The crossover between immigration and criminal law is one of the most complex and technical areas of law. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) is recognized as a national leader in criminal immigration law and immigration consequences of crimes. We provide critical support to immigration attorneys and criminal defenders through analysis, policy work, trainings, technical assistance, and developing and disseminating best practices. We also publish an in-depth practitioner’s guide, Defending Immigrants in the Ninth Circuit: Impact of Crimes under California and Other State Law.
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Latest in Crimes
11/21/2018
At a time of unprecedented immigration enforcement where the federal government heavily relies on the criminal legal system to target immigrants and their families and communities, prosecutors play a critical role in determining immigrants’ fates in this country. Prosecutors across the country are beginning to recognize the important role they play as gatekeepers to the deportation pipeline. Many...
10/25/2018
In August 2018, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a call for amicus briefs to respond to the question of whether an ILRC-sponsored law, California Penal Code 1203.43, effectively vacated convictions for the purposes of federal law. With gratitude for the assistance of Prof. Jennifer Lee Koh, Western State College of Law, and Michael Mehr, the ILRC coordinated 37 other legal services...
10/15/2018
The BIA has held that that it will not give retroactive effect to California Penal Code § 18.5(a) on convictions from before January 1, 2015. It will consider a California misdemeanor conviction from before January 1, 2015 to have a potential sentence of up to one year, while a misdemeanor conviction on or after that date will have a potential sentence of up to 364 days. Having a potential...
09/28/2018
The ILRC is proud to stand with 30 of our partners in the criminal justice reform movement to release this report, Repairing the Road to Redemption in California . Our report is part of a national effort, called #TimeDone, to raise awareness of how many people are affected by the barriers associated with convictions and the extent to which they undermine, economic security, family stability, and...
09/28/2018
On May 16, 2018, the California Supreme depublished People v. Landaverde , which had narrowly construed defense counsel’s pre- Padilla duty to advise immigrants about the consequences of a criminal conviction. The ILRC and Mike Mehr filed the request to depublish which was cosigned by 13 public defender offices, 8 immigrant rights and criminal justice groups; and 9 immigrant rights and criminal...