Guides: Researching Immigration & Asylum Law: U.S. Immigration & Asylum Framework

U.S. Immigration & Asylum

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) governs immigration and asylum in the United States. It provides processes for migrants from specific nations, provides policies, etc.

The USCIS Policy Manual is an online, centralized resource providing all USCIS immigration policies. It also will give recent updates to USCIS policies.
USCIS Asylum & Refugee page will supplement the information about asylum seekers provided in the USCIS Policy Manual.

Databases:

1. ProQuest Trends and Policy: U.S. Immigration

- Materials are organized by topic and include a topic summary and timeline with legislation, executive orders, CRS reports, hearings, GAO reports, data from the annual reports and the Statistical Yearbook of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, newspaper articles, and press releases.

2. AILALink

- Immigration law research platform with statutes, regulations, and selected case law. It also contains agency correspondence and manuals, AILA/government liaison minutes, forms, and many AILA publications including Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook.

9th Circuit Immigration and Asylum Resources

9th Circuit Relief from Removal Guide
Provides a table of contents for Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and the Convention Against Torture. For each element of each type of relief, this guide provides cases supporting arguments for or against.
The Ninth Circuit Immigration Outline
A holistic guide to immigration law in the 9th Circuit. It is a resource specifically to assist attorney's in analyzing petitions for review. It covers the following topics: Jurisdiction, Standards of Review, Relief from Removal (e.g. Asylum, Cancellation of Removal, Adjustment of Status), Motions to Reopen or Reconsider, Criminal Issues, Due Process, and Attorney Fees.