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Immigration Practice Resources

Search immigration practice advisories, sample filings, manuals, brief banks, and government guidance from trusted practitioner sources.

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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Jun 3, 2021

Immigration Consequences of Pretrial Diversion and Intervention Agreements

Immigration law has its own definition of what constitutes a criminal conviction. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and other courts have held that certain types of pretrial diversion and intervention agreements that result in dismissal under state law can still constitute a conviction for immigration purposes. Practitioners must pay close attention to the structure of such agreements, and the variety of available diversion programs, when evaluating a client’s criminal history and advising

Crimes and categorical approach BIA appeals BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Defense Project Practice advisory Jun 3, 2021

Practice Advisory: “Realistic Probability” in Immigration Categorical Approach Cases (June 3, 2021) (by IDP and NIP-NLG)

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Crimes and categorical approach Removal defense Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Apr 15, 2020

Using and Defending California Penal Code § 1473.7 Vacaturs in Immigration Proceedings: Sample Memorandum of Law and Table of BIA Cases

In 2016, California passed California Penal Code § 1473.7, a critical post-conviction relief vehicle for people no longer in criminal custody to move to eliminate prior convictions that violated constitutional and statutory rights to due process and effective assistance of counsel. Under decades of legal precedent, prior offenses vacated on this basis are outside the federal immigration definition of "conviction." Nevertheless, some DHS attorneys incorrectly argue that § 1473.7 vacaturs are not

Detention / bond Crimes and categorical approach BIA appeals BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Aug 6, 2019

Practice Advisory: Ninth Circuit holds Calif Pen C 243(d) is a crime of violence in U.S. v. Perez

In a flawed but significant decision, the Ninth Circuit held that California Penal Code § 243(d), battery with injury, is a crime of violence. United States v. Perez (9th Cir. July 11, 2019). Because of Perez, criminal defenders must assume that § 243(d) is a crime of violence and seek other dispositions when necessary. Immigration advocates should appeal adverse decisions and preserve the argument on appeal. See this Advisory for a discussion of the decision, alternative pleas, and suggestions

Crimes and categorical approach BIA appeals BIA Court of appeals Direct PDF
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National Immigrant Justice Center Template motion Jul 17, 2019

Sample Motion Criminal History Chart

Call and message your members of Congress telling them to oppose any effort to give ICE and Border Patrol more funding.

Crimes and categorical approach Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Apr 5, 2019

What Qualifies as a Conviction for Immigration Purposes?

Immigration law has its own definition of what constitutes a criminal "conviction." Because most, although not all, immigration consequences require a conviction, if your client does not have a conviction the immigration case might be saved. This Advisory discusses which dispositions that come out of criminal court actually constitute a conviction for immigration purposes, and how to avoid a conviction. It has been updated to include the BIA's decision that a conviction on direct appeal of right

Crimes and categorical approach BIA appeals BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Defense Project Practice advisory Jan 24, 2019

Practice Advisory: The Conviction Finality Requirement in Light of Matter of J.M. Acosta : The Law Circuit-by-Circuit and Practice Strategies Before the Agency and Federal Courts (January 24, 2019, by IDP)

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Crimes and categorical approach Removal defense Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Jan 1, 2019

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

In August 2018, the Ninth Circuit published an opinion holding that methamphetamine as defined under California law is not a controlled substance for federal immigration purposes. In January 2019, however, the court withdrew the published opinion, and issued a non-published opinion that came to the same conclusion. See Lorenzo v. Sessions , 902 F.3d 930 (9th Cir. 2018), withdrawn by Lorenzo v. Whitaker , 913 F.3d 930 (9th Cir. 2019), and unpublished decision at Lorenzo v. Whitaker , 752 F. App'x

Crimes and categorical approach Court of appeals Direct PDF
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Immigrant Legal Resource Center Practice advisory Oct 15, 2018

Matter of Velasquez-Rios and 364-Day Misdemeanors

The BIA has held that that it will not give retroactive effect to California Penal Code § 18.5(a) on convictions from before January 1, 2015. It will consider a California misdemeanor conviction from before January 1, 2015 to have a potential sentence of up to one year, while a misdemeanor conviction on or after that date will have a potential sentence of up to 364 days. Having a potential sentence of just 364 days can help some immigrants who are convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.

Crimes and categorical approach BIA appeals BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Defense Project Practice advisory Jul 16, 2018

UPDATED Practice Advisory: Challenging the Validity of Notices to Appear Lacking Time-and-Place Information: How to use Pereira v. Sessions to overcome the “stop-time” rule and, more broadly, to challenge Immigration Court jurisdiction (updated July 16, 2018, by IDP and NIP-NLG)

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Crimes and categorical approach Removal defense Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Defense Project Practice advisory Apr 25, 2018

Practice Advisory: Sessions v. Dimaya : Supreme Court strikes down 18 U.S.C. §16(b) as void for vagueness (April 25, 2018, by IDP and NIP-NLG)

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Crimes and categorical approach Removal defense Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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Immigrant Defense Project Practice advisory Apr 18, 2018

Practice Advisory: Litigating CIMT Theft Removal Charges and Adjudicative Retroactivity in the Second Circuit After Obeya v. Sessions (April 18, 2018, by IDP)

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Crimes and categorical approach Removal defense Immigration court BIA Direct PDF
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