Resources - Deportation System

The following resources are intended to assist immigration attorneys, advocates and immigrant families in fighting removal (deportation) cases that involve criminal offenses.

Removal Defense Checklist (4/19/10). This checklist offers a listing and brief synopsis of legal arguments and strategies that a lawyer or immigrant may raise in immigration removal proceedings after a criminal conviction or charge.

Quick Reference Chart for New York State Offenses. This chart lists common criminal offenses, and whether they might trigger a ground of removability. Warning for immigration practitioners:  The purpose of this chart is to warn criminal defense attorneys of risky convictions, and thus represents a conservative assessment of whether a conviction may fall into a particular immigration category.  This chart does not list strategies for challenging such designations in immigration court. Such arguments often exist, and we encourage you to research further whether you might make such challenges.

Quick Reference Chart for New Jersey State Offenses. This chart is similar to the above New York chart.

Quick Reference Chart for Connecticut State Offenses. This chart is similar to the above New York chart.

Quick Reference Chart for Vermont State Offenses. This chart is similar to the above New York chart.

“Particularly Serious Crime” Bars on Asylum and Withholding of Removal. This chart assists practitioners in determining whether an offense may be deemed a particularly serious crime, and thereby bar certain persecution-based relief from removal. It also includes a table of case law determinations.

Pro Se Advisory: Appealing Removal Orders in Federal Court (2005). On May 11, 2005, President Bush signed the REAL ID Act. This law eliminated habeas corpus review of orders of removal (deportation) and changed the way that people can appeal these orders to federal courts. This guide for immigrants fighting deportation without attorneys discusses how to file a petition for review to challenge your removal order. It also discusses the effect of the REAL ID Act on habeas petitions that were filed before the Act was adopted.

Immigration Detention and Removal: A Guide for Detainees and Their Families (2006). This guide provides general information about detention and removal proceedings based primarily on criminal convictions. The topics covered include: detention, court proceedings, grounds for removability, forms of relief, appeals, federal court review, and resources. This guide was prepared by the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society.

Developments in Representing Noncitizens Post-September 11 (2002). This outline describes legislation and administrative orders enacted in the months following September 11, 2001 and their impact on the representation of certain noncitizens.

Constitutional Limits on Federal Government's Power to Detain Immigrants Whom the Government Suspects to Be Terrorists (2001). This is an extensive legal analysis of the federal government's power to detain noncitizens and the implications of anti-terrorist measures.

*NEW* Deportation 101: A Community Resource on Anti-Deportation Education an Organizing. We have used this curriculum to train advocates, service providers, and immigrant community leaders across the country.

Deportation 101: Southeast USA Edition (2007) (9 meg PDF) .

Crim-Imm Practice Tips.  IDP issues these practice tips several times per year to update criminal defense attorneys on legal developments affecting immigrants facing criminal charges.