Practice Advisories & Brief Bank
Public immigration practice advisories, sample briefs, template motions, amicus briefs, and government guidance, organized in one searchable index and linked to the original host.
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| Resource | Source | Topics | Date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ASISTA Practice Advisory: Addressing Late-Breaking Inadmissibility Grounds for U Visa BeneficiariesAddresses strategy when inadmissibility issues surface late in a U-visa case and explains how to preserve the case rather than treating the new issue as fatal. Why it matters: Worth including because late-breaking inadmissibility problems create avoidable denials when counsel does not adjust the waiver strategy quickly enough. |
ASISTA National |
VAWA / U / T
Waivers
USCIS
|
Aug 8, 2024 | |
he Federal District Court granted Ms. Soto Alvarado’s MotionIn a case brought in Federal District Court in Rhode Island an abused spouse whose VAWA self-petition had been approved challenged USCIS’s revocation of her approved petition. The self-petitioner was divorced from her abuser and remarried after filing the self-petition but before the self-petition had been approved. The court’s ruling allows the self-petitioner to fully litigate her challenge the USCIS’s revocation of her self-petition due to remarriage in Federal District Court. The court’s rul Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
Federal court
VAWA / U / T
USCIS
Federal district court
|
Jun 15, 2024 | |
Wilkinson v. Garland (September 2023) US Supreme Court.NIWAP participated in an amicus brief on writ of certiorari to the US Court of Appeals of the Third Circuit to ensure that courts review BIA hardship determinations for immigrant victims of domestic violence seeking cancellation of removal under VAWA. SCOTUS ruled in favor of Wilkinson, holding that the application of the exceptional and extremely unusual hardship standard to an established set of facts is a mixed question of law and fact that is reviewable under 1252(a)(2)(D). This ruling gives Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library 3rd Circuit Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
VAWA / U / T
BIA
Court of appeals
|
May 2, 2024 | |
U VisaUnited States V. Luciana Moreno-Lopez ; (June 7 2010) United States District Court, Eastern District of Chattanooga. The National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women, among others, and represented by Dean Hill Rivkin, filed an amicus brief in a case in which undocumented workers had been victims of extortion, when the workers complained to EEOC and the Department of Labor the employer retaliated by triggering the employees detention by the Department of Homeland Security. The workers Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Detention / Bond materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National |
Detention / bond
Federal court
Consular practice
VAWA / U / T
Federal district court
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
VAWA ConfidentialityHawke v. Department of Homeland Security , (May 23 2008) United States District Court for the District of Northern California. Legal Momentum, represented by Morgan and Lewis submitted this amicus brief discussing the history and purpose of VAWA Confidentiality created in 1996 (expanded in 2000 and 2005) as Section 384 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (“IIRIRA”). In this case of first impression, the Court clarified that VAWA confidentiality provisions p Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Federal Court materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National |
Federal court
VAWA / U / T
Federal district court
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Matter of MAIn the Matter of M-A. (2020) Brief filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals. NIWAP was lead amicus in an appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeal in a case of first impression challenging an Immigration Judge’s denial of VAWA cancellation of removal to an LGBTQ+ immigrant victim of spouse abuse who suffered multiple VAWA confidentiality violations including Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement informing the court they planned to call the perpetrator as a witness, submitting an affidavit by t Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on VAWA / U / T; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
VAWA / U / T
Immigration court
BIA
|
Nov 16, 2023 | |
United States V. Luciana Moreno-LopezAmicus brief in a case in which undocumented workers had been victims of extortion, when the workers complained to EEOC and the Department of Labor the employer retaliated by triggering the employees detention by the Department of Homeland Security.The workers filed and received U-visas as victims of extortion despite this fact, the U.S. attorney brought charges against the workers for document fraud. This amicus brief, filed in the employees’ criminal case, described the history and purpose of Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Consular; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Consular practice
VAWA / U / T
Cross-forum
|
Nov 2, 2023 | |
Arguijo v. USCIS (July 24 2020) US Court of Appeals 7th CircuitThe National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) represents Jennifer Arguijo, who was 11 years old when her mother married her stepfather, who turned out to be abusive. Applying BIA case law from other contexts, VSC held that a stepchild-stepfather relationship ends after the biological parent divorces the stepparent, unless there is a “continuing relationship” between the stepchild and stepfather. NIJC sought reconsideration, and appealed to the AAO. The AAO affirmed the VSC’s decision to deny the Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library 7th Circuit Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
BIA appeals
Federal court
VAWA / U / T
USCIS
Immigration court
BIA
Court of appeals
|
Nov 1, 2023 | |
https://niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu/pubs/nvart-decisionNvart decision (January 20 2006) [pdf] Published November 1, 2023 Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
Special immigrant
VAWA / U / T
Cross-forum
|
Nov 1, 2023 | |
Rosario v. Holder (May 10 2010) US Court of Appeals 2nd CircuitRosario v. Holder (May 10 2010) US Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit. National Network to End Violence Against Immigrant Women respectfully moves pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure for 29 for leave to file an amicus brief in support of Appellant Josefa Rosario. Client placed in removal proceedings, concedes removability and applies for VAWA Cancellation of Removal. IJ denies cancellation based on finding that there is not substantial evidence of battery to the extent envisioned by the st Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library 2nd Circuit Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
BIA appeals
Federal court
VAWA / U / T
Immigration court
BIA
Court of appeals
|
Nov 1, 2023 | |
Aguilar-JimenezIn the Matter of Aguilar-Jimenez, Board of Immigration Appeals (2002) Filed an amicus brief discussing the “extreme cruelty” and “extreme hardship” standards in the context of requests for suspension of deportation under VAWA, specifically that extreme cruelty includes the psychological and emotional abuse imposed on a child who is forced to watch as a parent is battered by another parent. (Crowell and Moring Pro Bono) Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Removal Defense; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Removal defense
VAWA / U / T
BIA
|
Oct 24, 2023 | |
Cazorla v. Koch Foods of Mississippi,Cazorla v. Koch Foods of Mississippi, (October 22 2015) United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit. NIWAP, represented by Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch, LLP, Arnold and Porter, Latino Justice PRLDEF, was the lead Amicus in the first case to reach the U.S. Courts of Appeals on the (VAWA) immigration confidentiality protections. In this workplace sexual assault case brought by the EEOC the employer is attempting to obtain through civil court discovery receive copies of and/or information c Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on VAWA / U / T; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library 5th Circuit Direct PDF available |
VAWA / U / T
BIA
Court of appeals
|
Oct 24, 2023 |