Legal Resources

1. Criminal and Deportation Defense
2. Victims of Crimes, including Intimate Partner Violence
3. Immigration Enforcement and Raids
4. Noncitizens Living with HIV
5. Defending Political Rights
6. Materials from past NLG & Convention workshops
7. National Immigration Project et al. v. DHS (FOIA Case)

1. Criminal and Deportation Defense

Practice Advisories [PDF downloads]

• Crimes of Violence (April 10, 2012) [PDF]

• Vartelas v. Holder, Implications for LPR's who Take Brief Trips Abroad and Other Potential Favorable Impacts (April 5, 2012) [PDF]

• Implications of Lafler v. Cooper on Retroactive Application of Padilla v. Kentucky (April 4, 2012) [PDF]
  
  
• Departure Bar to Motions to Reopen and Reconsider:  Legal Overview and Related Issues (March 14, 2012) [PDF]
  
  
• Judulang v. Holder, Implications for LPR's Seeking 212(c) Relief and for Other Individuals Challenging Arbitrary Agency Policies (December 16, 2011) [PDF]
  
  
• Retroactive Applicability of Padilla v. Kentucky(revised March 2011) [PDF]
  
  
• The ABC Class Action Lawsuit, 20 Years Later (January 31, 2011) [PDF]
  
  
• The Immigration Consequences of Burglary in Florida (January 2011) [PDF]
  
  
• Practice Tip: Fair Sentencing Act Alters Immigration Treatment of Crack Cocaine Convictions (September 17, 2010) [PDF]
  
  
• Sample Carachuri-Rosendo Motions (June 21, 2010) [PDF]
  
  
• Living under Silva-Trevino: Challenge to the New Moral Turpitude Definition (2010) [PDF]
  
  
• Immigration Court Jurisdiction to Conduct Bond Hearings Regardless of Whether the Department of Homeland Securities Transfers Respondent After the Hearing Request Is Filed (2009) [PDF]
  
  
• The Impact of Nijhawan v. Holder on Application of the Categorical Approach to Aggravated Felony (2009) [PDF]
  
  
• The Burden of Proof to Overcome the Aggravated Felony Bar to Cancellation of Removal (2007) [PDF]
  

• Selected Practice Pointers on Criminal Convictions Relating to Juveniles [PDF]

General Information

• Grounds of Deportability and Inadmissibility Related to Crimes (2008)
  
  
• Removal Defense Checklist for Criminal Charge Cases (2007)
  
  
• Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines (2010)
  
  
• Omnibus Brief in Response to Government Evidence - New Haven
  
  
• New Haven Motion to Suppress (2007)
  
  
• Redacted EOIR Motion in Limine in New Haven Raids Case
  
  
• Proceeding and Motion in the Alternative to Supplement the Record - New Haven
  
  
• Reply to government's brief in motion to suppress
  
  

Reports

• National Immigration Project and Penn State Law Respond to Justice Department's Report on Hiring  Immigration Judges (2009)
  
  
• Report on Board of Immigration Appeals Pro Bono Project (2004)

Information about Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions

• FEDERAL Quick Reference Chart (updated 2010)
  
  
• Sample bond brief (for person without criminal history)
  
  By State
  
  
• Arizona Quick Reference Chart - 2008
  
  
• California Quick Reference Chart- 2010
  
  
• Connecticut Quick Reference Chart - 2007
  
  
• Florida Quick Reference Chart - 2003
  
  
• Georgia Quick Reference Chart - 2012
  
  
• Illinois/Indiana/Wisconsin Chart - 2009
  
  
• Massachusetts Quick Reference Chart - 2006
  
  
• North Carolina Quick Reference Chart
  
  
• New Jersey Quick Reference Chart - 2005
  
  
• New Mexico Quick Reference Chart - 2005
  
  
• New York Quick Reference Chart - 2006
  
  
• Oregon Quick Reference Chart
  
  
• Texas Quick Reference Chart- 2006
  
  
• Vermont Quick Reference Chart - 2006
  
  
• Virginia Quick Reference Chart - 2007

2. Victims of Crimes, including Intimate Partner Violence

General Information

• Information about DV/Asylum listserv
  (Contact Amberjae Freeman at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies)
  
  
• Battered Immigrant Women Resources from Family Violence Prevention Fund
  
  
• Domestic Violence Expert Affidavit Guidelines

Legislation Resources

• Text of VAWA 2005 ("Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005")
  
  
• Analysis of VAWA 2005 Immigration Provisions

VAWA Adjustment of Status

• 2008 USCIS Guidance for VAWA Self-Petitioners
  
  
• 2008 USCIS VAWA EWI Adjustment Memo
  
  
• 2008 Adjustment for VAWAs Present Without Permission or Parole -Government's Newly Announced Directive Will Benefit Thousands of Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence

Helpful Links

• Center for Gender and Refugee Studies
  
  
• ASISTA - asistahelp.org
  
  
• National Immigration Law Center

3. Immigration Enforcement and Raids

Practice Advisories

• Understanding Immigration Detainers:An Overview for State Defense Counsel (May 2011)
  
  
• The Right to Resist Questioning During an Investigative Stop after Hiibel v. Nevada (2004)
  

General Information

• Uncover the Truth Toolkit [large file - slow loading] designed to help advocates get started in responding to ICE enforcement programs in their communities: to research what programs are operating and how they work, ask questions of police and politicians, join forces with allies, and follow up with formal requests for information under federal and state law.
  
  
• Dangerous Merger - ICE ACCESS Programs Flier
• Dangerous Merger flier - citation footnotes

• Comments on Secure Communities Regulations (2009)

Public Records Act Requests

• Sample Public Records Act Request - Riverside (2009)
  
  
• Petition for Writ of Mandate and Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Pursuant to the California Public Records Act (2009)
  
  
• FOIA documents obtained from connecticut state police relating to the New Haven immigration raid on June 6, 2007
  
  
• FOIA doc-records from ICE Office of Professional Responsibility's investigation of raid [Large file - expect slow downloading]
  
  
• FOIA docs - ICE records relating to New Haven's municipal ID card [Large file - expect slow downloading]

Detention Standards Litigation

• NIPNLG files suit for comprehensive and enforceable detention standards – complaint (2008)
  
  
• DHS Denial of Petition for Rulemaking (2009)
  
  
• Judge Chin's decision ordering US to respond to petition (2009)
  
  
• Detention petition for rulemaking (2009)

Press Releases

• DHS denial of Petition for Rulemaking (2009)
  
  
• Previously Secret Memos and Data Show Bush-era Immigration Raids Were Law Enforcement Failures (2009)
  
  
• NIPNLG files suit for comprehensive and enforceable detention standards

4. Noncitizens Living with HIV

Information about 2010 Change in Policy

• Final Rule Removing HIV Infection from U.S. Immigration Screening (2009)
  
  
• USCIS: Q&A on HIV Removal From CDC List (2008)
  
  
• USCIS Guidance Memo Regarding Proposed Removal of HIV from List of Communicable Diseases (September 15, 2009)
  
  
• USCIS 11-24-09 Guidance Memo Regarding Removal of HIV from List of Communicable Diseases (2009)

5. Defending Political Rights

Practice Advisories

• Special Call-In Registration Questions and Answers: What Happens If My Client Registers Late? (2003)
  

Court Decisions

• IJ Decision Terminating "L.A. Eight" Case (2007)

Political Rights of International Students

• Political Rights of International Students - Travel Advisory (2003)

6. Materials from Past NLG Convention Workshops

Materials from NLG Convention

• NLG Workshop: Comprehensive Immigration Reform
• NLG Workshop: Effective Strategies for Dealing with Immigration
• Detainers and Holds NLG Workshop: Immigrants and the Military
• NLG Workshop: Representing Immigrant Detainees in Bond Hearings

7. National Immigration Project et al. v. DHS
(FOIA Case)

• Summary of FOIA Complaint Seeking Government's Return Policy for Noncitizens Abroad Who Successfully Challenge Removal Orders
  
  
• FOIA Complaint (with Exhibits) Seeking Government's Return Policy for Noncitizens Abroad Who Successfully Challenge Removal Orders
  
  
• FOIA Litigation Uncovers 2008 Memorandum of Agreement Regarding DHS’ Parole Authority (Press Release)
  Read the DHS Memo here.
  
  
• SDNY District Court Decision (February 7, 2012)
  
  
• Press Release: Federal Judge Rules on U.S. Solicitor General’s Abuse of Supreme Court's Trust
  
  
• SDNY District Court Decision (February 24, 2012)
  
  
• Press Release re: ICE Return Policy Memo
  
  
• ICE Return Policy Memo (February. 2012)
  
  
• J. Chicco Declaration for Lam v. Holder

• OSG Letter to Supreme Court, with Attachments (April 24, 2012)

• Advisory: New FAQ Reveals Serious Flaws in ICE “Policy” for Facilitating Return After Removal& Disclosed OSG Emails Show Lack of Policy and Practice at the Time of Nken - (April 25, 2012)
  
  
• Attorney General Letter Calling for Cases of Noncitizens Entitled to Return (April 25, 2012)
  
  
• Sample 28(j) Letter Response in Pending Stay Litigation & Call for Cases of Removed Individuals Entitled to Return (April 27, 2012)
  
  
• Amici Letter to the Supreme Court in Nken v. Holder (May 4, 2012)
  
  
• OSG and DHS Email Communications in Nken (May 10, 2012), disclosing additional information from the original release of April 24, 2012. The April 24, 2012 release is available here.
  
  
• CBP Parole Directive (Partially Redacted) (Sept 3, 2008)

…the arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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