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.

Brief Arguing that an Inconclusive Record of Conviction Establishes Eligibility for Relief, because Moncrieffe Overruled Young
Crimes
In Young v. Holder, 697 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. 2012) (en banc) the Ninth Circuit held that if a statute is divisible, an applicant for relief must provide evidence from the reviewable record of conviction that proves that the conviction does not bar eligibility, under the modified categorical approach. An inconclusive record of conviction is not sufficient.

Manual on Prop 47 & Other Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants
Crimes
DACA
Post-Conviction Relief
The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, with our partners the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights in the San Francisco Bay Area and Californians for Safety and Justice, are pleased to provide a manual on how to help immigrants get post-conviction relief in California.    Here is a link to the manual, and a separate link to the Practice Aids in the Appendices.

Advisory on Deportable Crimes of Domestic Violence: Matter of H. Estrada
Crimes
A noncitizen who is convicted of a “crime of domestic violence” is deportable. INA 237(a)(2)(E)(i), 8 USC 1227(a)(2)(E)(i). In Matter of H. Estrada the BIA reaffirmed that the categorical approach must be used to determine that the offense is a “crime of violence” under 18 USC § 16, but it held that the circumstance-specific approach can be used to determine whether the victim and defendant shared the required domestic relationship. Under that approach, the BIA found that ICE can use any reliable evidence, including evidence from outside the record of conviction, to try to meet its burden of proving the relationship.

DACA at 4: Report Highlights Successes, Advises Fixes in Light of Supreme Court’s Tied Ruling on Related Initiatives

CIRI AWG PRESS RELEASE
July 19, 2016
Contact: Karina Martinez
kmartinez@ufwfoundation.org

WASHINGTON— More than 728,000 people who have been able to improve their lives since Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was implemented, and President Obama’s executive action to protect certain immigrants from deportation can still benefit many people.

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Fact Sheet on Sanctuary Policies and 8 USC 1373
Enforcement
This brief fact sheet explains the federal statute of 8 USC § 1373 and its relation to policies limiting compliance with immigration detainers or other immigration enforcement assistance by local law enforcement agencies, also called “Sanctuary Jurisdictions.” These policies do not generally conflict with 8 USC § 1373 and therefore do not put localities in jeopardy of losing federal funds.

Legal Analysis of Immigration Detainers
Enforcement
This updated memo explores recent case law on immigration detainers and how the 2015 detainer forms are still constitutionally deficient.  Local jails who detain immigrants for ICE continue to risk liability for unlawful detentions.

Anti-Fraud Campaign
Community Resources
Overview of the Anti-Fraud CampaignILRC Announces Major Immigration Fraud Public Awareness Campaign. The ILRC has been a leader in the educational campaign to warn immigrants about immigration fraud. Too often, immigrants fall prey to scam artists that promise them an easy path to legal status only to cheat them out of their hard-earned money and, often, put them at risk of deportation. To combat this problem, ILRC has produced and distributed thousands of graphic novels, or comic books, in English, Spanish and Chinese that warn immigrants about typical immigration fraud scams.

The DREAM Act
Policy Advocacy
The DREAM Act is proposed federal legislation that would help thousands of hard-working students realize their dreams of legalizing their immigration status. Specifically, the DREAM Act would provide legal status and access to financial aid to those young people who have graduated from a high school in the United States or received a GED, entered the United States before they were 16 years of age, and have been in the United States for at least five years. In order to qualify, each student would have to complete two years of higher education, or serve in the United States Armed Forces for at least two years. It is very inspiring to ILRC that these "DREAM Act" students, especially those in the California DREAM network, are working together and with others for the enactment of this legislation in the United States Congress.

Gov. Brown Signs Key Drug Reform Bill into Law, but Vetoes Another

SACRAMENTO —California Governor Jerry Brown today signed into law a key piece of drug reform legislation known as AB 1352 to help protect communities of color, including immigrants, from unjust consequences of the criminal justice system.  At the same time, the Governor vetoed another measure, AB 1351, which would have brought further reforms to sentencing for certain drug crimes and limited disproportionate consequences for immig

More Than 50 California Groups Urge Sens. Feinstein, Boxer to Stop Efforts to Undermine California Law; Expected Legislation Would Bully Local Authorities

“We are deeply concerned that leaders in the state with the largest immigrant population in the country are willing to consider or lead legislative efforts to mandate local and state police entanglement with federal immigration enforcement.”

*** View letter here: www.nilc.org/document.html?id=1269 ***