Immigrant Defense Project seeks a dynamic and creative Executive Director who is committed to and passionate about justice for immigrants. The position is available as of September 2013, with some flexibility as to start date. For more details, click here.
IDP and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild have issued a practice advisory on Descamps v. United States, in which the Supreme Court clarified the proper use of the “modified categorical approach” to analyze the immigration and federal sentencing consequences of prior convictions. The Court squarely rejected a rule adopted by some lower courts (as well as the BIA) … Read more »
IDP, the American Immigration Council, and the National Immigration Project have issued a practice advisory on the implications for drug charges and other issues involving the categorical approach of the Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision in Moncrieffe v. Holder. The Supreme Court held that an offense that punishes the transfer of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration cannot be deemed a … Read more »
In Olivas-Motta v. Holder, __- F.3d ___ (9th Cir. May 17, 2013) the Ninth Circuit became the fourth circuit court of appeals to reject the Attorney General’s decision in Matter of Silva-Trevino, 24 I&N Dec. 287 (AG 2008), which permitted immigration courts to find some immigrants who have been convicted of crimes removable on the basis of alleged facts about their criminal … Read more »
On May 16, the First Appellate Dept. ruled in People v. Antonio Badia that it was improper to dismiss Antonio Badia’s 440 motion because the defendant had been deported. IDP, along with the Post-Deportation Human Rights Project, filed an amici brief arguing that defendants should be allowed to litigate post-conviction relief cases after deportation. The trial court had refused to look at the merits … Read more »
Tell members to protect parts of the immigration reform bill that allow immigration judges and officials to look at the individual circumstances of a person’s case and fight back against attempts to exclude more immigrants from the path to citizenship The current immigration bill falls short of overhauling our broken immigration system. The heart of the bill is clearly the pathway … Read more »
To oppose deportation provisions and amendments in the Senate Immigration Bill (S. 744) targeting those alleged to be gang members, please: 1. Sign your organization (no individuals) to the letter here. Sign-ons DUE by TOMORROW, May 15, 5 p.m. Eastern. 2. Call your senators Wednesday, May 15th and Thursday, May 16th (see action alert below): ACTION ALERT: (1) Ask the … Read more »
URGENT Action Alert: CALLS needed TODAY (Thursday, May 9) TODAY is the first day that the Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering amendments on the bipartisan immigration bill, S. 744. Today they will consider amendments on the bill’s border provisions. We’ve learned that Sen. Grassley of Iowa plans to offer his amendment 17 as a 2d-degree to Feinstein’s amendment 2 today. Grassley’s … Read more »
As the nation recovers from the horrific bombings in Boston, conservatives hastily called for delay of the Senate’s upcoming immigration reform debate, perhaps with the intent of proposing more extreme immigration measures and scoring political points with immigration opponents. Some likewise used the fear after Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City as an impetus to pass drastic changes to … Read more »
Register here. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Criminal Bars to Immigration Reform: Creating a Pathway to Citizenship for All Immigrants Monday April 29, 2pm EST/11am PST The Immigrant Justice Network, a collaboration between the Immigrant Defense Project, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, … Read more »
The Supreme Court has released its long-awaited decision in Moncrieffe v. Holder, holding that an offense that punishes the transfer of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration cannot be deemed a “drug trafficking crime” aggravated felony under the categorical approach. The Court’s 7-2 decision is also likely to have a beneficial impact on some other key issues regarding the proper … Read more »
We have postponed this event due to a last minute cancellation of the Floyd court case tomorrow.
For Immediate Release – April 18, 2013 Contact: Alisa Wellek, awellek[at]immigrantdefenseproject[dot]org 212.725.6421 917-727-8444 Senate “Gang of 8” Immigration Bill Needs More Work to Ensure Fundamental Fairness for All Immigrants Immigrant Justice Network applauds start of immigration debate PDF available here WASHINGTON, DC — The long-delayed congressional debate over vital immigration reform begins this week following the filing of a bipartisan … Read more »
Visit IDP’s Federal Immigration Policy page for analyses and updates.
The Defending Immigrants Partnership has published a Chaidez advisory detailing the claims for post-conviction relief that can still be asserted by immigrants who were not properly advised regarding the immigration consequences of a pre-Padilla criminal case. Chaidez is not the end of the story for these cases, and there are ways to fight dismissal of Padilla claims for convictions that … Read more »
In Pascual v. Holder, 12-2798, 2d Cir. Feb. 19, 2013, the Second Circuit held that third degree criminal sale of a controlled substance in violation of New York Penal Law § 220.39(1) is categorically an aggravated felony. The Court considered and rejected the argument in the Fifth Circuit’s unpublished decision in Davila v. Holder, No. 08-60530, slip op. (5th Cir. … Read more »
The Court issued its decision in Chaidez v. United States this past Wednesday. IDP worked extensively on amicus strategy and other support for the case. We are very disappointed in the decision and our hearts go out to all those who will be impacted by it. The Court held that Padilla is a “new rule” pursuant to Teague, and thus … Read more »
This advisory, issued jointly by IDP and the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, discusses the potentially helpful impact that a pending Supreme Court case may have on whether immigration judges can look behind criminal convictions to examine underlying court records. The criminal case, Descamps v. United States, has the potential to undermine the BIA’s problematic decision in Matter of Lanferman, 25 I&N … Read more »
As the White House and Congress considers reforms to the federal immigration system, the nation has an opportunity to address some of the system’s most unfair aspects and simultaneously resist new harmful provisions that immigrants and advocates would have to fight for decades to come. To help guide advocacy for a more humane immigration system toward fairness for all immigrants, … Read more »
IDP, along with ILRC, co-sponsored a two-day naturalization training for attorneys and immigration service providers in New York City on February 21-22, 2013. During this training, IDP led a four-hour workshop on how a criminal incident can affect a naturalization application and why some naturalization applicants could be placed in deportation proceedings based on contact with the criminal justice system. … Read more »