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.
Filters
| Resource | Source | Topics | Date | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Velasquez v. Miranda Supreme Court of PennsylvaniaVelasquez v. Miranda Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (February 1 2024). NIWAP, represented by K & L Gates, filed an amicus brief on appeal from the judgement of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania dated June 20, 2023. The amicus brief argues that any confusion regarding the role of Pennsylvania courts in the process of obtaining SIJ status jeopardizes the ability of a child who is otherwise eligible for SIJ status to receive the protections created for them by Congress. State courts must fulfill th Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Special Immigrant; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Special immigrant
Children and SIJS
Immigration court
BIA
|
Jan 7, 2025 | |
Velasquez v. MirandaThe Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the superior court decision and remanded back to the custody court. Why it matters: Useful as an amicus or advocacy example on Special Immigrant; confirm the cited authority and procedural posture before adapting it. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Special immigrant
Children and SIJS
Cross-forum
|
Sep 30, 2024 | |
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 | |
Employment and ImmigrantsHoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board (December 10 2001) Supreme Court of the United States. National Immigrant Law Center (NILC) and others, represented by National Employment Law Project, submitted this amicus brief supporting the importance of back pay remedies when labor laws are violated including relief for undocumented workers. Second amicus brief filed regarding a Government of Mexico requested advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (20 Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Employment materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National |
Employment
Cross-forum
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Family Law* United States v. Dixon (December 2 1992-June 28 1993) U.S. Supreme Court. United States V. Michael Foster (United States v. Dixon, 598 A.2d 724, 725 (D.C. 1991), cert. denied, 112 S. Ct. 1759 (1992), aff’d in part and rev’d in part, 113 S. Ct. 2849 (1993). Amicus brief filed in the Supreme Court of the United States as the organization that serves as counsel for the domestic violence victim in the underlying protection order contempt proceeding that resulted in an over 600 day sentence for mul Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Family materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Family-based practice
Cross-forum
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Federal Preemption in Immigration LawFriendly House Et Al., V. Michael B. Whiting Et Al ., (June 11, 2010) United States District Court Arizona. Legal Momentum, recruited by the ACLU, MALDEF, The National Immigration Law Center, and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (represented by Manatt, Phelps, and Phillips) to organize a brief articulating immigrant women’s perspective amicus in support of plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop implementation of key portions of Arizona’s anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070 Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Removal Defense materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National |
Removal defense
Federal court
Federal district court
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Gender-Based AsylumVallabhaneni (September 27 2001) Board of Immigration Appeals. NOW Legal Defense Fund and others filed this amicus in support of the appeal by Aruna C. Vallabhaneni of the decision of the Immigration Judge denying her application for political asylum despite an undisputed record of years of severe domestic violence and her inability to obtain protection from the government of India. The record before the judge established that Ms. Vallabhaneni was persecuted in the past and that she has a well-f Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Asylum materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National |
Asylum
BIA appeals
Immigration court
BIA
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Public Benefits Access for ImmigrantsJane Doe v. Claire McIntire (August 10, 2001) Commonwealth of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. NOW Legal Defense Team, represented by Foley, Hoag & Eliot, Pro Bono, filed an amicus brief appealing a denial of TANF benefits to two immigrant women lawfully residing in Massachusetts, the denial was based on six month residence requirement before receiving benefits. One woman was fleeing domestic violence and the other residing with family during pregnancy. Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Family materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
Family-based practice
BIA appeals
BIA
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Special Immigrant Juvenile StatusGuardianship of S.H.R. v. Jesus Rivas (March 21, 2022; August 15, 2022) Supreme Court of California. NIWAP, represented by Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of California in a case in which the Court of Appeals wrongly denied an SIJS eligible child SIJS predicate findings. The amicus brief detailed the legislative and regulatory history of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and discussed how the approach taken by the Court of Appeals directly contradicts this Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse BIA Appeals materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library National Direct PDF available |
BIA appeals
Federal court
Special immigrant
Children and SIJS
Immigration court
BIA
Court of appeals
|
Apr 25, 2024 | |
Trauma, Testimony, and Adult VictimsGabriel Perez Cruz v. Barr , (July 2 2020) U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit. NIWAP assisted the Family Violence Appellate Project in California in developing, securing social science support for and national sign ons from 16 organizations nationally for this 9th Circuit Amicus Brief in which we were represented by Haney and Boone LLP. The brief discussed the mental health impact of domestic violence and coercive control in abusive relationships and perpetrators who coerce their victims into com Why it matters: Useful as a source-specific directory when you want a quick way to browse Removal Defense materials without searching the entire site. |
NIWAP Library 9th Circuit |
Removal defense
Family-based practice
BIA appeals
Federal court
BIA
Court of appeals
|
Apr 25, 2024 |