A Platform for Immigrant Justice and Building a New Way Forward
This new policy platform examines how the 1996 laws expanded detention, deportation, and family separation – and outlines a vision for a more just and humane future.
Annotated 287(g) MOAs
The 287(g) program authorizes local law enforcement to make an agreement with DHS to conduct certain immigration enforcement activities. Without 287(g), local police and sheriffs generally do not have any authority to enforce immigration laws. The Memorandum of Agreement for 287(g) describes how the program will work and what powers are delegated to the local agency. We have annotated these MOAs to explain what the agreements include and how the program works.
Guide to Filing Your First Habeas Corpus Petition: Central District of California
This step-by-step guide will walk you through the steps for filing your first petition for habeas corpus (immigration) in the Central District of California.
Living with Texas SB 4: An Unprecedented State Deportation Scheme
For more than two years, advocates have decried Texas SB 4 (2023), a law that creates new state offenses of illegal entry, reentry, and failure to comply with a state removal order. As of May 29, 2026, the law is fully in effect, bringing all Texans and those suspected of being undocumented under the permanent threat of immediate detention and deportation by the state, should they be suspected of violating the law. Texas SB 4 represents an unheard-of state usurpation of federal law, violating constitutional principles and norms that govern how states interact with the federal government. This
A Deep Dive into the Dangerous 287(g) Task Force Model
As 287(g) agreements rapidly expand across the country, more law enforcement agencies are being radically transformed into a sweeping immigration enforcement machine. Police agencies are choosing to enter into the most expansive and harmful 287(g) agreement available, the Task Force Model. This policy brief provides a breakdown of the Task Force Model and how it provides carte blanche for rampant racial profiling, unbridled civil rights abuses, and little to no federal oversight.
What Noncitizens and Citizens Should Know About Protecting Your Online Presence: Social media hygiene in a hostile immigration landscape
This explainer offers information for both noncitizens and U.S. citizens about the possible impacts of their social media online presence.
ICE Warrants Basics
This short summary explains what ICE warrants (also called administrative immigration warrants or civil immigration warrants) do, and links to resources for further information and analysis.
Legal Analysis of ICE Warrants
This detailed memo analyzes the authority of ICE administrative warrants. The memo discusses the statute and regulations authorizing ICE warrants, the process for issuing them, and the Fourth Amendment implications. The memo also discusses how existence of administrative ICE warrants does not confer immigration authority onto local and state law enforcement officers.
Annotated ICE Administrative Warrants
ICE issues two kinds of " immigration warrants," a "Warrant for Arrest" Form I-200, and a "Removal Warrant" Form I-205. These annotations explain what the warrant forms say and how it relates to ICE policies around arrests and enforcement.
Guide to Filing Your First Habeas Corpus Petition: Northern District of California
This step-by-step guide will walk you through the steps for filing your first petition for habeas corpus (immigration) in the Northern District of California.
HR1 Fees at USCIS and EOIR
This practice advisory provides information about recently implemented fee increases at USCIS and EOIR. These fee increases are a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” also known as HR1. This advisory explores what we know and what we still don’t know about the fees, how to pay them, and potential future changes.
What Every Noncitizen Must Know About Cannabis and Immigration
Despite new state laws legalizing cannabis for recreational use, archaic U.S. drug laws still classify marijuana as federally illegal. Because immigration is governed by federal law, this means that noncitizens may face serious problems down the line if they are not aware of how their experiences with cannabis could impact their immigration journey. This video and accompanying infographic detail the specific risks associated with the use or possession of cannabis and/or industry employment.
Guide to Filing Your First Habeas Corpus Petition: Eastern District of California
This step-by-step guide will walk you through the steps for filing your first petition for habeas corpus (immigration) in the Eastern District of California.
A Brief Guide to Observing and Recording ICE Arrests: Tips learned from Rapid Response Teams Across the Country
Shortly after the Trump administration took office in 2025, the government began its directives to ramp up immigration raids and public operations across the country. These large-scale campaigns of mass deportation further exploded after the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”, or H.R. 1, ballooned the DHS budget to an astronomical $170,700,000,000 of taxpayer dollars over the next four years; creating a new annual ICE budget that is larger than the entire defense budgets of Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Switzerland.
Challenging EOIR Bond Denials in Federal Court
When an immigration judge denies bond based on a finding that a person is a danger to the community or a flight risk, what options remain to challenge that decision? As immigration detention expands and bond denials become increasingly common, federal court litigation is emerging as a critical tool to obtain judicial review of these determinations.
Civil Penalties and Fines - Part I: How to Appeal a Civil Penalty
This practice advisory is Part I of a two-part advisory on civil fines and civil penalties instituted by DHS against noncitizens. Part I discusses the procedures for instituting a fine and recommendations for contesting and appealing a civil fine instituted by DHS. Part II will discuss statutory and Constitutional arguments and defenses against the issuance of fines.
Escalating Immigration Enforcement Practices
This brief spotlights legislative activity in Texas and Florida, it also covers a non-exhaustive list of other states that have recently enacted a patchwork of anti-immigrant laws and policies seeking to harm and hinder immigrant communities and their allies.
Polling Memo - CA Survey on Mass Deportation & Due Process
From October 3-7, 2025, Goodwin Simon Strategic Research surveyed a statewide representative sample of 1,213 registered voters. The poll explored voter attitudes towards mass deportation, recent ICE actions, and sanctuary protections in the state. Uniquely, this poll explores key themes that may be driving Californians’ growing disapproval of mass deportation, including revealing voters’ strong support for due process, including for people with past records, and equal treatment in the legal system, regardless of immigration status. Voters also expressed deep concern with the cost of the Trump
Expedited Removal and Unaccompanied Children: An FAQ
This resource – created with our partners at the Children’s Immigration Law Academy and National Immigration Project – answers common questions about expedited removal and its application to children and offers arguments against its application to young people who were processed as UCs and young people with approved special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS), should the government attempt to apply it to those groups.
FAQs: How Denaturalization Works
Recently, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a memo listing out its priorities for civil enforcement cases. In that memo, the DOJ states that it will be focusing on denaturalization cases. This memo - along with statements made by administration officials and members of congress - has sparked a lot of attention on denaturalization and questions about who could be denaturalized. This has caused a lot of fear and uncertainty in communities, but denaturalization is not as straightforward as you might think.
Immigration Dragnet: The New Era of 287(g)
Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”) authorized the creation of a program that allows state and local law enforcement agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents.This policy brief reviews the recent history of 287(g) agreements and how they’ve proliferated, describes the three 287(g) agreement models, examines a case study of escalating 287(g) programs in Florida, delves into the programs’ dangers and harms, and provides some recommendations for local communities that want to stop 287(g) agreements in their tracks.
A Closer Look at Interior Enforcement Practices: Harris County and the City of Houston
A resource highlighting interior enforcement practices within the Harris county region of Houston, Texas.
ILRC Comment Opposing the Imposition of ICE Fines
On July 28, 2025, the ILRC submitted a comment opposing a new government rule that imposes massive civil fines—sometimes up to nearly $2 million—on immigrants who entered the U.S. without authorization or did not leave after a removal order.
Immigration “Wellness Checks” For Children: What sponsors, household members, and young people need to know
Community members across the country are reporting visits from immigration and other federal officers seeking to meet with certain children who entered the United States unaccompanied. These children are often referred to as “unaccompanied children” (UCs) because at the time they were arrested by immigration (such as crossing the border), they were not with a parent or legal guardian. Although these visits are sometimes described as “wellness checks,” they are part of a broader, coordinated effort to locate and deport some vulnerable young people and their sponsors. It is crucial for families
Responding to DHS Motions to Recalendar
In recent months, the Department of Homeland Security has begun filing thousands of motions to recalendar administratively closed proceedings. This trend is raising questions about how attorneys and accredited representatives can respond to these motions and protect their clients’ interests, particularly in cases that have been administratively closed for many years. This advisory explores those questions and offers strategy considerations when determining how to proceed in each case.
Know Your Rights Solidarity Signs (English/Español)
The ILRC has prepared free, downloadable signs to help you let your local communities know that you stand with them! Tell ICE that you are prepared to defend your guests, patrons, students, patients, or clients from unlawful entry or intimidation.
Protections Against Immigration Enforcement From Court Orders
Given the Trump administration’s vow to carry out mass deportations, ICE has already expanded its enforcement actions and gotten increasingly aggressive about its tactics. But advocates should be aware that there are legal protections against these abuses of power. These protections from unfair and unlawful actions come from court battles that have been litigated and won. Knowledge is power and knowing these cases will be a powerful tool to have if ICE oversteps and violates immigrant’s rights.
Gonzalez v. ICE Advisory for Criminal Defense Attorneys
Step by step explanation for criminal defense counsel of how to identify ICE detainers that may be issued in violation of the Gonzalez v. ICE class action. This class action settlement applies nation-wide to limit ICE’s issuance of detainers. This advisory walks through the basics of the case and how to monitor and respond to any violations of the settlement.
Arrest-to-Deportation Pipeline
Despite the real risk of Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) visiting someone’s home, below is the primary pathway in which most vulnerable immigrants will find the highest risk of deportation. This infographic maps out the United States’ arrest-to-deportation pipeline and offers a glimpse of the multiple ways immigrants can be pushed into removal proceedings, from initial contact with law enforcement to immigration detention. Because there are regional differences in local law enforcement policies, variances in which cities participate in federal immigration enforcement programs, and new
Discussing Registration with Clients
On April 11, 2025, the new Form G-325R took effect as a general tool to register all previously unregistered noncitizens under an antiquated and rarely invoked provision of the Immigration & Nationality Act, with criminal penalties for willful failure to register. This advisory was written to assist attorneys in discussing registration and the new Form G-325R with clients, including screening for prior registration and assessing the potential consequences of registering or not registering, so that individuals can make informed decisions about how to proceed in light of this new rule.