Immigration Training Resources

Immigration Training Resources for Attorney Volunteers

Deportation Defense CLE Webinar

• Cornell Law School Professors Stephen Yale-Loehr and Estelle McKee gave this CLE in June 2017.

American Immigration Lawyers Association Practice Resources (AILA)

• AILA is the national association of immigration lawyers and provides detailed trainings from experts in the field.
• Downloadable recordings, podcasts, and written advisories.
• If you are interested in volunteering with detained individuals, we recommend:
  • Preparing for Credible Fear Interviews
  • Central American Asylum Cases
  • Asylum 101 and 102
• Consider joining AILA to access all training content and subscribe to listservs and updates.

National Immigrant Justice Center

• Webinars and conference calls on emerging legal issues in immigration.
• Sign up for email updates and peruse prior recordings.
• Recommended:
  • The Muslim Ban Decision and Family Incarceration

Practising Law Institute

• PLI provides CLEs on a variety of topics led by practitioners and experts, including many informative programs in immigration law (listed under “pro bono”).
• Downloadable recordings and live webinars.
• Recommended:
  • Programs Discussing Immigration Bond Hearings
  • Under Pressure: Representing Clients in Reasonable Fear and Credible Fear Interviews in the Trump Era
  • Defending Immigration Removal Proceedings 2018

Immigration Justice Campaign

• Webinars, volunteering opportunities, and news updates.
• Recommended:
  • Webinar on Family Separation and Detention
  • Overview of Removal Proceedings

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

• Advocacy and policy organization providing numerous detailed trainings across immigration law.
• Webinars and downloadable recordings, for a fee.
• Recommended:
  • Building an Asylum Claim
  • Introduction to Bond Hearings

Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Penn State Law

• Clinic which provides detailed written advisories on each emerging immigration issue.

National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild

• In-person seminars and access to prior seminar’s program books.

Immigration Advocates Network

• Resources for in-person trainings in your state.
• Consider becoming a member for access to additional trainings.

New York Immigration Coalition

• Online and in-person trainings.
• Coming up: 40 Hour Overview of Immigration Law: Albany

Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.

• E-learning courses for a fee.

Litigating Immigration Matters

This section collects links for individuals seeking resources directly relating to litigating immigration cases.

• The Department of Justice (DOJ) publishes a practice manual for appearing before the immigration court
• Practice forms:
  • Frequently requested forms from the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), including fee waivers for immigration court and appeals from immigration court decisions, for example
  • Required forms from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as citizen petitions for alien relatives and applications for employment authorization.

Volunteering Legal Services and Donating to Legal Agencies

For opportunities for non-lawyer volunteers, lawyer volunteers, and agencies requesting donations, please see our page on Immigration Volunteer Opportunities.

If you are a Cornell alumnus interested in working on immigration cases with us, please email Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer at jak533@cornell.edu to connect with our mailing list.