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LOP and Pro Se Materials in many languages

Guidelines on how to appeal a negative asylum decision and BIA denial to the 5th Circuit. Also includes information on filing in forma pauperis (to waive the $500 filing fee), pg 63 "FRAP 24. PROCEEDING IN FORMA PAUPERIS". At least one person we visit filed this form pro se and was able to waive the $500 fee.

"A benchbook is a book providing an overview of legal procedure for a judge. These books are used by judges while hearing cases as guides to assist in the disposition of a case. While benchbooks generally are not a source of substantive law, the EOIR Benchbook contained invaluable templates, motions, scripts, and cases for judges to cite to when entering orders." The EOIR Benchbook was mysteriously removed from the DOJ website in April of 2017 "Without these resources, both immigration attorneys and pro se respondents (immigrants who represent themselves without a lawyer) are at a great disadvantage. Susan Pai continues, "I hastily retrieved as much of the benchbook as I could before it disappeared from the Internet entirely. Meanwhile, my Kansas colleague Matthew Hoppock began the arduous endeavor of getting the EOIR Benchbook back online. He succeeded… for a time. The EOIR Benchbook was "archived" in an obscure location on the DOJ website. It was subsequently taken down again. After a Freedom of Information Act appeal, Attorney Matthew Hoppock was able to get the EOIR Benchbook back online. But, DOJ moved it to an obscure location on the website, did not update its DOJ website search engine to lead searches for the "EOIR Benchbook" to the right page, and the archived benchbook was only downloadable as a troublesome zip file." Links to the benchbook housed at none other than the Internet Archive are supplied in the blog post.

Hosted at the 9th Circuit, but the motions are submitted to the BIA so apparently more widely relevant.