminal Defense of Immigrants (CEB), the chapter on representing immigrants in California Criminal Law – Procedure and Practice (CEB), and Immigration Benchbook for Juvenile and Family Courts (ILRC). She helped found coalitions and projects to address these issues, including as a co-founder of the Defending Immigrants Partnership and the Immigrant Justice Network. Kathy served as a Commissioner to the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration from 2009-2012. In 2007 she received the Carol King award of advocacy from the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.
Before working at the ILRC Kathy was in private practice in immigration law with Park & Associates in San Francisco.
Kathy attended Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and has taught immigration law as an adjunct professor. She is a member of the California Bar and is conversant in Spanish.
Grisel Ruiz
Grisel Ruiz is a Supervising Attorney in San Francisco where she focuses on the intersection between immigration law and criminal law. This includes advising attorneys and advocates on the immigration consequences of criminal offenses, training on removal defense, and supporting local and statewide campaigns to push back on immigration enforcement. In addition to technical assistance, training, and campaign support in these areas, Grisel also helps lead the ILRC’s state legislative work. Grisel is currently the Board Chair for Freedom for Immigrants (formerly CIVIC), a nonprofit that advocates for detained immigrants.
Prior to working with the ILRC, Grisel was a litigation associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and a Stimson Fellow housed at the UC Davis Law School Immigration Clinic and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation. As a legal fellow, she co-founded “Know Your Rights” programs at local immigration detention centers, for which she received an award from Cosmo for Latinas.
Grisel is an immigrant herself and earned her law degree from the University of Chicago where she received the Tony Patiño Fellowship. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she dual majored in Political Science and Spanish Literature. Grisel is admitted to the bar in California is fluent in Spanish.
Webinar
In this webinar, we will explore the various ways a criminal incident can impact an application for non-LPR cancellation. We will look at the criminal conviction bars, good moral character, the stop-time rule, and discretion. This is an opportunity for those familiar with the basics of Non-LPR Cancellation to think through how to analyze the eligibility of clients with some potential bad facts in the mix.
Webinar
In this webinar, you will learn how to effectively vacate convictions in criminal court to meet the required Pickering standard of “legal invalidity”. We will discuss whether recent resentencing laws and vacaturs enacted for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence meet the Pickering standard. Lastly, we will discuss how to effectively defend your vacatur against attacks by ICE and DHS.
Webinar
In this webinar, we will discuss the distinction between motions to terminate, remand, reconsider and reopen. We will discuss which motion to file depending on the posture of your case in immigration court. We will take a deep dive into motions to reopen including how to make effective equitable tolling and sua sponte arguments. In addition, we will discuss hurdles to overcome if your client has departed the United States after the vacatur. Lastly, we will learn how to successfully obtain a bond redetermination hearing in immigration court pending the motion to reopen with the BIA.