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Deportation Defense &
Detention Issues
Selected Strategies In
Removal Cases - Second Circuit (6/24/03)
General Notes on
Representing Detained Persons, Especially Persons Detained for
Non-Criminal Convictions - This document contains basic
information for use by those representing non-citizens detained by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (now the Department of Homeland
Security), specifically non-immigration attorneys, or those new to
immigration law, who are representing individuals who are not
removable due to criminal convictions. If your client has criminal
convictions that cause him or her to be removable, a more detailed
analysis of the relevant law can be found elsewhere.
Sample bond
brief (general) (Word)
Sample bond
brief (for persons without a criminal history) (Word)
For detainees where no hearing notice
has been filed with the court.
Immigration Consequences of Criminal
Convictions
New Mexico
Supreme Court Decision on State v. Paredez (8/04)
In this decision, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously held
that a criminal defendant's attorney has "an affirmative duty to
determine [the client's] immigration status and provide him with
specific advice regarding the impact a guilty plea would have on
his immigration status."
What is a Felony for Purposes of the Crime of Violence Definition
in 18 USC §16(b)
Sandy Lin, National Immigration Project
Practice
Pointer: Shivaraman v. Ashcroft - concerning deportation grounds for crimes
involving moral turpitude
Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Defending
Immigrants Partnership
Plea and Sentence Alert (February 2004)
Lory Rosenberg, National
Legal Aid and Defender Association, Defending Immigrants
Partnership. Supreme Court to hear Leocal v. Attorney General, No.
03-583 and consider whether a DUI conviction with serious injury
is an aggravated felony crime of violence.
Immigration Consequences of Select Federal Convictions
Chart
Dan Kesselbrenner and Sandy Lin, National Immigration Project,
Defending Immigrants Partnership
Illinois Quick Reference Chart
Dan Kesselbrenner, National Immigration Project, Defending
Immigrants Partnership
New York Quick Reference Chart
Manny Vargas, New York State Defenders Association, Defending
Immigrants Partnership
California Quick Reference Chart
Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Defending
Immigrants Partnership
New Jersey Quick Reference Chart
Joanne Gottesman, Rutgers School of Law - Camden, Defending
Immigrants Partnership
Removal Defense Checklist for Criminal Charge Cases
Manny Vargas, New York State Defenders Association, Defending
Immigrants Partnership Petition to Require Judges to Advise Defendants of Immigration
Consequences of Their Pleas
Grounds of Deportability and Inadmissibility Related to Crimes
Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center and Dan
Kesselbrenner, National Immigration Project
Back to top.
Legal Rights for Noncitizen Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual
Assault, & Other Crimes
Policy
& Practice Updates On U Visas
U Visa: Deferred Action
Memo (5/6/04). Allows the Vermont Service Center to assess
deferred action requests for U Visa eligible nonimmigrants in removal
proceedings.
Instructions
for Completing the U Certification Form
On VAWA
(4/24/08)
Government’s Newly-Announced Directive Will
Benefit Thousands
of Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence
(4/22/08)
CIS VAWA EWI
Fact Sheet.
(4/11/08)
CIS VAWA
EWI adjustment guidance memorandum (4/11/08).
Prima Facie Extension Memo (4/8/04)
that contains more lenient public benefits access guidelines for
immigrant domestic violence survivors and their children. See
Other VAWA Resources for more public benefits info concerning VAWA-eligible
noncitizens.
Rules for Requesting Birth Certificates for USC Spouses
VAWA 2000. An excerpt from the Victims of
Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act which outlines the most
current language on VAWA (also including U Visas). Please note that a
revised version of the VAWA law is expected to be adopted by Congress
in 2005.
On Trafficking
Trafficking
Reauthorization Memo (4/15/04) from the Vermont Service Center,
clarifying adjudication issues for T-visa eligible noncitizen victims
of trafficking.
Back to top.
Significant Cases
(5/2/05) The First Circuit Court cited Immigration Law and the
Family in its decision on Cho v. Gonzales (2005 U.S. App.
LEXIS 6614, 1st Cir. 2005) which reverses an earlier BIA decision on
good faith marriages as they pertain to the legal rights of battered
noncitizens. This decision is a victory for attorneys and advocates
working on VAWA issues. Former Associate Director Gail Pendleton and
Iris Gomez, a Project member, submitted an amicus brief on this case,
in partnership with several other nonprofits.
Rosalina Lopez's Appeal to the Ninth
Circuit Court of Appeals. See links to three briefs (below) that
are currently being submitted to the Ninth Circuit by the co-chairs of
the National Network and their local partners. This case is
significant because of the Ninth Circuit’s recent favorable precedent
in Hernandez, and also because the case presented compelling
examples of judicial ignorance and insensitivity towards VAWA, the
dynamics of domestic violence, and to immigrant survivors generally.
Ninth
Circuit Decision on Hernandez v. Ashcroft. This
precedent-setting case marks the first time a federal court has
addressed VAWA’s immigrant provisions. With this decision the Ninth
Circuit Court reversed an earlier decision by the Board of Immigration
Appeals which ruled that the abuse suffered by Laura Luis Hernandez at
the hands of her husband did not qualify as extreme cruelty because,
according to the BIA, this abuse did not occur on U.S. soil. The Ninth
Circuit Court’s decision, in keeping with the arguments of Hernandez’s
legal representatives, found that the behavior of her husband while on
U.S. soil was part of a more extensive cycle of abusive behavior and,
as such, did qualify as “extreme cruelty” as defined by the 1994
Violence Against Women Act.
Extreme cruelty argument used to
seek VAWA cancellation for noncitizen widow. Immigration Project
member Bart Stroupe is the attorney of record on this case, which is
seeking VAWA cancellation of removal for a noncitizen woman who is now
subject to removal due to the tragic suicide of her US citizen spouse.
She is seeking to adjust on the basis of an I-130 application that has
been filed but was not approved before the death of the I-130
petitioner. Current law allows only a widow (or widower) whose
marriage was more than 2 years old to file an I-360.
Bart's VAWA cancellation argument also introduces a new interpretation
of extreme cruelty, building on the innovative interpretation of
extreme cruelty that has already been accepted by the 9th Circuit in
Hernandez v. Ashcroft (see above). For more information also see the
media coverage on this case posted on our
Press Room page (see "Husband's Suicide Leaves Former Nun Facing
Deportation" under "Immigration Project Members in the News").
Back to top.
Local Enforcement and
Immigrant Survivors
Local Police Enforcement of Immigration Laws and Its Effects on
Victims of Domestic Violence
Why Shouldn't Local Police
Enforce Immigration Laws? (prepared by the National
Immigration Forum) Back to top.
Judicial Training Documents
Ensuring Fairness and Justice for Noncitizen Survivors of
Domestic Violence. In this article for the National Council
of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Gail Pendleton provides
comprehensive, advocacy-oriented suggestions for civil courts
that encounter noncitizen survivors of domestic violence, sexual
assault, and other crimes.
American Bar Association Position Paper on Courts and Noncitizens. This
document, also written by Gail Pendleton, should be read as a
companion article to the “Ensuring Fairness” article (above).
Local
Police Enforcement of Immigration Laws and Its Effects on Victims of
Domestic Violence
Back to top.
Gender Asylum Resources
Domestic Violence and Asylum
Listserv. We are no longer managing the DV/Asylum listserv,
but the discussion group is still alive and thriving. To find
out how to join, e-mail Stephen Knight at the Center for Gender
and Refugee Studies.
Seeking Asylum from Gender
Persecution by Stephen Knight (Interpreter Releases, Vol.
79, No. 20 • May 13, 2002). Summarizes the recent history and
developments in gender asylum cases including the Matter of R-A-.
For current information on gender
asylum issues visit the Web site of the
Center for Gender and
Refugee Studies. Back to top.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
Resources
Field Guidance on
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Petitions (5/27/04) issued
by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS)
Also see the
Immigrant Legal Resource
Center's SIJS Resources. Back to top.
Other VAWA
Resources You may also
wish to consult
www.asistaonline.org (click on Legal Resources) for free
materials on VAWA, U nonimmigrant visas, and T nonimmigrant
visas. Public Benefits
Access for Immigrant Survivors of Violence. The National
Immigration Law Center has produced a number of documents
concerning public benefits access for immigrant survivors. These
include documents which provide
general
overviews of immigrant access to benefits since the 1996
reform laws, information on benefits access for immigrant
survivors of domestic violence in
California, and information about the proposed
WISH
Act which will expand public benefits access for immigrant
survivors. Also see:
The Prima
Facie memo posted above, under Policy & Practice Updates - On
VAWA.
These public benefits access documents
produced by Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education
Fund):
Battered Immigrant Women Toolbox. A list of resources
prepared by Family Violence Prevention Fund, a co-chair (along with
the National Immigration Project) of the National Network to End
Violence Against Immigrant Women.
Immigrant
Women Materials. A list of publications (some free some for
a fee) prepared by Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and
Education Fund). Includes materials on public benefits access for
immigrant survivors of violence, steps for overcoming barriers in
the self-petitioning process, general reviews of VAWA and related
policy, and more. Legal Momentum is also a co-chair of the National
Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women. Also see the
Immigrant Women Program which outlines Legal Momentum's program
work on immigrant women's issues.
VAWA Self-Petitioning Materials. An assortment of free
documents prepared by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center which give
tips on document gathering for the self-petitioning process, initial
discussions with clients, a general overview of the self-petitioning
process, and outreach flyers translated in several different
languages. Also see information on ILRC's
VAWA program.
HIV/AIDS & Immigrants Resources
With grant support from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, we have
completed the latest edition of our HIV and Immigrants Manual, which
provides a holistic review of residency, naturalization, and service
options for HIV positive noncitizens.
Additional Resources
Back to top.
Post-9/11 Resources
Post-9/11 Enforcement Issues
(Also see the
Local Enforcement section under Legal Rights for Noncitizen
Survivors of Domestic Violence.)
Action Alert: Gang Bill Hurts
Immigrants and Their Families
Selected Issues in Operation Tarmac Cases
Dan Kesselbrenner, National Immigration Project
The Right
to Resist Questioning During an Investigative Stop After Hiibel
v.Nevada Special
Registration Special
Registration: What's changed? The Department of Homeland Security
has suspended the formal requirement for individuals previously
registered in the National Security Entry/Exit Registration System (NSEERS)
to re-register after 30-days and one year of continuous presence in
the United States. The interim rule went into effect on December 1,
2003 and allows for a 60-day public comment period. If you have any
questions, please call Betty Mills Carilli at (202) 514-4643 with the
Office of Congressional Relations, US ICE.
Special Registration: What Hasn't
Changed? Special registration has not ended! Thousands of
noncitizens, mostly Arab/Muslim and South Asian, are still required
to register with the DHS and still face removal if they do not
comply. See Special
Registration Has Not Ended! A Legal Advisory prepared by the
American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and the ACLU
Immigrant Rights Project. (12/3/03)
Other Special Registration Materials
Back to top.
International Students
International Student
Travel Advisory (Winter 2004)
Did You
Pay Your SEVIS I90-1Ffee? (Fall 2004)
This link will take you to a detailed Q & A page on the department
of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's website. This fee is
collected for the primary purpose of maintaining the Student
Exchange and Visitor Information System that was created under the
1996 Immigration Reform Act (IIRIRA). Please note that the SEVIS
I90-1 fee is separate from your visa fee AND from the SEVIS
administration fee that your school or visitor exchange program
may be charging you. Although some of these institutions use these
fees to pay the individual SEVIS I90-1 fees of international
students and other visitors, they are not required to do so. Also,
several classes of student and visitor nonimmigrants are exempt
from these fees. Please visit the above link for clarification on
these issues and more.
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