Immigration detention resources

The first place to look for country condition information

USCIS Admissibility Policies and Procedures

"The USCIS Policy Manual is the agency's centralized online repository for USCIS' immigration policies. The USCIS Policy Manual will ultimately replace the Adjudicator's Field Manual (AFM), the USCIS Immigration Policy Memoranda site, and other policy repositories."

New Additions to the EOIR Virtual Law Library. This is where new BIA decisions are posted. There are also lists to catalogs of agency decisions and indices of these decisions.

CLINIC's Web Classroom for Immigration Law Training

This appears to be a recording of the closing arguments in this case that is relevant to the official restraint doctrine.

A publication of the American Bar Association

"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.

"We find that detention outcomes vary significantly across facility operator types (private versus non private) and facility locations (within or outside of major urban areas). Specifically, our multivariate regression analyses show that confinement in privately operated facilities is associated with significantly longer detention and a higher number of grievances. We find a similar pattern of results for confinement in facilities located outside of major urban areas. On the other hand, confinement in privately operated facilities, and confinement in facilities located outside of major urban areas, respectively, are associated with lower risks of inter-facility transfers."

An archive of open access peer reviewed immigration law publications.

"Noncitizens may file a petition for review in the court of appeals to seek judicial review of a final removal order. This Practice Advisory addresses the procedures and general requirements for filing and litigating a petition for review."

Page 8 mentions in forma pauperis (IFP); the document also cites Federal Rules for Appellate Procedure (FRAP) 24(b) and 28 USC § 1915. Section 1915 indicates that civil matters are included under IFP.

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.

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