Results
Date Published: 03/24/2021
This practice advisory from the ILRC, NIPNLG, and IDP advises criminal defense attorneys on new immigration enforcement policies and how to use the new guidance to defend clients in criminal proceedings.
Date Published: 03/23/2021
ICE enforcement policies have changed under the Biden administration, and opened new opportunities to defend your clients from arrest, detention, and deportation. This practice advisory from the ILRC, NIPNLG, and IDP provides immigration practitioners with an overview of the interim enforcement...
Date Published: 09/09/2021
This updated practice advisory provides a comprehensive overview of advance parole, its requirements, and suggestions to successfully apply under the DACA program. We also cover some of the risks to consider before traveling outside the United States, including prior removal orders, common grounds...
Date Published: 03/19/2021
In 2020 and 2021, USCIS changed its interpretation of discretion in adjudication of immigration benefits in three separate releases of policy manual guidance. [i] These chapters add voluminous positive and negative discretionary factors that adjudicators are instructed to analyze in more than a...
Date Published: 03/16/2021
The Biden administration announced the designation of Venezuela for TPS, effective March 9, 2021 through September 9, 2022. TPS provides protection from removal, work authorization, and the option to request permission to travel abroad. The 180-day registration period is currently open through...
Date Published: 02/18/2021
Certain criminal convictions are bars to eligibility for DACA. However, if these convictions can be “expunged,” they will cease to be an absolute bar. Here, an “expungement” refers to any legal process where a criminal court can withdraw, erase, seal, or otherwise eliminate a conviction under a...
Date Published: 01/21/2021
In this resource, we discuss the visa backlog for youth from certain countries applying for a green card through Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). We discuss how to determine when your client may apply for a green card, and provide practice tips for representing youth seeking SIJS who may...
Date Published: 12/18/2020
This practice advisory explains the various immigration consequences of a conviction for Assault under Texas Penal Code § 22.01 and provides tips for mitigating such consequences in criminal proceedings. It is geared towards immigration attorneys and advocates representing or advising clients with...
Date Published: 09/03/2021
Individuals applying for admission to the United States or adjustment of status are subject to the public charge ground of inadmissibility unless they fall into categories that are exempt from public charge or are not subject to this ground of inadmissibility. This advisory provides an overview of...
Date Published: 12/11/2020
In October 2020, DHS and DOJ published a final regulation that sets out wide-ranging and draconian bars to applying for, and bases to terminate a grant of, asylum. For example, the bars include conviction of any felony, any controlled substance offense, a single DUI with injury, a DUI with a DUI...
Date Published: 12/02/2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a myriad of challenges for immigration legal service providers. While some research and best practices for providing remote legal services have been developed, serving immigrant survivors of domestic violence requires a unique set of considerations. This advisory...
Date Published: 11/20/2020
In some cases, the amount of an imposed, potential, or served criminal sentence can determine the outcome of the immigration case. The law governing how state sentencing dispositions affect immigration penalties is fast-changing. The good news is that an informed defender often can structure a...
Date Published: 11/19/2020
T nonimmigrant status (often called a “T visa”) is a form of immigration relief for survivors of human trafficking that provides four years of lawful immigration status, employment authorization, access to certain public benefits, and the opportunity to apply for lawful permanent residency. However...
Date Published: 10/20/2020
On June 30, 2020, the Third Country Asylum Rule, or asylum transit ban, was found unlawful and struck down nationwide in CAIR Coalition v. Trump . This advisory discusses the asylum transit ban, the CAIR Coalition decision, and possible strategies for people who have been denied under the ban to...
Date Published: 10/09/2020
USCIS attempted to drastically limit fee waiver availability and fee waiver standards through the 2020 fee rule. The agency also tried to limit fee waivers by changing the I-912 fee waiver form. For now, these attempted changes have been stopped by injunctions. Applicants can continue to apply for...
Date Published: 12/14/2021
A FOIA request can be an invaluable tool in immigration law to help an immigrant and their representative gain a complete understanding of one’s immigration history. This guide details how to complete a FOIA request for USCIS, ICE, OBIM, and CBP. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to...
Date Published: 08/27/2020
This resource provides helpful charts of the grounds of inadmissibility as applied to special immigrant juveniles (SIJs). It also describes the waiver standard and process for SIJs.
Date Published: 10/02/2020
Alert : On September 29, 2020 the Fee Rule was enjoined nation-wide in its entirety by a District court in the Northern District of California, ILRC et al. v. Chad F. Wolf, et al . (ND California) (Case 4:20-cv-05883-JSW) (Sept. 29, 2020). This means that the fee rule will not go into effect on...
Date Published: 12/16/2021
Throughout the Trump Administration, the federal government has sought to undermine sanctuary policies by requiring that cities help ICE with immigration enforcement in order to receive certain federal grants from the DOJ. These policies have spurred a dozen lawsuits, almost all of which have ruled...
Date Published: 07/30/2020
This practice advisory will update applicants on the changes in interpretation of LRIF since its inception. We also discuss the administrative guidance, advocacy efforts, and hurdles to the application process to date.
Date Published: 07/21/2020
For an immigrant survivor of crime to qualify for U nonimmigrant status, they must obtain and submit to USCIS a certification of their helpfulness to law enforcement. A law enforcement agency (LEA) or other certifier must complete Form I-918, Supplement B, “U Nonimmigrant Status Certification,”...
Date Published: 07/10/2020
USCIS Naturalization processing was already delayed as long as 3-4 years in many jurisdictions before the pandemic and ensuing USCIS closures hit. Many thousands of applicants are waiting to complete the application process. This practice advisory describes why remote naturalization oaths are a...
Date Published: 07/09/2020
This practice advisory discusses the confidentiality policies and practices currently in place protecting information submitted in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) applications in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of...
Date Published: 06/30/2020
A Notice to Appear (NTA), Form I-862, is a charging document that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issues and files with the immigration court to start removal proceedings under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) against an individual, known in removal proceedings as...
Date Published: 06/29/2020
This Practice Advisory is a detailed follow-up to our prior Practice Alert on the Supreme Court's April 23, 2020 decision in Barton v. Barr , 140 S. Ct. 1442 (2020). In Barton , the Court held that committing an offense “listed in” the inadmissibility grounds at INA § 212(a)(2) triggers the "stop-...
Date Published: 06/24/2020
Non-LPR Cancellation of Removal is an important deportation defense for eligible individuals in removal proceedings who have resided in the United States for many years. Proving “exceptional and extremely unusual” hardship to a qualifying relative can be difficult, but when medical or psychological...
Date Published: 05/06/2020
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an adverse, 5-4 decision in Barton v. Barr , No. 18-725 (U.S. Apr. 23, 2020), a case regarding the “stop-time rule” and eligibility for cancellation of removal. The Court held that committing an offense “listed in” the inadmissibility grounds at INA...
Date Published: 04/21/2020
Increasingly prosecutors are asked to c on sider immigrati on c on sequences in the charging and plea-bargaining process. Some states have adopted policies requiring prosecutors to c on sider such c on sequences, see, e.g., Cal. Pen. C. § 1016.3(b), and some prosecutor offices have adopted internal...
Date Published: 04/21/2020
Protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) is an important relief option for individuals who are unable to qualify for asylum or withholding of removal. This advisory reviews the legal standard for CAT protection . It also provides an overview of seminal Board of Immigration Appeals and...
Date Published: 04/21/2020
U nonimmigrant status and T nonimmigrant status, often called “U visas” and “T visas,” are humanitarian forms of immigration relief for crime survivors. Congress created these forms of relief with the dual purpose of aiding law enforcement, by encouraging crime victims to cooperate, and providing...