LibGuides: Immigration & Asylum Resources: Clinics Quick Guide

Getting to Know Immigration Law

AILALink
The law library has a limited user subscription to AILALink, an online research platform created and maintained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILALink includes immigration statutes and regulations, case law, agency decisions and guidance documents, government manuals and AILA-produced reports and materials. It also provides access to AILA's secondary sources including Kurzban's Immigration Law Source Book and the AILA's Asylum Primer among many others. For more information, please contact reference@law.villanova.edu

Fragomen on Immigration Fundamentals: A Guide to Law and Practice (Fifth Edition) This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: 2015, supplemented 2022
Available via PLI PLUS database.
Immigration Law Practice Expediter by Matthew Bender & Company, Inc. This link opens in a new window
Call Number: On Lexis+
Walks you through the process of visa and asylum application filings along with other topics like deportation. Links out to relevant statutes, regulations & secondary sources that further explain each step of the process.

Immigration Law and Procedure in a Nutshell by David Weissbrodt; Laura Danielson
Call Number: Hornbook Reserve: KF4819.3 .W4
ISBN: 0314199446
Publication Date: 2017
Summarizes key concepts in immigration law.

Immigration Law and Procedure by Gordon, Mailman, Yale-Loehr & Wada This link opens in a new window
Call Number: 2nd Floor: KF4819 .G64 1988
Publication Date: Print updated through 2014; current edition on Lexis+
Provides comprehensive coverage of immigration law. Offers wide array of appendixes including official government forms, relevant executive orders, and sample litigation documents such as briefs and affidavits. Reputed to be the leading treatise on immigration law.

Kurzban's immigration law sourcebook : a comprehensive outline and reference tool by Ira Kurzban
Call Number: On AILALInk, on Reserve & in Clinic Library KF4819 .K87
Publication Date: 2018-2019 (16th edition)
Summarizes immigration law. Considered by many to be the most useful reference resource for immigration law.

Steel on Immigration Law This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Library Reserve: KF4819 .St32 1992
ISBN: 0314603948
Publication Date: Print copy updated through 2011; see Westlaw for current edition
Provides overview of immigration law.

Primary Sources--Statutes, Regulations & Decisions

All Immigration Law Administrative Materials This link opens in a new window
Clearinghouse with links to many different types of agency guidance documents and decisions including BALCA decisions, Office of Chief Admin. Hearing Officer Immigration Review Decisions, DHS USCIS Naturalization Guides, DHS ICE Policies and Procedures, DHS USCIS E Verify Questions and Answers, DHS USCIS Handbooks Manuals and Guides and BIA precedent and nonprecedent decisions.
Bender's Immigration and Nationality Act Service This link opens in a new window
Call Number: 2nd Floor: KF4819 .G66 1999
ISBN: 0820528773
Print updated through 2012. Current edition is available on Lexis+. Full text of the INA but includes hyperlinks to related sections and legislative history.
Bender's Immigration Regulations Service This link opens in a new window
Call Number: 2nd Floor: KF4819 .G68 1992
ISBN: 9780820516950
Print copy updated through March 2012. See Lexis+ for current edition. Covers 8 CFR (regulations related to the INA) and 22 CFR (Foreign Relations)

Immigration Court's Website (Philadelphia, PA)

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) (Title 8 U.S.C.) This link opens in a new window
Main immigration statute. Link to free version from Govinfo.gov

Portions of other Titles also cover Immigration: Title 20 (Education), Title 22 (Foreign Relations), Title 29 (Labor) & Title 42 (Public Health & Welfare)
INA and USC Citation Conversion Chart This link opens in a new window
Immigration practitioners rarely refer to sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act by its USC citation and instead refer to the section numbers for the Act which appeared in the Statutes at Large/act before it was codified in the United States Code. Use this conversion chart to locate the corresponding section for whatever citation you may have.

Regulations.gov (Pending & Proposed Regs)
Publication Date: Updated daily
Takes you to search page for "Immigration." Narrow by agency, document type or open/closed comment period using filters on left.

Title 29: Labor, Chapter 20: Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection This link opens in a new window

Going to Court

EOIR Policy Manual, Part II - Immigration Court Practice Manual
The Immigration Court Practice Manual has now been incorporated into the EOIR Policy Manual and is intended to provide "uniform procedures, recommendations, and requirements for practice before the Immigration Courts."
Immigration Court Practice Manual Citation Index
Allows you to look up a particular USC or regulation section or a well-known BIA case and see the page numbers where that item is discussed in the manual. Unfortunately this tool was not included when the Practice Manual was incorporated into the EOIR Policy Manual but this older version at least gets you to the general area of the revised version that covers your topic.

Immigration Dockets This link opens in a new window
Docket information for active and inactive Immigration cases filed in US District Courts, US Courts of Appeal, U.S. Bankruptcy Courts nationwide and selected State Courts. Coverage begins in 1990 with full coverage from 2000 on. Updated daily.
Bloomberg Law Dockets This link opens in a new window
Search by: court, keyword, docket number, one or more parties, judge, case name, attorney or firm and by date. Not exhaustive: covers US Federal and most state dockets; some international dockets as well. Federal dockets from 1989 to present while state docket coverage varies by court.
Immigration Trial Handbook by Maria Baldini-Potermin This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: Updated annually
Guidance on representing noncitizens in immigration proceedings at the administrative level including custody proceedings, deportation, master calendar hearings and BIA appeals among others.

Virtual Law Library (EOIR)
EOIR page featuring agency decisions, country conditions reports, federal register notices among other items.
Procertas
Want to learn how to create a Table of Authorities? Trying to figure out complicated Bluebooking? These tutorials can teach you how to format your court filings correctly. Request an account using the link on this guide: https://libguides.law.villanova.edu/procertas

Resources for Working with Clients

Essential English/Spanish and Spanish/English Dictionary 2nd Ed by Steven M. Kaplan
ISBN: 9041145664
Publication Date: 2013

Mental Health & Competency Resources
Immigration practice-specific mental health resources for attorneys including working with trauma victims.

Keeping Up to Date

Bender's Immigration Bulletin This link opens in a new window
Reports on developments in immigration law. Offers case summaries, select BIA decisions, reproductions of government documents and immigration-related documents in the Federal Register. Current and more recent issues on Lexis+ but older issues also available in print (1996 - 2012) on the Library's Second Floor & in Clinic Library, KF4819 .G69

Bender's Immigration Law Bulletin-Daily Edition
Free articles posted in the last few days. Log into Lexis to view older content.

Immigration Briefings This link opens in a new window
Covers one immigration issue (such as foreign adoptions, Child Citizenship Act and so on) in-depth per monthly issue.
Interpreter Releases This link opens in a new window
Also available in print: 2nd Floor: KF4800 .A15 I5 (print coverage: 1989 - 2015)
Weekly newsletter that analyzes legislative, administrative and judicial developments in immigration law. Westlaw coverage is from 1987 through the current week.

Immigration Organizations

American Immigration Counsel
The American Immigration Council (AIC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing public awareness of the contributions of immigrants and working toward fair immigration laws. (AIC Website). Website offers resources for attorneys (such as a newsletter and practice advisories), for immigrants (such as a discussion of U.S. immigration law, links for information on becoming a citizen and getting a lawyer) and for teachers (such as sample lesson plans and presentations relating to immigration).
American Immigration Lawyers Assocation
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is a professional organization primarily for lawyers who practice and teach immigration law.
Its website offers news on developments in immigration law and legislation, congressional testimony on immigration, issue papers on immigration issues, articles on ethics in practice of immigration law, and so on. Some of the resources on the AILA Web-site are only accessible by AILA members. Also offers an e-mail alert service for immigration news. This service is available for AILA and non-AILA members.
National Immigration Law Center
The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) is an organization "dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights of low income immigrants and their families." (NILC Website) Website includes analysis of proposed immigration legislation, articles on employment and public benefits as they relate to immigrants, and community education materials.

Employment & Labor Resources

Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook by Fragomen & Shannon This link opens in a new window
Call Number: 2nd Floor: KF4829 .Z9 .I45
ISBN: 0314934936
Publication Date: print 2012-2013, see Westlaw for current edition
Advises on employment-based immigration law. Provides detailed explanation of I-9 requirements. Discusses the process of an administrative proceeding against an employer for violations of immigration law.
Labor Certification Handbook by Fragomen, Del Rey & Bell This link opens in a new window
Advises on the labor certification process. Includes pertinent regulations.
State Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook by Austin T. Fragomen, Jr., Careen Shannon, and Daniel Montalvo This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: Updated through current year
Provides full text and analysis of state immigration statutes and regulations affecting employers and immigrant employees. Also includes some case analysis and discusses how state and federal immigration laws work together.

Asylum Resources

AILA's Asylum Primer by Dree K. Collopy; American Immigration Lawyers Association Staff (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9781573703765
Publication Date: 2019, current edition on AILALink
Comprehensive practice guide on asylum law and procedures.

AILALink
The law library has a limited user subscription to AILALink, an online research platform created and maintained by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILALink includes immigration statutes and regulations, case law, agency decisions and guidance documents, government manuals and AILA-produced reports and materials. It also provides access to AILA's secondary sources including Kurzban's Immigration Law Source Book and the AILA's Asylum Primer among many others. For more information, please contact reference@law.villanova.edu

Law of Asylum in the United States by Deborah Anker This link opens in a new window
Call Number: Clinic Library: KF 4836 .A96 2016
Publication Date: Print updated through 2016, see Westlaw for current edition
Newly updated version; considered the "go-to" resource for asylum practitioners. Discusses sources of law, standards of proof, evidence, forms of persecution, nexus requirements, bars to asylum, protections against torture as well as country condition resources and other materials.
Asylum Case Law Sourcebook This link opens in a new window
Digest summaries of federal court decisions on asylum petitions. Lists the country of origin and summarizes the holding. Updated annually.

The Asylumist
Political asylum blog authored by an immigration attorney. Posts are organized by subtopic and site includes numerous links to asylum seeker resources. Archives go back to March 2010.
Country Conditions Reports
Used to describe conditions in country of origin. May want to start with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and UNICEF.

Immigration & Asylum Resources: Clinics Quick Guide

Overview

Getting to Know Immigration Law

Primary Sources--Statutes, Regulations & Decisions

Going to Court

Resources for Working with Clients

Keeping Up to Date

Immigration Organizations

Employment & Labor Resources

Asylum Resources