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.

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Practice Advisory: Avoiding the Stop-Time Rule after Barton v. Barr

06/29/2020
Crimes
Removal Defense
Detention
Post-Conviction Relief
Prosecutors
This Practice Advisory is a detailed follow-up to our prior Practice Alert on the Supreme Court's April 23, 2020 decision in Barton v. Barr , 140 S. Ct. 1442 (2020). In Barton , the Court held that committing an offense “listed in” the inadmissibility grounds at INA § 212(a)(2) triggers the "stop-time" rule for purposes of cancellation of removal eligibility, even for an admitted LPR who cannot...
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Flow Chart on Penalties for Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude

06/29/2020
Crimes
Detention
Removal Defense
Post-Conviction Relief
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
Penalties for crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs) are based on several factors, such as the number of CIMTs, date of commission, imposed and/or potential sentence, and whether there was a conviction versus admission of the conduct. The result is that determining whether a CIMT penalty actually applies can be quite complex. This set of four flow charts can be used to answer four questions...
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Proving Medical and Psychological Hardship for Non-LPR Cancellation of Removal

06/24/2020
Removal Defense
Non-LPR Cancellation of Removal is an important deportation defense for eligible individuals in removal proceedings who have resided in the United States for many years. Proving “exceptional and extremely unusual” hardship to a qualifying relative can be difficult, but when medical or psychological conditions are present, they are often the strongest hardship factor. This advisory explains how to...
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A Budget to Save Lives, CA COVID-19 Public Health and Safety Budget

06/23/2020
Enforcement
Detention
Crimes
The COVID-19 pandemic demands a bold, urgent public health response for incarcerated communities. Even before this health crisis, California’s jails, prison system, and immigration detention centers were dangerously overcrowded and medically negligent. The Dignity not Detention Coalition, in partnership with CURB, JusticeLA, and Human Impact partners, created A Budget to Save Lives, a community-...
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Jails Are Worsening the COVID-19 Pandemic by Transferring People to ICE

06/22/2020
Enforcement
Detention
Jails and prisons are the primary funnel into immigration detention centers across the nation. Instead of letting people who are due for release from custody go home, jails transfer them to ICE. During this pandemic, these transfers to ICE not only affect the individuals themselves, but contribute to community spread of COVID-19. Local and state actors are making a choice to spread the virus by...
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Understanding the 2020 Supreme Court Decision on DACA

06/18/2020
DACA
Community Resources
On June 18, 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court sided with DACA recipients ruling that the way in which the Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in 2017 was unlawful. The decision is a huge victory for immigrant communities and their allies who mobilized to protect the DACA program. Although the Court sided with DACA recipients, it is important to remember that the Trump administration can...
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All Those Rules About Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude (June 2020)

06/18/2020
Crimes
Removal Defense
Family-Based
U Visa/T Visa/VAWA
A conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) may or may not hurt an immigrant, depending on a number of factors set out in the Immigration and Nationality Act: the number of CIMT convictions, the potential and actual sentence, when the person committed or was convicted of the offense, and the person’s immigration situation. A single CIMT conviction might cause no damage, or it might...
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Letter to Court of Appeals Regarding Duty to Advise

06/15/2020
Post-Conviction Relief
Crimes
On June 5, 2020, the California Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District, published People v. Ruiz , holding that the defendant could vacate her conviction because she was not advised that her conviction will carry deportation consequences. Rose Cahn, Mike Mehr, and appellant’s counsel, filed the above letter with the Court of Appeal, suggesting clarification that defense counsel bears the...
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Texas County Officials

06/12/2020
Enforcement
Crimes
Before pushing for change at the county level, it is crucial to understand the powers and responsibilities of different county officials and bodies. This resource is for Texas advocates and explains the authority and jurisdiction of various local elected county officials in Texas.
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ILRC-DHS Watch Letter - USCIS Appropriations

06/11/2020
Policy Advocacy
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency funded by the fees of US citizens, employers, and immigrants, is asking Congress for $1.2 billion in appropriated money to cover up years of deliberate fiscal and policy mismanagement by the Trump administration. The ILRC and DHS Watch drafted a letter signed by over 100 groups asking that Congress condition any appropriated funds to...
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Practice Alert: State and Local COVID-19 Emergency Funds and Public Charge

06/05/2020
Public Charge
Policy Advocacy
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic of the past several months, Congress has taken some important steps to provide federal assistance to people who are struggling economically because of job loss or other related financial hardship. However, the federal COVID-19 relief programs created so far leave out many low-income people, among them immigrants, from key forms of assistance. Fortunately, some states...
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Public Charge: What the Immigrant Community in California Needs to Know

Public Charge
Community Resources
06/01/2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, with shelter-in-place orders and social distancing protocols, it has become more difficult to reach the immigrant community to share information about immigration policies and access to resources. At the same time, given the economic devastation of COVID-19 for many immigrant families, it has never been more important to talk about what supportive services immigrants can obtain and how accessing services may or may not impact immigration legal opportunities in the United States.

In this community-focused presentation, we explain what public charge is...

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Guide to Gathering Supporting Evidence for the New USCIS Public Charge Form I-944

05/29/2020
Family-Based
Public Charge
The I-944 is USCIS’ new public charge form, part of implementing the Department of Homeland Security’s public charge rule that took effect on February 24, 2020. Among other changes that will make it harder for moderate- and low-income immigrants to pass a public charge test, the new public charge rule includes details for scrutinizing the statutory factors involved in evaluating public charge...
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Guide to Filling out the New USCIS Public Charge Form I-944

05/29/2020
Family-Based
Public Charge
The I-944 is USCIS’ new public charge form, part of implementing the Department of Homeland Security’s public charge rule that took effect on February 24, 2020. Among other changes that will make it harder for moderate- and low-income immigrants to pass a public charge test, the new public charge rule includes details for scrutinizing the statutory factors involved in evaluating public charge...
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Comment on USCIS policy manual instructions for adjustment applications under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (LRIF)

05/15/2020
Family-Based
On May 7, 2020, ILRC co-authored and signed on to a comment opposing recently published USCIS policy manual instructions for adjustment applications under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (LRIF). USCIS took a restrictive view of the LRIF statute and published administrative guidance which would disqualify persons who should be eligible under the statutory language. The LRIF statute...
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Understanding Targets in Texas: City and County Government Structures

Enforcement
05/14/2020

Identifying the right local targets is a crucial step in an organizing campaign. Before advocates and community members start to push for a policy, it is important we understand the structure of our local government, the authority and jurisdiction of various local officials, and how all of these layers and actors interact with one another. Different officials and agencies hold various powers to create local laws and policies, as well as influence budgets. Join us on this webinar to learn how to identify the real decision-makers in your community, whether they are elected or appointed, and...

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Texas Sheriffs and the Arrest-to-Deportation Pipeline

05/12/2020
Enforcement
Crimes
Detention
As a local elected law enforcement official and operator of county jails, Sheriffs play a critical role in ending the arrest-to-deportation pipeline. This advisory for advocates in Texas explains the power of county sheriffs, and measures they can take to reduce the number of people being funneled into the deportation pipeline, without violating state laws like SB 4.
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ILRC Comment Submitted Opposing Revisions to I-864 Affidavit of Support

05/12/2020
Family-Based
Public Charge
On May 8, 2020, ILRC submitted a comment to USCIS opposing a recent USCIS Information Collection notice published in the Federal Register on April 10, 2020 to overhaul the form I-864 Affidavit of Support. USCIS used a form change process under the Paperwork Reduction Act to propose extensive changes in the I-864, I-864 A and I-864 EZ which would further discourage sponsors from pledging support...
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Practice Alert: The Impact of Barton v. Barr on Eligibility for Cancellation of Removal

05/06/2020
Crimes
Removal Defense
On April 23, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an adverse, 5-4 decision in Barton v. Barr , No. 18-725 (U.S. Apr. 23, 2020), a case regarding the “stop-time rule” and eligibility for cancellation of removal. The Court held that committing an offense “listed in” the inadmissibility grounds at INA § 212(a)(2) stops time for purposes of cancellation, even for an admitted LPR who cannot be charged...
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Letter of Amicus Curiae in Support of Petition for Writ of Mandate in California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, et al. v. Gavin Newsom, California Governor, et al.

05/05/2020
Enforcement
Prosecutors
COVID-19 has made one thing clear; when law enforcement cooperates with ICE this has dire public health implications. There have been renewed and urgent efforts to stop this cooperation, including a recently filed lawsuit California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, et al. v. Gavin Newsom, California Governor, et al ., challenging the transfer of people from state and local custody to ICE in the...
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Department of State and Public Charge: New DS-5540 and Changes to the Foreign Affairs Manual

04/24/2020
Family-Based
Public Charge
Effective February 24, 2020, the Department of State is applying new guidance and requiring new forms to screen visa applicants for public charge inadmissibility. This practice advisory reviews the current changes to the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), describes the new form DS-5540 Public Charge Questionnaire , and gives practice tips for persons who will be consular processing under the new rules.

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