Immigration Removal Defense

Removal defense involves representing and advocating for immigrants facing deportation from the United States. For many immigrants facing removal from the United States, the process involves appearing before an immigration judge in immigration court. Most immigrants cannot afford to have an attorney represent them in court. Sadly, legal representation is the single most important factor in determining whether someone will win or lose their case.

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) builds the capacity of practitioners to represent clients in immigration court proceedings. As national experts in immigration law, the ILRC publishes a hands-on comprehensive manual, Removal Defense: Defending Immigrants in Immigration Court, and offers trainings on this topic. We also support practitioners and pro bono attorneys in their specific cases through our Attorney of the Day (AOD) technical assistance service.

Latest in Removal Defense

Immigration Options for Undocumented Immigrant Children

08/31/2018

This resource is a collection of one-page fact sheets on various forms of immigration relief meant to provide a brief overview of options that may exist for undocumented immigrant children. While geared towards children and youth, it may also be helpful as an introduction to some of the immigration options available to adults as well. This is not meant to be an exhaustive resource. We recommend...

Advisory About the Immigration Consequences of California Methamphetamine Convictions: Lorenzo v. Sessions

08/31/2018

In Lorenzo v. Sessions (Aug. 29 2018), the Ninth Circuit ruled that the California definition of methamphetamine punishes offenses that are not punished on the federal schedule of controlled substances. Because the California statute is “overbroad,” the court determined that no California conviction for methamphetamines could fall within the controlled substances ground of removability. This...

Detention and Deportation System for Unaccompanied Minors Webinar Recording

08/28/2018

While the recent border crisis has highlighted how children migrating with a parent to the U.S. can be separated and detained alone by the federal government, over the last few years, there have been unprecedented surges of unaccompanied children (UC) migrating to the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian. For example, in 2012, 13,625 UCs were placed in federal immigration detention compared to...

Immigrant Legal Resource Center v. Department of Homeland Security

07/24/2018

Overview of ILRC’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request Since 2013, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) has been tracking policies dealing with the various ways in which state and local law enforcement is entangled with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in deporting members of immigrant communities. In November 2016, we received data from a FOIA request to DHS that provided...

Living in Limbo: A Guide to Understanding Your Rights, Benefits, and Obligations When You Have No Immigration Status

07/20/2018

Every year, millions of people wait for Congress to advance a solution that would provide stability for undocumented persons and their families. The numbers left waiting and worrying without a pathway to citizenship, protection from deportation, or the ability to work under the Trump Administration has only increased with the limitations on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)...