This training will provide specific and practical examples of the important roles state court judges can play in ensuring access to justice when immigration law issues arise in state court cases involving litigants, victims of crime or abuse, and children who are immigrants or live in immigrant families. Judges will learn to identify victims who qualify for the legal immigration relief that Congress created to protect and improve the safety, stability and economic security of immigrant victims of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, human trafficking, sexual assault, and stalking. Faculty will discuss what every state court judge needs to know to apply legally correct information about immigration law when protection order, custody, divorce, and support cases involve immigrant victims and family members. The training will include a discussion of current policies and statutes governing courthouse immigration enforcement and the impact that federal Violence Against Women Act confidentiality laws have on state court discovery in criminal and family court cases.
The NJN provides a forum for judges to engage in peer-to-peer learning sessions with judges from across the country, participate in webinars, communicate with other judges in a participants-only confidential email group, access topic-specific publications, and attend future in-person trainings on issues that arise in state courts involving human trafficking and immigrant victims.
For a complete list of National Judicial Network (NJN) webinars and peer-to-peer sessions, as well as additional information regarding the NJN, go to *National Judicial Network: Forum on Human Trafficking and Immigration in State Courts (2021 – 2025).
State-by-State Infographics Timelines
Immigration Relief for Victims of Crime and Abuse
- Bench Card on Immigration Relief for Battered Spouses, Children, and Immigrant Crime Victims (December 31, 2021)
- Domestic Violence and Involuntary Servitude as Human Trafficking (August 17, 2023)
U Visa Certification
- U Visa Certification and T visa Declaration Toolkit for Federal, State and Local Judges, Commissioners, Magistrates and Other Judicial Officers (June 17, 2021)
- Hennepin County Attorney’s Office U Visas and T Visas Certification Policy Full Policy (Model Policy)
- Hennepin County Attorney’s Office U Visas and T Visas Certification Policy (March 7, 2024)
- Child Protective Services Agency Toolkit: U Visa Certification, T Visa Declaration, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and Violence Against Women Act Immigration Relief for Abused Immigrant Children (July 8, 2024)
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS)
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status Training Materials (October 7, 2024)
- Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Findings Pertaining to State Court Judges (December 7, 2023)
- *Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Bench Book (March 31, 2018) – Table of Contents
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Confidentiality and Discovery
- Quick Reference Guide for Judges: VAWA Confidentiality, Discovery, and Admissibility Related Case Law (October 7, 2024)
- National Judicial Network Peer-to-Peer Sessions – Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Confidentiality: Criminal and Family Case Discovery (October 1 & Nov. 12, 2024)
- NM Supreme Court Issues Order Against Disclosure of Immigration-Related Information of Noncitizen Crime Victims (May 7, 2024)
- VAWA Confidentiality and Discovery Materials January 7, 2025
- VAWA Confidentiality Training Materials (January 19, 2025)
- Sample Letters From Courts for ICE Officers At Courthouses
- Resources on Civil Immigration Enforcement At Courthouses
- Sample Law Enforcement Prosecution Letters
- Sample Letters for Victim Advocates – Attorneys
Family Law
- Immigrants and Protection Orders Bench Card (March 30, 2019)
- Family Court Bench Card on Issues that Arise in Custody Cases Involving Immigrant Parents, Children, and Crime Victims (November 30, 2021)
- Bench Card: Impact of Divorce on Immigration Status (December 28, 2021)
- Affidavits of Support and Enforceability Bench Card (June 13, 2024)
- State v. Maria L. The Nebraska Supreme Court (April 8 2009)
- All State Family Law Service of Process and Jurisdiction Charts (October 20, 2021)
Evidence-Based Research
- Transforming Lives Study Provides Evidence-Based Support for The Effectiveness of the VAWA and U Visa Programs (June 14, 2021)
- Promoting Access to Justice for Immigrant Crime Victims and Children: Findings of a National Judicial Survey and Policy Recommendations (National Center for State Courts, 2018)
- Use and Outcomes of Protection Orders by Battered Immigrant Women, National Institute of Justice (November 10, 2006)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Brochures
- OPS Immigration Options for Victims of Crime (January 2025)
- DHS Gender Based Violence Brochure (English) (October 2022)
- DHS Immigration Relief for Crime Victims
- Appendix H – DHS Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Brochure
Public Benefits for Immigrant Victims in Pennsylvania
- *All State Public Benefits Chart and Interactive Public Benefits Map (2022)
- Access to State-Funded Public Benefits in Pennsylvania for Survivors (updated January 3, 2025)
- Pennsylvania Public Benefits Screening Chart for Immigrant Survivors and Refugees by Forms of Immigration Relief (updated January 14, 2025)
- Pennsylvania Immigrant Benefits Timelines and Infographics
- Pennsylvania Immigration and Public Benefits Timeline For Immigrant Survivors (April 20, 2026)
- Pennsylvania Benefits Infographic – VAWA Self-Petition (April 23, 2026)
- Pennsylvania Benefits Infographic – SIJS (April 23, 2026)
- Pennsylvania Benefits Infographic – T visa (April 23, 2026)
- Pennsylvania Benefits Infographic – U Visa (April 23, 2026)