Legal Advice
IDP provides expert legal advice on the immigration consequences of contact with Criminal and Family Courts. We assist immigrants and their loved ones, criminal defenders, family court practitioners, and immigrant advocates through a range of services including the IDP Helpline and the newly created Padilla Support Center.
While IDP cannot provide direct representation in immigration removal proceedings we can offer individualized advice. If you are an immigrant or the loved one of an immigrant in need of assistance, please leave a voicemail on the IDP Helpline and someone will return your call within two business days. Please be ready to provide information on immigration, criminal court, and family court history.
How We Can Help
Immigrants
- Are you an immigrant in need of legal assistance?
- Do you have a loved one in need of legal assistance?
Please call the IDP Helpline at 212.725.6422
NYC Appointed Criminal and Family Counsel
The IDP Padilla Support Center provides FREE expert legal advice to NYC appointed criminal and family counsel.
Nonprofit Legal Service Providers
If you have a non-citizen client who has had prior contact with the criminal or family court systems, we can help.
Please fill out an online request.
Immigration Attorneys and Advocates: Please note, it will take 4-6 weeks for us to send an initial analysis, unless you indicate there is an urgent external deadline, such as an upcoming court date, interview date, deadline for a Request for Evidence (RFE), or appeal deadline.
Private Counsel
Due to the high demand for our services from indigent immigrants and appointed counsel, we are currently unable to provide individualized advice to private counsel.
Professional Trainings
Since its founding, IDP has been committed to providing legal training on issues at the intersection of criminal and immigration law.
IDP designs training for a wide range of legal professionals. Since the Supreme Court’s landmark Padilla v. Kentucky decision, IDP has focused on training public defenders, but we also customize trainings for immigration attorneys, assigned counsel, family court practitioners, BIA accredited representatives, judges, prosecutors, and community advocates.
Upcoming Trainings
2024 Seminar:
Defending Immigrants Affected by Mass Incarceration
April 16 – 17, 2024
Community Trainings
IDP strongly believes that lawyers should not have a monopoly on information. For this reason, we are committed to empowering community members through the development of accessible presentations and materials on the intersection of the criminal justice and immigration enforcement regimes.
Please check out our Community Defense page for more information.
Past Trainings
A sample of trainings that IDP has given in the past.
- Cutting-Edge Criminal Appellate Strategies for the Defense of Noncitizens
- Litigation About the Categorical Approach: Realistic Probability, Means/Elements Divisibility, and the Burden of Proof
- Naturalization and Crimes
- Immigration Enforcement under the Priority Enforcement Program
- The Supreme Court’s 2015 and 2016 Immigration Decisions: Mellouli v. Lynch and Controlled Substances, and Luna-Torres v. Lynch and Agency Deference
- Immigration Consequences of Summons Court Dispositions
- Immigration Consequences of Domestic Violence Convictions and Orders of Protection