Topic: Immigration

Materials and best practices regarding immigration.

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[pdf] Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions in or near Courthouses (April 27, 2021) (+)

This joint U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memorandum sets forth updated policy regarding civil immigration enforcement in or near federal, state, and local courthouses. Absent certain limited circumstances, this joint memorandum prohibits civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses.

Published April 27, 2021 by ,

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[pdf] U Visa Certification and T Visa Declaration Toolkit for Federal, State, and Local Judges, Commissioners, Magistrates and Other Judicial Officers (June 17, 2021) (+)

This toolkit provides detailed information for state court judges on U visa and T visa certification by judges. It includes full citations to the U visa and T visa statutes and regulations and govern judicial certifications.

Published June 17, 2021 by

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[pdf] Tae Johnson, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Interim Guidance: Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Priorities (February 18, 2021) – REVOKED (+)

In effect February 18, 2021 until rescinded on September 30, 2021 by Mayorkas Memorandum on Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law found here: https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/mayorkas-civil-imm-guide-sept-21

Published February 18, 2021 by

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[pdf] U Visa Quick-Reference for Law Enforcement and Prosecutors (March 24, 2021) (+)

Part of the U Visa Certification Toolkit for Law Enforcement and Prosecutors. This quick reference guide assists law enforcement and prosecutors summarizing the U visa certification and is based on the DHS U and T Certification Resource Guide.

Published March 24, 2021 by ,

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[pdf] T Visa Application Flowchart (June 12, 2021) (+)

The following chart assists with understanding the T Visa application process through a flowchart diagram. This visualization strives to simplify understanding of process for T visa applications and is part of the U Visa Certification and T Visa Declaration Toolkit for Judges.

Published June 12, 2021 by

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[pdf] Factors That Demonstrate That It is Not In a Child’s Best Interests to Return to Their Home Country (June 12, 2021) (+)

In Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) cases, one of the required SIJS findings is that it is not in the child’s best interests for the child to be returned to the child’s or their parent’s home country. This document outlines recommended approaches to making or obtaining these findings that for SIJS eligible children. The recommendations include examining and applying the same factors that are used in VAWA self-petitioning cases to prove extreme hardship. These are abuse related factors that can help SIJS children establish that it is not in the child’s best interest to return to the child’s home country.

Published June 12, 2021 by

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[pdf] Courthouse Immigration Enforcement Steps Courts Are Taking (December 29, 2021) (+)

This tool contains a list of steps state courts are taking regarding immigration enforcement at courthouses. Many of these steps are derived from and based upon the Department of Homeland Security policies that limit immigration enforcement actions that can be taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol officials. It is important to note that with very few exceptions, courthouse enforcement is discouraged and limited and requires Headquarters level approval and regular reporting to Headquarters and the Office of the Secretary of DHS so that any actions taken are closely monitored.

Published December 29, 2021 by

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[pdf] Questions and Answers: VAWA Self-Petitioning Webinar (June 12, 2021) (+)

On April 22, 2020 NIWAP held a national webinar on VAWA Confidentiality at which we encouraged attendees to ask questions in the “chat” and when they registered for the webinar. We received 87 questions from participants. This document provides answers to each of the questions received. This document supplements the information provided in the webinar. We recommend that readers also view the webinar https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/2020-vawa-self-petition-webinar.which includes a detailed list of training materials on VAWA self-petitioning.

Published June 12, 2021 by

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[pdf] Glossary of Terms for Work With Immigrant Survivors (November 15, 2017) (+)

This glossary of terms is designed to assist judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates and attorneys working with immigrant survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, dating violence and human trafficking. It covers terms commonly used in cases involving immigrant survivors and their children including immigration, family law and public benefits matters.

Published November 15, 2017 by

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[pdf] Final Rule on U Visa Certifications and Elimination of the Supervisor Requirement (January 22, 2014) (+)

Letter from Police Chiefs to USCIS recommending that in the final U visa rule USCIS eliminate the supervisor requirement and allow heads of law enforcement agencies to designate any staff member they choose to sign U visa certifications on the agency’s behalf so long as the staff members is designated by the head of the agency.

Published January 22, 2014 by

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[pdf] Analysis of USCIS 2019 U Visa Law Enforcement Resource Guide – Memo to DHS From NIWAP (September 29, 2019) (+)

This memo identifies how the 2019 USCIS Law Enforcement Resource Guide contains information that is inconsistent with the legally correct information in the U visa statue, the U visa regulations and the U visa legislative history. This document should be read together with NIWAP’s annotated version of the USCIS U Visa law Enforcement Resource Guide that identifies omissions and inaccuracies in the USCIS Resource Guide. https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/annotated-uscis-u-visa-resource-guide

Published September 29 2019 by

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[pdf] Understanding the Significance of a Minor’s Trauma History in Family Court Rulings (May 18, 2021) (+)

Article discussing the neurobiology of child brain development and how it impacts children who come before state family courts in domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, custody, delinquency, dependency and other cases. The article brings together research findings in the fields of child brain science and research on the traumas experienced by immigrant children in their home countries, during their immigration to the U.S. and trauma and abuse immigrant children experience after arriving in the United States.

Published May 21, 2021 by ,

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[pdf] Arguijo v. USCIS 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Decision (March 21, 2021) (+)

The Seventh Circuit overturned the District Court and ruled against USCIS in this case. The 7th Circuit handed down its decision on March 12, 2021 confirming that in the context of the Violence Against Women Act “stepchild” status survives divorce. Divorce between the natural parent and the abusive stepparent does not cut a stepchild victim off from VAWA immigration relief, including self-petitioning. NIWAP filed an Amicus Brief represented by K & L Gates LLP. The brief was submitted to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals at the request of the National Immigrant Justice Center. This was a case of a battered immigrant step-child whose self-petition was denied by USCIS. Both the appellant step-child and her mother were abused by the victim’s citizen step-father including sexual abuse of his step-daughter. The step-child’s mother died related to the abuse she had suffered. USCIS and the BIA claimed that the victim’s step-parent/step-child relationship ends with divorce or death unless the child has a continuing relationship with the abuser. NIWAP’s amicus brief describes how the Immigration and Nationality Act statutory text does not provide an end date for the step-child step-parent relationship and that imposing one is contrary to the legislative history and purpose of the Violence Against Women Act and VAWA self-petitioning. The 7th Circuit agreed.

Published March 21, 2021

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[pdf] Rodriguez Tornes v. Garland, 9th Circuit – Domestic Violence Gender Based Asylum Opinion (April 5, 2021) (+)

In this opinion the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Rodrigues Tornes is eligible for gender based asylum because her domestic abusers (both her former husband and later another former intimate partner) persecuted her for her feminist opinions and views on her rights as a woman. In this case issued after both “Matter of A-B- I” and “Matter of A-B- II the 9th Circuit federal court of appeals ruled that a woman who was persecuted by domestic abusers because of a feminist political opinion is eligible for asylum in the United States. Importantly to win asylum the applicant Maria Luisa Rodriguez Tornes didn’t have to show that her feminist opinions played the sole or predominant role in her domestic abuse. Instead, she only had to show that her political opinion was “one central reason” in the abuse. In a concurrence Judge Richard Paez criticized the Board of Immigration Appeals for ignoring evidence that Rodriguez was targeted on account of her feminist political opinion. The concurring opinion also found that “the Board also ignored extensive record evidence from a leading authority on domestic violence that directly rejected the Board’s premise that domestic violence is presumed to be motivated by nothing more than the private dynamics of a “personal relationship.”” NIWAP submitted an Amicus Brief in the case, https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/rodriguez-tornes-gb-asylum-domestic-violence that was quoted in the concurring opinion by the 9th Circuit. NIWAP was represented by DLA Piper who wrote the amicus brief on NIWAP’s behalf.

Published May 12, 2021 by

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[pdf] Immigration Consequences of Maryland Offenses (April 9, 2021) (+)

s chart was written principally by Maureen A. Sweeney of the Chacón Center for Immigrant Justice at Maryland Carey Law. The current update was developed in collaboration with Faiza Chappell and Leslye E. Orloff, NIWAP, American University, Washington College of Law. The most up-to-date version of this chart can be accessed at the following link: https://www.law.umaryland.edu/media/SOL/pdfs/Programs/Immigration%20Consequences%20of%20Maryland%20Offenses%20-updated%20April%202021.pdf.

Published April 9, 2021 by ,

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[pdf] USCIS U Visa Report Technical Appendix (2020) (+)

USCIS published this technical appendix to accompany the series of U visa reports it published in 2020. The reports are: USCIS U Visa Report: U Visa Filing Trends (April 2020) https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/u-visa-filing-trends; USCIS: Trends in U Visa Law Enforcement Certifications, Qualifying Crimes and Evidence of Helpfulness (July 2020) https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/u_visa_lea-certs-report; USCIS: U Visa Demographics: U Visa Report (March 2020) https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/uscis-u-visa-demographics; and USCIS Arrest Histories of U Visa Petitioners (April 2020) https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/uscis-u-visa-victim-arrest-histories

Published 2020 by

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[pdf] Trafficking Social Science Research Data Sources Chart (January 25, 2021) (+)

This chart reviews 100 research articles and reports on human trafficking in the United States. It tracks for each article the source of the primary data that the article is relying upon and whether or not the article has a bibliography. This chart should be read together with the report “Social Science Human Trafficking Research Findings: Tools for Courts which describes which of these research reports are most reliable. If you need assistance obtaining any of the research reports cited in this chart contact NIWAP at info@niwap.org.

Published January 25, 2021 by

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[pdf] Expanding the Toolbox for Children in Immigrant Families- Tips and Tools for Child Welfare and Children’s Courts- NCJFCJ_03.23.21 (+)

NIWAP Director Leslye Orloff and Judge Susan Breall from the San Francisco Superior Court presented a webinar with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Justice on tips and tools for child welfare and children’s courts for children in immigrant families. The webinar covered U and T visa certifications, seeking/making state court findings required […]

Published 03.23.2021 by

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[pdf] J.A. v Wolf – NIWAP Amicus Step-Child Case (July 24, 2000) (+)

“Amicus on in Jennifer Arguijo v. Wolf” NIWAP represented by K & L Gates LLP, filed an amicus brief in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals at the request of the National Immigrant Justice Center in a case of a battered immigrant step-child whose self-petition was denied by USCIS. Both the appellant step-child and her mother were abused by the victim’s citizen step-father including sexual abuse of his step-daughter. The step-child’s mother died related to the abuse she had suffered. USCIS and the BIA claimed that the victim’s step-parent/step-child relationship ends with divorce or death. NIWAP’s amicus brief describes how the Immigration and Nationality Act statutory text does not provide an end date for the step-child step-parent relationship and that imposing one is contrary to the legislative history and purpose of the Violence Against Women Act and VAWA self-petitioning. (July 29, 2020).

Published July 24, 2020 by

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[pdf] Comparing VAWA Suspension of Deportation, VAWA Cancellation of Removal, VAWA Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), and VAWA Self-Petitioning Chart (January 28, 2021) (+)

This chart provides an overview that compares the eligibility requirements, inadmissibility waivers and exclusions, and access to immigraiton relief, work authorization, lawful permanent residency, public benefits and the ability to protect include family members in the protections received between four of the forms of immigraiton relief created by the Violence Against Women Act to protect immigrant victims of spouse abuse, child abuse and elder abuse. Three of the forms of immigration relief VAWA cancellation of removal, VAWA suspension of deportation, and VAWA NACARA are applications that may only be filed in immigration court after the victim has been placed in removal, deportation or exclusion proceedings. Victims who are in removal proceedings may at the same time file VAWA self-petitions. In cases of abusive citizen spouses or parents, once the self-petition has been granted the victim can seek adjustment of status to lawful permanent residency from the immigration judge.

Published April 28, 2020 by

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[pdf] Comparing VAWA Haitian Refugee Immigrant Fairness Act of 1998 (“VAWA HRIFA), VAWA Cuban Adjustment Act and VAWA Self-Petitioning Chart (January 28, 2021) (+)

This chart compares the three forms of immigration relief created by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that offer remedies for immigrant victims of spouse abuse and child abuse the ability to apply for lawful permanent residency.1 This side-by-side comparison chart compares three different forms of VAWA self-petitions: 1) VAWA Haitian Refugee and Immigrant Fairness Act self-petitions (VAWA HRIFA);2 VAWA Cuban Adjustment Act self-petitions;3 and Self-petitions filed by abused spouses, children and parents of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents

Published April, 28, 2020 by

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[pdf] Nebraska U and T Visa Certification and Continued Presence Neb Rev Stat 29-217 (November 14, 2020) (+)

Nebraska’s U and T Visa Certification Law effective 11/14/20. This law addresses both U and T visa certification and requests for continued presence. The law requires that law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and any other state or local agency authorized to sign certifications in U and T visa cases within 90 days or receiving requests. Additionally, in cases of victims of human trafficking when an agency reasonably believes an individual is a victim of a severe form of human trafficking the law encourages agencies within 90 days to request that federal law enforcement officials complete continued presence requests for the victim. Requires that certifying agencies keep internal records of requests for certifications, certifications and requests for continued presence.

Published November 14, 2020 by

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