Immigration and the Government Online
- The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) home page posts the most recent government notices regarding immigration, and has information about how to use their services
- Infopass is the multilingual online system by which you can make an appointment with your local USCIS office, which is where you file most of the papers related to legal immigration (for example, visa sponsorship, adjustment of status, or applying for citizenship once you've fulfilled all the requirements)
- If you have an application receipt number (found on notices sent to you by USCIS) then you can check the status of your case online here
- The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security's immigration functions; you can read about their major initiatives, recent arrests, and sign up to receive bulletins
- ICE's page on the SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) details the new entry/exit requirements for foreign students
- The most recent offfical notices from ICE are published in the Federal Register, and archived here
- If you need to access your immigration records or documents relevant to your case and are having problems doing so, you can file a Freedom of Information & Privacy Act (FOIA) request, which can take up to four months; for more information about FOIA, see the Department of Justice's FOIA Reference Guide
- The Office of Immigration Statistics maintains official definitions of terms related to immigration and publishes statistics of the government's immigration activities, including detention, deportation and naturalization
- The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor within the State Department publishes country reports on the state of human rights in various regions; these are the first standard against which an asylum application will be judged
- The United Nations High Commission on Refugees is the UN's refugee agency
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Places to Find Immigration Advice
- Citizenship Now is a collaboration between CUNY and the NY Daily News that features resources for New Yorkers with questions about immigration law and the naturalization process
- Mae Cheng writes an immigration advice column for Newsday's New New Yorkers page. You can email them to her atmae.cheng@newsday.com, fax them to 718.793.6422, or mail them to Newday, New New Yorkers Page, 80-02 Kew Gardens Rd., 4th Floor, Kew Gardens, NY 11415; include a daytime phone number
- The New York Immigration Coalition's Immigration Law page provides helpful overviews of a number of different kinds of immigration and the laws that apply to them; they also maintain an immigration hotline at 1-800-566-7636
- Use this portal to locate your local Catholic Charities agency, which will usually provide a range of services for immigrants and refugees
- This BBC News Online feature unravels the myths that have grown up about asylum seekers flooding into Europe and explains what they can actually expect in each of five different E.U. member countries.
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Free or Low-Cost Immigration Lawyers
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Resources for Immigration Lawyers
- The Immigrant Defense Project of the New York State Defenders Association maintains an extensive page of links to case law, journal articles, legal service organizations, and other useful resources for lawyers defending immigrants
- The National Immigration Project maintains (for members) a brief bank dating back to 1997, as well as introductory materials on VAWA, NACARA and the immigration consequences of criminal convictions
- Pro Bono Net's Asylum Practice Area supports volunteer lawyers working on asylum cases
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Resources for Legislators & Legislation Activists
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Places to find Support and Social Services
The following organizations provide transition or resettlement assistance, emergency relief, counseling, classes, and/or other community resources.
Islamic Circle of North America
American Friends Service Committee
Arab American Family Center
Lutheran Immigrant & Refugee Services
Council of Peoples Organization
The International Institute of New Jersey
Nah We Yone
Catholic Charities Immigrant & Refugee Services
CAMBA
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Activist Groups that will Organize Around Specific Cases
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