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Immigration Law: Internet Resources

After the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 after the September 11 attacks, the enforcement of immigration laws was transferred from the Immigration and Naturalization Service(INS) to the Department of Homeland Security.

ILRC

IMMIGRATION LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER ("ILRC"): ILRC originated in 1979 by Bill Ong Hing (immigrant rights attorney) in the wake of the civil rights movement and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 ("Hart-Celler Act").Previously known as the Golden Gate Immigration Clinic, as California was a major gateway for the influx of immigrants resulting from the Hart-Celler Act.

Websites (Non-profit)

Ø  American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

http://www.aila.org/

·         AILA, founded in 1946, is a national non-profit association of immigration lawyers providing continuing legal education, information, and professional services. 

·         Includes immigration news, CLE announcements, AILA publications catalog, links to other publisher’s products, job postings, and an immigration lawyer referral service.  

·         InfoNet: AILA members only 

o    Includes case law from federal circuit courts, AAO, BALCA, and AG/BIA (1993-current); public laws; Federal Register notices; agency memos, cables, and letters; documents and minutes from AILA liaison meetings with governmental agencies; Visa Bulletin; processing times for USCIS Administrative Appeals Office; AILA Dispatch; practice advisories and litigation tools; legislative updates and analyses; and AILA issue papers and press releases, etc. 

·         AILA Link (http://www.ailalink.org/): AILA's online law library: a subscription database published by AILA.

o    Includes the full-text of primary and secondary materials for immigration practitioners. Acess from the law school page.

Ø  Commission on Immigration, American Bar Association

http://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_services/immigration.html​

·         Publishes and provides online practical guides for advocates, attorneys, and judges dealing with issues surrounding detention, due process, immigrant children, and trafficking, naturalization, a Judges guide, and practice before the BIA.

Ø  Legal Action Center,  American Immigration Council (former, American Immigration Law Foundation)

http://www.legalactioncenter.org/

·         The Legal Action Center produces LAC Practice Advisories on a variety of topics and advises lawyers litigating due process and fairness issues in family, removal, and business immigration cases nationwide. Also included are ‘Issue Pages,’ ‘What’s New,’ ‘Litigation Clearinghouse,’ and litigation and advocacy by Lac. This website provides fast up-to-date legal reports.

Ø  National Immigration Forum

http://www.immigrationforum.org

·         The public education component associated with the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

·         Includes print and online publications, community resources database, and updates on current agency activity and immigration legislation.

·         Also provides in-depth study of immigration related  legislation from 1996.

Ø  National Immigration Project, National Lawyer’s Guide

http://www.nationalimmigrationproject.org/

·         The National Immigration Project is especially committed to working on behalf of the most disenfranchised and vulnerable, including, but not limited to, battered women, people with HIV/AIDS, children and noncitizen survivors of domestic violence, and criminal defenders.

Ø  Refugee Case Law, University of Michigan Law School

http://www.refugeecaselaw.org/

·         Searchable online collection of select cases (1961-) decisions of the most senior courts of seven countries including Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and select additional countries.

Ø  TRAC Immigration Project

http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/

·         TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse) is a data gathering, distribution, and research organization associated with Syracuse University. The TRAC Immigration Project posts government reports (GAO, CRS, inspectors general etc.), TRAC reports, and statistics on immigration and asylum.

Commercial Websites

 

Ø  BIB Daily – Bender’s Immigration Bulletin: Daily Edition

http://bibdaily.com/

·         News from inside and outside the federal system on immigration.

Ø  Immigration Daily

http://www.ilw.com/

·         This is the only daily newspaper on immigration law in the world. Has sections of use to immigration lawyers as well as for immigrants and employers.

Ø  Siskind’s Immigration Bulletin

http://www.visalaw.com/bulletin.html

·         From a large immigration law firm, this bulletin is a popular source on immigration, offering full-text articles archived back to 1994.