Strengthening Child Welfare Practice for Immigrant Children & Families: A Toolkit for Child Welfare Professionals in California

Immigrant children and families in the child welfare system face unique barriers to permanency and well-being. In some cases, their involvement in the child welfare system also presents distinct opportunities for seeking lawful immigration status. With half of all children in California coming from an immigrant family, child welfare agencies in California must be equipped to effectively support immigrant children and families on the pathway to permanency. The objective of this Toolkit is to provide guidance to child welfare agencies in California working with immigrant children and families.

Freedom City Policies

This community resource explains Freedom City Policies in Austin, Texas, an example of organizers, advocates and community members coming together to fight for the decriminalization of immigrants and communities of color. It gives an overview of the policies, why they were enacted, their impact on the community, individuals’ rights under the policies and actions that may be taken if police officers violate those rights. This information is useful for community members and advocates in Austin, Texas.

Practice Advisory: Ninth Circuit holds Calif Pen C 243(d) is a crime of violence in U.S. v. Perez

In a flawed but significant decision, the Ninth Circuit held that California Penal Code § 243(d), battery with injury, is a crime of violence. United States v. Perez (9th Cir. July 11, 2019). Because of Perez, criminal defenders must assume that § 243(d) is a crime of violence and seek other dispositions when necessary. Immigration advocates should appeal adverse decisions and preserve the argument on appeal. See this Advisory for a discussion of the decision, alternative pleas, and suggestions for arguments.

Expansion of Expedited Removal Stopped By Court

On July 23, 2019, DHS issued a notice, expanding the reach of expedited removal to individuals who have been living in the United States for two years or less, and who live anywhere in the United States. This would allow noncitizens to be deported without an opportunity to gather evidence or to present their case to a judge. On August 6, 2019, the American Immigration Council, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm of Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett LLP filed suit challenging the legality of this expansion, Make the Road New York v. McAleenan, Case 1:19-cv-02369. On September 27

Congressional Testimony: Policy Changes and Processing Delays at USCIS

On Tuesday, July 16, 2019, ILRC Executive Director, Eric Cohen, testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship about the current dysfunctional state of our country’s naturalization program. He joined representatives from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) to shed light on how USCIS policy changes and processing delays are negatively impacting those seeking immigration benefits and our country as a whole.

Escalating Cases with USCIS and DHS

This practice advisory provides an overview of ways to advocate with USCIS and DHS components for solutions to individual case problems and systemic issues.

Community Guidance: Your Day in Court

This community resource provides a brief explanation of the Immigration Court experience. It gives an overview of what happens in Immigration Court, how to confirm information about a case in Immigration Court, and what a person in removal proceedings should do if they do not have an attorney to represent them at an upcoming hearing. This information is useful for community members and advocates working with the immigrant community.

Humanitarian Forms of Relief Part I: U, T, VAWA

Noncitizen victims of violence, serious crimes, and persecution may be eligible for certain forms of immigration protection and status. These options are often referred to as Humanitarian Forms of Relief. They include: T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, VAWA self-petition, asylum, and special immigrant juvenile status.

I-601A Provisional Waiver: Process, Updates, and Pitfalls to Avoid

This advisory is the second in a two-part series on unlawful presence and unlawful presence waivers. This advisory covers the requirements and process for the provisional waiver, as well as updates and pitfalls to avoid in light of recent changes that have made pursuing the provisional waiver process more challenging. These include: State Department updates to public charge guidance and increased visa denials based on public charge inadmissibility at the consulate, Attorney General decisions in Matter of Castro-Tum and Matter of S-O-G & F-D-B- making it more difficult to pursue the provisional

Practice Update: Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Denied Humanitarian-based Immigration Cases

Over the last month, some practitioners have reported that USCIS has issued a number of NTAs in connection with denied U and T visa applications. Given these reports, ILRC, ASISTA, CAST, Freedom Network USA, American Association of Immigration Lawyers (AILA), and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles created a practice update to address some of the actions practitioners can take in individual cases as well as to support policy-level advocacy efforts.

A New Way Forward for Immigrant Justice

It is time that we pass laws to build communities that are healthy and thriving, instead of ones torn apart by criminalization, biased policing, incarceration, and deportation. To secure the full human rights of all members of our communities, we need a new way forward for immigrant justice—one that ends senseless divisions of “good versus bad” immigrants and recognizes that all communities deserve dignity, restoration and repair, not further criminalization. This one-pager explains A New Way Forward campaign.

Practice Alert: Upcoming Elimination of Means-Tested Benefits as Basis for Fee Waiver Requests

This practice alert provides a brief overview of some of the main changes practitioners can expect with the proposed change to fee waiver eligibility and process, most significantly by eliminating receipt of means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver. Given that these significant changes to the fee waiver process will make it more difficult and time-intensive to establish inability to pay an immigration filing fee, we urge practitioners to advise clients who are eligible for a fee waiver based on receipt of means-tested benefits to apply as soon as possible, before this

Fee Waiver Template Comment – submit by July 5, 2019

On June 5, 2019, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a third notice regarding its plans to dramatically change fee waiver eligibility and process. The June 5 notice attempts to provide additional justification for its plan to eliminate means-tested benefits as a basis for requesting a fee waiver, among other changes, following April 5 and September 28 notices that lacked rationale for why such changes to fee waivers are justified. Now, USCIS is also claiming lost fee revenue as a reason for its proposed changes to fee waivers

Helping Immigrant Clients with Post-Conviction Legal Options: A Guide for Legal Services Providers

For noncitizens, even a low level offense like a shoplifting conviction can lead to mandatory deportation. However, this can be avoided when people secure post-conviction relief to erase or modify their old convictions. If the convictions are vacated, or the sentences reduced, the grounds for removal often evaporate.

Fee Waiver Community Alert

This community alert provides key information about upcoming changes to the fee waiver process, which allows some applicants to submit their immigration applications without having to pay the filing fee if they cannot afford it. In the coming months, one of the easiest and most straightforward ways of proving that you qualify for a fee waiver request will be going away. Find out more information about this upcoming change and submit your application now if you might qualify for a fee waiver!

Public Charge as a Ground of Deportability

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), any noncitizen who “within five years from the date of entry, has become a public charge from causes not affirmatively shown to have arisen since entry is deportable.” In current practice, this ground of deportability rarely comes up in pending removal proceedings or as a reason for the initiation of removal proceedings.

Fact Sheet About Gubernatorial Pardons in California

Gubernatorial pardons have become an increasingly important and accessible tool for immigrants to erase certain immigration consequences of criminal convictions. This two-page primer, written in collaboration with the UCLA School of Law Criminal Defense Clinic and available in both English and Spanish, provides an overview of the California Pardon process for potential applicants and their advocates.

Diversion and Immigration Law

Diversion refers to a variety of programs that seek to avoid the processing of a defendant through the traditional criminal legal system. The goal of diversion is to direct an individual who has been accused of a crime into a treatment or care program as an alternative to imprisonment and/or prosecution.

Immigration Benefits for Surviving Relatives

This advisory covers three possible immigration remedies that beneficiaries might be able to pursue if a family member dies during the immigration process.

HSI Backgrounder

As the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies have increasingly come under scrutiny, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has played an increasingly significant role in carrying out brutal tactics to target immigrants for deportation.

Bexar County Cite & Release

Starting in June 2019, Bexar County and San Antonio will implement "cite and release," a new administrative policy that seeks to reduce arrests. The policy directs law enforcement officers to use their discretion to issue citations for low-level, non-violent offenses.

Fee Waiver Template Comment – submit by May 6, 2019

This comment period has closed. Click here respond to the latest notice of proposed fee waiver rule change.

Mandatory deportation violates American values of due process and unfairly imposes a double punishment

This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses how mandatory detention impacts individuals. IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

The grounds for deportation violate American values of FAIRNESS & EQUALITY.

This resource, co-authored by the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) and the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC), discusses the immigration consequences of discriminatory practices within the criminal legal system. IJN is a network comprised of the ILRC, the Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.

The discriminatory and broken criminal justice system has cascading immigration consequences.

Community Flyers on Marijuana

These flyers inform community members of the fact that it is very dangerous for any noncitizen, including a permanent resident, to discuss marijuana use with any official. This is true even if the person used marijuana in their own home and it was legal under the law of their state (because of medical or legalized marijuana state laws). Get legal counsel and get informed!

Ending 287(g): A Toolkit for Local Organizers

The Trump administration has vowed to increase 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local law enforcement officers to undertake various duties of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Indeed, as of the date of this publication, 49 of the 78 total 287(g) agreements were created during this current administration, and the number will likely continue to increase. However, all of the current 287(g) agreements will expire on June 30, 2019, unless they are renewed.

Results