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.
Thousands of noncitizens in California are at risk of removal or cannot qualify for immigration relief because they have unlawfully imposed criminal convictions. The good news is that there are several options under California law to eliminate these convictions for immigration purposes, using post-conviction relief (PCR). This Advisory can help advocates to identify which of these forms of California PCR may help your client, and direct you to more resources about how to obtain it.
The ILRC submitted a comment to USCIS requesting that USCIS clarify who may file an N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322, and to prioritize applications for children who are close to turning eighteen and aging out of elibiblity for citizenship under INA Section 322.
The ILRC submitted a comment to USCIS in support of the agency’s temporary increase of 540 days for the validity periods for Employment Authorization where an EAD renewal application is pending. This move will help provide financial stability for those who rely on authorization for employment and are currently stuck waiting in long processing backlogs.
Filing an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is a crucial step for many noncitizens facing removal because it is the last opportunity to obtain a favorable decision from the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Often, reviewing the immigration judge’s decision for errors is a daunting task. It can be difficult to separate identifying issues to appeal, from the overwhelming sense of injustice that can result from a negative decision. This advisory will focus on reviewing decisions by Immigration Judges (IJs) and identifying issues to raise on appeal to the BIA. The goal is to equip practitioners with a framework to look for errors where the IJ has denied relief or otherwise ordered removal.
Clients with mental illness have needs and vulnerabilities that present unique challenges in immigration proceedings. This practice advisory provides an overview on advocating for clients with mental health issues, specifically focusing on representation in the detained setting. The advisory discusses legal authority that an immigration practitioner can utilize to protect a client’s due process rights and ensure their client’s agency is respected and they have a meaningful opportunity to present their case.
This advisory provides detailed instruction on how and where to file a motion to reopen for attorneys who have successfully vacated a conviction for immigration purposes and their client is now eligible for termination or a form of relief. In addition, the advisory addresses the impact of the post-departure bar and reinstatement of prior removal order on post-conviction relief motions to reopen.
This advisory provides an overview of ICE’s new “victim-centered” approach to immigration enforcement based on an August 2021 directive, including who qualifies as a victim and which ICE actions are covered. As part of this new approach, ICE officers and agents are instructed to look out for and in various circumstances exercise prosecutorial discretion in favor of noncitizen survivors of crime as part of their decisions to arrest, detain, release, and refer noncitizens.
This advisory describes the various ways that persons with disabilities can navigate the naturalization process, including requesting accommodations, seeking an N-648 disability waiver of the English/civics requirement, and applying for an oath waiver. The advisory describes recent changes to the USCIS’s policy manual and upcoming changes to the N-648.
On April 3, 2022, ICE Principal Legal Advisor Kerry Doyle issued guidance to all OPLA attorneys on how and when to exercise prosecutorial discretion in removal proceedings under DHS’s enforcement priorities. That guidance took effect on April 25, 2022 and replaces the previous OPLA guidance issued by former Principal Legal Advisor John Trasviña in May 2021. The Doyle guidance presents new opportunities for practitioners to seek positive outcomes for clients facing deportation, while also presenting some new challenges. This practice advisory provides key information on the Doyle memo and practice tips on advocating for prosecutorial discretion for clients in removal proceedings. The advisory also includes information on the ongoing litigation challenging DHS’s enforcement priorities and how that litigation may affect OPLA’s exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
The ILRC wrote to USCIS advocating for changes in the USCIS Policy Manual on requirements for naturalization oath waivers and accommodations. USCIS’s Policy Manual guidance unnecessarily restricts oath waivers to person who have certain U.S. citizen relatives or a court-ordered legal guardian or surrogate, a requirement that does not exist in statute or regulation.
This advisory lays out some of the main “pros” and “cons” to applying for U nonimmigrant status for crime victims as they exist now, to help prospective applicants weigh the benefits and risks of applying. “Pros” include direct benefits of temporary lawful status, employment authorization, protection from removal, a pathway to a green card that is not barred by almost any grounds of inadmissibility, and the ability to help family members obtain immigration status. Additional “pros” include special confidentiality provisions, eligibility for public benefits, eligibility for the Central American Minors program, and special consideration by ICE, among other collateral benefits. “Cons” include very long processing times and vulnerability to divergent discretionary decisions during fluctuations in enforcement priorities and other policies in the many years it takes to get a decision.
On June 6, 2022, the ILRC submitted a comment on USCIS Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. The comment encourages USCIS to amend the form to be shorter, to eliminate unnecessary questions, and to provide clarification where needed. The comment also asks USCIS to withdraw the discretionary factors used to adjudicate the form.
On February 10, 2022, USCIS released several VAWA Self-Petition policy changes. The changes include the nationwide implementation of two circuit court decisions and changes in USCIS’s interpretation of the joint residence requirement for VAWA Self-Petitioners. This practice advisory contains short summaries of USCIS’s VAWA Self-Petition policy changes.
On May 5, 2022, ILRC, AILA, and AIC jointly filed a comment to USCIS’s revisions to the G-639 FOIA Request form. We suggested changes to the proposed revisions to the Form G-639 Instructions regarding the online filing of FOIA through the agency’s FIRST system. The online system should not require country of birth and other identity information that is not needed in filing a written G-639 request. Also, the Instructions should clearly state FIRST is one option among others for submitting a FOIA request.
So, you’re organizing a local town hall or candidate forum about DA and immigration; great! ILRC has developed a number of resources that can be helpful.
This advisory provides practitioners with current information about the public charge ground of inadmissibility, including addressing what is public charge, who does it apply to, how is public charge evaluated, and could being a public charge make someone deportable.
In Texas, Black and Latinx migrants are being harmed by Operation Lone Star- an unconstitutional and racist law enforcement operation that is criminalizing migrants who are seeking safety in the U.S. border. Operation Lone Star is a complex scheme involving multiple law enforcement agencies in the state. This comprehensive resource explains how Operation Lonestar is being implemented and funded, explains why this operation is illegal and unconstitutional, highlights how this scheme expands the carceral and enforcement systems, and how it’s harming entire border communities.
The ILRC submitted these recommended priorities to USCIS for improvements to the USCIS Policy Manual. This letter follows our list of USCIS Policy Manual recommendations provided to USCIS on September 2, 2021 (available here: https://www.ilrc.org/sites/default/files/resources/ilrc_uscis_pm_suggestions.pdf). While every change we suggested is important, a few have become more urgent as they are needed immediately to prevent further erroneous denials of benefits to immigrants and unnecessary chilling effects. The following priorities were gathered after conversations with partners across the country, and in direct response to requests from immigration practitioners and community members who are seeing benefits denied in the meantime. Furthermore, these changes will help rectify the Trump administration’s policies, increase access to immigration benefits, and reduce backlogs.
Currently, individuals who have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) can request and travel with Advance Parole. DACA recipients can request Advance Parole for humanitarian, employment, and education reasons. To qualify, DACA recipients will need to demonstrate that their need to travel falls within one of these categories. This community resource provides an overview of travel with Advance Parole and gives some examples of what may qualify.
This advisory gives an overview of the SIJS-based adjustment of status process. It will give step-by-step guidance for both the affirmative process, for young people who are not in removal proceedings, and for the defensive process, for young people who are in removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review.
The domestic violence deportation ground at INA § 237(a)(2)(E) sets out four bases for deportation: conviction of a crime of domestic violence, a crime of stalking, or a crime of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, or being the subject of a judicial finding of violation of a domestic violence stay-away order. Coming within one of these grounds also can be a bar to cancellation of removal for non-permanent residents or DACA.
Another federal court has issued an injunction against DHS enforcement policies. Below is a quick summary to help you keep up. This court order does not change current policies as much as you might think. You can, and should, continue to advocate for prosecutorial discretion for your clients and community members.
On March 7, 2022, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced a new policy that applies to young people who have been granted Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) but are not yet able to become a green card holder because they are waiting for a visa to be available (“the visa backlog”). The new policy, which goes into effect May 6, 2022, provides for young people stuck in the visa backlog to be granted deferred action, which will allow them to apply for work authorization. This guide addresses some questions the community may have about this recent change.
Two immigration statuses that may overlap are Asylum and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) because they both help people who are afraid of returning to their home country. While these two are different in a few ways, it is useful to know what each option offers and that applying for both is allowed, so long as an applicant is eligible. This brief guide delves into the ways these two options might intersect and what to keep in mind as individuals consider each type of status.
The ILRC and partner organizations submitted the attached letter and BIA case summary to OPLA leadership, clarifying that vacaturs issued pursuant to California Penal Code § 1473.7(a)(1) correct legally and procedurally defective convictions, meeting the standard set forth in Matter of Pickering, 23 I&N Dec. 621 (BIA 2003).