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.

Enforcement Priorities Litigation Update: September 2021
Crimes
Detention
Enforcement
Removal Defense
There have been many recent developments regarding the litigation challenges to the Department of Homeland Security enforcement priorities. This brief guide provides a quick summary to help you keep up. In short, the Enforcement Priorities are currently still in effect, although a change could come within the next few weeks. Below you will additionally find the Fifth Circuit’s temporary stay of the lower federal district court’s preliminary injunction order. While these issues are quickly moving, this update is current as of September 2021.

ASISTA & ILRC Notes from USCIS Bona Fide Determination Webinar
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
On August 18, USCIS provided information on the new bona fide determination process for U visa petitioners and their family members on a webinar hosted by ASISTA and ILRC. These notes include information shared during this event, including additional analysis. These notes are not vetted nor endorsed by USCIS, but prepared by ASISTA and ILRC.

ILRC in Texas: Advancing Local Policies and Building Capacity to Promote Immigrant Rights & Criminal Justice
The ILRC’s work in Texas focuses on building capacity and passing and implementing local policies that dismantle the arrest-to-deportation pipeline and decriminalize immigrants, Black people, and other communities of color. To further this goal, the ILRC’s Texas team employs an array of strategies to advocate for local policies and cultivate partnerships that promote immigrant rights and criminal justice, undercut the impact of one of our nation’s most regressive anti-immigrant laws, SB 4, and build power for long-term wins. This overview of our work in Texas discusses our vision and strategy, and highlights some of our recent successes.

ILRC Summer 2021 Newsletter
In this issue: New Americans Campaign Celebrates 10th Anniversary, Policy Highlight: ILRC v. Wolf, Youth At the Border, and more.

Community Breakdown of AB 32 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision
Community Resources
Detention
Policy Advocacy
AB 32 (People Not Profit) signed in 2019 and effective January 2020, outlaws criminal and civil private incarceration in California, with some exceptions.  Some brief months after AB 32 was signed, private prison company GEO Group Inc. and the Trump administration sued California aiming to strike down this momentous law. Federal District Court Judge Sammartino largely upheld AB 32, afterwhich GEO and the Biden administration appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

How to Use the Categorical Approach Now (2021)
Crimes
Post-Conviction Relief
Removal Defense
With a few exceptions, immigration authorities must use the “categorical approach” to determine whether a criminal conviction triggers a ground of removal. Expert use of the categorical approach may be the most important defense strategy available to immigrants charged with or convicted of crimes. This Update of our long-running article includes discussion of Pereida v. Wilkinson, 141 S.Ct. 754 (2021).

ILRC Comments on Proposed USCIS Asylum and Credible Fear Procedures
Asylum
Policy Advocacy
On October 19, 2021, the ILRC submitted comments raising concerns about USCIS’ proposed regulation changing the procedures for credible fear screenings and asylum. While the proposed regulation contains some provisions that would improve the current system, it also poses a significant risk to asylum seekers’ right to a full, fair and consistent hearing of their claims.

Crim/Imm Problems in the Proposed DACA Regulation
DACA
 The proposed DACA regulation presents serious problems and real opportunities. See the regulation at 86 Fed Reg 53736 (Sept. 28, 2021), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-09-28/pdf/2021-20898.pdf. 

Denaturalization Priorities
Citizenship and Naturalization
The ILRC, along with 96 international and national organizations, urge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to halt the use of denaturalization, a racialized and criminalizing tactic to determine who belongs in the United States.

Advocacy Comment on the N-648 Naturalization Disability Waiver Form
Citizenship and Naturalization
Policy Advocacy
On November 5, 2021, the ILRC participated in comments to USCIS with the Naturalization Working Group concerning proposed revisions to the N-648 form for Medical Certification for Disability Exception for naturalization applicants. The form revisions overall represent an improvement over prior versions by shortening the form and eliminating irrelevant questions. The comment also  urges USCIS to withdraw 2018 – 2020  changes to volume 12 of the USCIS policy manual that continue to unnecessarily limit eligibility for disability waiver  applicants.

Deported Activist Reunited With His Family After 20 Year Legal Battle

(San Francisco, CA)—Committed advocate, father, and grandfather, Robert Vivar, was reunited with his family today in San Diego after 20 years of tirelessly fighting for himself and veterans to return to the U.S. During the time Mr. Vivar was deported and living in Mexico he worked with other deported veterans with their cases and has been an ally with immigrant communities and organizations to push the New Way Forward Act, a bill that would decriminalize immigration and address injustice and systemic racism in the U.S. immigration system. 

California Launches Unprecedented Campaign to Provide Free Immigration Legal Services and Support for Immigrant Community College Students

(San Francisco, CA)—California has launched the Higher Education Legal Services Project, an unprecedented campaign to provide California Community College students with free immigration legal services and support, including immigration consultations, eligibility screenings, and case management. By making these services accessible and available for free, students affiliated with the state’s largest college system gain access to trusted legal support to avoid exorbitant legal fees and potential fraud.  

DACA Rule Change Comment Template
Crimes
DACA
Policy Advocacy
On September 28, 2021, DHS issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The proposed rule seeks to codify DACA and while this presents real opportunities, there are serious problems with the rule in regard to the criminal bars to DACA, in particular the elimination of expungements for DACA purposes. See proposed rule here. 

ILRC Comments on Proposed DACA Regulation
DACA
On November 18, 2021, the ILRC submitted comments making recommendations to USCIS regarding the agency’s proposed regulation on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. ILRC focused on recommendations that address the need for USCIS to create standards within this regulation to ensure equitable and consistent treatment for DACA applicants.

Watered Down Immigration Relief is Not the Goal

(Washington)—This morning the House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better (BBB) Act: the next step is for the Senate to act on this legislation. Among BBB’s many provisions is language attempting to address the needs of our country’s immigrants. However, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) believes the watered-down immigration relief Democrats advanced in BBB does not meet the needs of immigrant communities who have bravely fought for decades for citizenship and a vision of immigrant justice that is inclusive.