Areas of Expertise

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) immigration attorneys’ expertise focuses on family-based immigration, humanitarian relief, naturalization and citizenship, immigration enforcement, and removal defense.

Since 1979 we have helped expand the immigration expertise of attorneys, nonprofit staff, criminal defenders, and others assisting immigrant clients.

In addition to authoring the ILRC’s practice manuals, our expert attorneys have been published by Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), ILW.com, Huffington Post, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, Center for Law and Social Policy, The Hill, LexisNexis Emerging Issues, and Fox News Latino.
 
We have also provided training to National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), American Bar Association Commission on Immigration, Federal Bar Association, The State Bar of California, Legal Aid Association of California, Judicial Council of California and more.

Border Deal and Declaration of State of Emergency Deepens Crisis for Families, Criminalizes Immigrants and Betrays American Voters

For Immediate Release: February 14, 2019
Contact: Marie McIntosh, media@ilrc.org

Border Deal and Declaration of State of Emergency Deepens Crisis for Families, Criminalizes Immigrants and Betrays American Voters

DACA Application Sample Cover Letter
DACA
This is a sample cover letter that can be used when submitting a DACA application. This is a sample cover letter that can be used when submitting a DACA application.

Experts Available: Trump Administration Today in Ninth Circuit Opposing Transparency on Conditions in Local Immigrant Detention

For Immediate Release: March 13, 2019
Contact:
Marie McIntosh, media@ilrc.org, 978-500-2748

Experts Available: Trump Administration Today in Ninth Circuit Opposing Transparency on Conditions in Local Immigrant Detention

Annotated DACA Application Guide
Community Resources
DACA
This guide is for individuals whose DACA expired after September 5, 2016 and are looking to file a “renewal” application in the coming months.  The guide includes annotated forms I-821D, I-765 and I-765ws which form a renewal application packet.  If an individual’s DACA expired on or before September 5, 2016 or was DACA terminated, they will need to file an application as a “renewal-initial.” This means that extra documentation will be needed in order for the application to be considered complete.  That type of application packet is beyond the scope of this guide. 

Screening Form for DACA Applicants
DACA
This form screens for DACA eligibility and other immigration relief.  It can be used by non-immigration attorney volunteers because it highlights the areas that need to be referred to an experienced immigration attorney or BIA-accredited representative.

Ending 287(g): A Toolkit for Local Organizers
Enforcement
The Trump administration has vowed to increase 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local law enforcement officers to undertake various duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Indeed, as of the date of this publication, 49 of the 78 total 287(g) agreements were created during this current administration, and the number will likely continue to increase. However, all of the current 287(g) agreements will expire on June 30, 2019, unless they are renewed.

Ending 287(g) Nationwide

Enforcement
The 287(g) program allows designated local law enforcement .officers to enforce civil immigration law s According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the 287(g) program led to more than 7,000 deportations in 2018. 

287(g) FOIA Documents
Enforcement
Collected pages from a FOIA to ICE that relate to the 287(g) program.  Includes documents from all over the country, including 287(g) applications and needs assessments, emails about joining the program, MOAs, and other records.

Ending 287(g) In Texas

Community Resources
Enforcement
The 287(g) program allows designated local law enforcement officers to enforce civil immigration laws. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the 287(g) program led to more than 7,000 deportations in 2018. 

Fee Waiver Community Alert
Community Resources
This community alert provides key information about upcoming changes to the fee waiver process, which allows some applicants to submit their immigration applications without having to pay the filing fee if they cannot afford it. In the coming months, one of the easiest and most straightforward ways of proving that you qualify for a fee waiver request will be going away. Find out more information about this upcoming change and submit your application now if you might qualify for a fee waiver!

Practice Alert: Upcoming Elimination of Means-Tested Benefits as Basis for Fee Waiver Requests
Asylum
Citizenship and Naturalization
Family-Based
Immigrant Youth
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
This practice alert provides a brief overview of some of the main changes practitioners can expect with the proposed change to fee waiver eligibility and process, most significantly by eliminating receipt of means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver. Given that these significant changes to the fee waiver process will make it more difficult and time-intensive to establish inability to pay an immigration filing fee, we urge practitioners to advise clients who are eligible for a fee waiver based on receipt of means-tested benefits to apply as soon as possible, before this option is eliminated.

The grounds for deportation violate American values of FAIRNESS & EQUALITY.
This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses the immigration consequences of discriminatory practices within the criminal legal system.  IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

The discriminatory and broken criminal justice system has cascading immigration consequences.
This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses the immigration consequences of discriminatory practices within the criminal legal system.  IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.