In April of 2021, DHS issued a revised courthouse arrest policy clarifying its position on when ICE and CBP officials can conduct civil immigration arrests in or near courthouses. For a brief explanation and analysis of the memorandum, please see IDP’s Legal Analysis of April 27, 2021 DHS Memorandum “Civil Immigration Enforcement Actions in or near Courthouses.”
Lawsuit Filed Under Freedom of Information Act May 11, 2021, Chicago – Today, immigrant rights groups sued Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to compel ICE to release documents pertaining to its operation of so-called “Citizens Academy” programs. These programs are spearheaded by ICE’s public relations offices and one of the ways that ICE subverts … Read more »
What you will learn: Contact with the criminal legal system can create unique risks and complications for an immigrant client. The Immigrant Defense Project Helpline provides individualized analysis of the effect of any contact with the criminal legal system on a person’s immigration status and gives clear, accurate, individualized advice to legal service providers by serving as “crim-imm” experts. This … Read more »
There are many types of documents related to a case in New York City criminal courts. Each document provides different information about a case and not every document is always needed to understand what happened. This redesigned resource explains the steps you should take to figure out which documents are necessary to learn more about a criminal court case. It … Read more »
Description IDP is offering a free online training series in the months of May and June. The goal of this series is to train immigration attorneys and advocates, DOJ-accredited representatives, and support staff on issues at the intersection of criminal law and immigration law. The series will cover issues related to advising clients who have had contact with the criminal … Read more »
What you will learn: Contact with the criminal legal system can create unique risks and complications for an immigrant client. Immigration practitioners may have situations where they represent an immigrant who separately has an open criminal case in New York City and may not feel comfortable advising criminal defense counsel on how to resolve it. This training is intended to … Read more »
Today, the New York legislature reversed years of harmful criminalization by passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which creates a legal recreational marijuana market in New York and expands the medical marijuana program. For years, New York marijuana convictions have caused immeasurable harm to immigrant communities across New York State. Marijuana prohibition has fueled the disproportionate arrest rate of … Read more »
Today the House passed the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, bringing millions of immigrants who came to the US as kids, who are eligible for Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure, or who worked in agriculture, one step closer to permanent protection and access to life-sustaining resources, opportunities, and care. Yet this step … Read more »
ALBANY – Senator Julia Salazar and Assembly Member Karines Reyes, joined by members of the immigrant advocacy, faith, and public health communities came together today to announce The New York for All Act, which prohibits state and local government officials, including police and sheriffs, from diverting personnel and resources or disclosing sensitive information to assist federal immigration enforcement. The New York for All … Read more »
February 2, 2021 As we awaken from the nightmare of Trump’s presidency, we are relieved to see President Biden responding to years of organizing against the racism and xenophobia that has fueled immigration policing, detention and deportation over the last four years. President Biden’s executive orders on immigration represent an important acknowledgment that the current immigration system’s policies and practices … Read more »
December 17th, 2020 By Immigrant Defense Project and Center for Constitutional Rights On November 17, 2020, at 4:45 AM, five plain-clothes agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) climbed the side of a building in south Brooklyn and attempted to enter a second floor apartment. They banged on windows, breaking one, and threatened the tenants on the ground floor–if they didn’t let … Read more »
For Immediate Release December 15, 2020 Immigrant Defense Project and the ICE Out of Courts Coalition Celebrate Signing of Protect Our Courts Act With Governor’s Signature, New Law Prohibits ICE From Using Courts to Trap Immigrant New Yorkers NEW YORK— With Governor’s Cuomo signing the Protect Our Courts Act (S425/A2176) into law today, New York has taken a momentous step … Read more »
Este folleto, producido por el Proyecto de Defensa del Inmigrante (Immigrant Defense Project) y el Centro de Pedagogía Urbana (Center for Urban Pedagogy), es una guía en español orientada a la comunidad que informa a las personas como preparase para un posible arresto, detención, y procedimientos en la corte de inmigracion por ICE. Enfatiza la importancia de obtener asesoría legal precisa, recopilar y … Read more »
by Manny Vargas As COVID-19 hit New York and the nation in March, an important immigrant rights’ anniversary date passed largely unnoticed – the tenth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 31, 2010 decision in Padilla v. Kentucky. For immigrants, Padilla represented a groundbreaking recognition by the highest Court in the country that for noncitizens, the constitutional right to … Read more »
Background IDP engages in litigation efforts to challenge the unjust detention of immigrants. Our ongoing work primarily focuses on habeas corpus petitions before the federal courts and bond litigation before immigration courts. Specifically, IDP has supported legal challenges to mandatory detention based on previous criminal convictions or classification as an “arriving alien,” detention pending a final order of removal where … Read more »
Background IDP supports litigants in cases addressing whether certain offenses are categorically deemed “crimes involving moral turpitude” under immigration law, advocating for the strict application of the categorical approach. Practice Advisories Practice Advisory: Litigating CIMT Theft Removal Charges and Adjudicative Retroactivity in the Second Circuit After Obeya v. Sessions (April 18, 2018, by IDP) Addendum: Exploring Applications of the Anti-Retroactivity Holding of Obeya … Read more »
Background IDP is engaged in litigation before the federal courts and BIA challenging government efforts to bar noncitizens from establishing eligibility for relief from removal or eligibility for lawful status solely because a “record of conviction” is merely ambiguous as to whether the conviction is for a disqualifying offense under immigration law. Under the government’s view, noncitizens could be barred … Read more »
Background IDP participates in litigation efforts to limit retroactive application of new laws and policies that restrict the rights of immigrants. For example, IDP has worked to prevent retroactive application of certain provisions of the 1996 laws, such as the repeal of former 212(c) relief and restrictions on re-entry for lawful permanent residents. Practice Advisories Matter of Abdelghany: Implications for … Read more »
Background IDP engages in strategic litigation before the immigration agencies and the federal courts in support of the conviction “finality rule,” which is the longstanding rule that a criminal conviction may not trigger certain immigration consequences unless all direct appeals of right have been exhausted or waived. Practice Advisories Amicus Briefs
Background The harsh penalties for drug use and sale have torn families and communities apart without providing the safety those communities deserve. IDP is working to end the double punishment of people with drug convictions and reverse the harms of the drug war for immigrant communities. In 1996, Congress enacted legislation hugely expanding the numbers of immigrants subject to mandatory … Read more »