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.

Practice Advisory for Criminal Defense Attorneys: The Biden Administration’s Final Enforcement Priorities
Detention
Enforcement
Removal Defense
DHS issued new enforcement and prosecutorial discretion guidance on September 30, 2021.  This practice advisory from the ILRC, NIPNLG, and IDP provides criminal defense practitioners with an overview of the enforcement priorities and other key policy changes described in recent DHS and ICE memos, and discusses strategies to use these priorities to advocate for prosecutorial discretion.

Practice Advisory for Immigration Advocates: The Biden Administration’s Final Enforcement Priorities
Detention
Enforcement
Removal Defense
DHS issued new enforcement and prosecutorial discretion guidance on September 30, 2021.  This practice advisory from the ILRC, NIPNLG, and IDP provides immigration practitioners with an overview of the enforcement priorities and other key policy changes described in recent DHS and ICE memos, and discusses strategies to use these priorities to advocate for prosecutorial discretion.

Texas Cite & Release Advocacy Toolkit
Community Resources
Crimes
Enforcement
Policy Advocacy
Black people and other communities of color, including immigrants, have faced decades of overpolicing, criminalization, and incarceration in Texas, often for alleged conduct that does not mandate an arrest or even carry jail time in the state. One way to effectively reduce arrests is to pass a local cite and release policy. This advocacy toolkit gives local organizers and advocates in Texas the tools they need to lead a successful cite and release campaign. We have included many helpful resources, samples, and insights for every step in a cite & release campaign – from initial education, research, and data collection through policy implementation.

Civil Rights Organizations Allege Texas’ Operation Lone Star Targets and Punishes Migrants with Discriminatory Shadow Criminal Legal System

(Austin, Texas)—Today, major national and Texas immigrant and civil rights organizations jointly filed a Title VI discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding “Operation Lone Star,” with the support of over 100 organizations.

Biden, Democrats Inability to Enact Bold Changes to the Immigration System is a Travesty

(Washington)—The Biden-Harris administration and Congressional Democrats have continued to embrace failed tactics rather than pushing for and enacting bold changes to the immigration system. As a result, immigrant communities continue to live under draconian policies which have come to define our country’s immigration system. 

ILRC Winter 2021 Newsletter
In this issue: The Fight for a Permanent Inclusive Legislative Solution, ILRC Field Office Run Down, #FindYourAlly college outreach digital content, and much more!

ILRC Comment on the ICE Tip Form
Policy Advocacy
On December 21, 2021, the ILRC submitted comments raising concerns on the form that ICE plans to utilize to allow the public to submit tips on suspicious or criminal activity. ILRC raised concerns with ICE’s use of this form given the high likelihood that information submitted will be unreliable or outright false, which has the potential to significantly harm immigrant communities. Particularly at risk are communities that have been historically targeted for hate crimes and targeted by ICE for discriminatory purposes as well as domestic violence survivors and immigrant communities already vulnerable to exploitation. The comment urges ICE to discontinue the use of this form.

ICE Detainers: Advice and Strategies for Criminal Defense Counsel
Enforcement
Removal Defense
What are ICE detainers, how do they affect a criminal case, and how can counsel get rid of them?  This advisory walks through all the legal and practices issues around ICE detainers, including the role of ICE in issuing them and the role of local or state jailors in responding.  We discuss the importance of incorporating ICE detainers into pre-trial strategy, the legal and constitutional issues implicated by ICE detainers, and the various ways to challenge or rescind a detainer.  This advisory is national; it identifies various different state laws affecting ICE detainers. 

ILRC Comments in Response to DHS Request for Comments on Minimizing Family Separation
Immigrant Youth
Policy Advocacy
On January 25, 2022, the ILRC submitted comments in response to the DHS Notice Requesting Comments on “Identifying Recommendations To Support the Work of the Interagency Task Force on the Reunification of Families.” Our comments urge the U.S. government to stop criminal prosecutions for migration, admit wrongdoing and compensate the victims of family separation under the Trump Administration, curb enforcement and detention in the absence of meaningful opportunities for people to gain immigration status, rescind harmful border policies and practices, and expand the interpretation of family unity to ensure that children are not separated from both parental and non-parental caregivers.

How to Recapture/Retain and Utilize Priority Dates
Family-Based
Immigrant Youth
Removal Defense
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
This practice advisory contains numerous practical examples to assist in understanding how to recapture and retain priority dates in the family immigration context. It includes discussions and examples of how this concept intersects with other provisions of law, such as the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), and adjustment of status under § 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). A brief discussion and summary of the utilization of cross-chargeability of priority dates is also included.

Civil Rights Advocates Urge Immediate DOJ Action in Light of Operation Lone Star’s Expansion, Potential Extremist Involvement in Its Creation

(Austin, Texas)—The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas, Texas Fair Defense Project, and partner organizations submitted a supplemental Title VI discrimination complaint urging the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to formally investigate Texas’ Operation Lone Star (OLS) migrant arrest program.

An Open Letter to Union Pacific
Our ILRC Texas team continues to lead the charge opposing Governor Gregg Abbott's Operation Lone Star. This sign-on letter urges Union Pacific to end its involvement in the racist and unconstitutional “Operation Lone Star” scheme.

Public Charge Education & Outreach Toolkit

Community Resources
Public Charge
This toolkit is designed to assist education and outreach workers presenting public charge information to immigrant community members. Some of the materials in the toolkit have a California focus or include California-specific details, but all materials remain useful for a national audience. Our goal is to spread accurate information about what public charge is and who is impacted by it, to help reverse the chilling effect from the Trump public charge rule which is no longer in effect.

About the REAL ID (Social Media Explainer)
Community Resources
This downloadable social media explainer provides insights about the REAL ID, what compliance means, and the eligibility requirements. Feel free to upload to your social media feeds to share with your community.Download here.

#FindYourAlly On-campus Flyers
A set of free promotional flyers about the Higher Education Legal Services Project you can download and print to post at any California Community College. Simply print (in color for optimal results!) and post at any strategic location on campus – like high-traffic student areas, library bulletin boards, Dream Resource Centers, EOP offices, career/counseling centers, etc.