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The Center for Immigration Law and Policy offers innovative programming that touches on immigration scholarship, policy, and practice.
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LOS ANGELES, CA – Today, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, the ACLU and the ACLU of Southern California, filed a brief on behalf of the Plaintiffs in the U.S. Supreme Court in FBI v. Fazaga. The Court will decide whether the U.S.
See below for Spanish. Vea abajo para español.
See below for Spanish. Vea abajo para español.
LOS ANGELES, CA -- In a new letter to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a group of leading immigration law professors and scholars submitted a detailed legal analysis for the Secretary to consider prior to announcing his department’s new guidelines for prosecutorial discretion in immigration law enforcement.
LOS ANGELES, CA The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law today announced that Dr. Moritz Baumgärtel has joined the Center as its first Visiting Scholar. Dr. Baumgärtel is a Fulbright-Schuman Visiting Scholar, and an Assistant Professor of Law at University College Roosevelt in the Netherlands, where he teaches public international law and human rights law. His research primarily focuses on the human rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants.
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News and Press Releases
Supreme Court Takes Up TPS Cases on Expedited Timeline
The U.S. Supreme Court today granted the Trump administration’s extraordinary request to consider, on an expedited timeline, the question of whether federal courts have authority to review the Secretary of Homeland Security’s decision to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Syrians and Haitians. Read more.
Federal Court Rejects Full Ninth Circuit Review of NTPSA v. Noem Ruling That Found DHS Exceeded Its Authority on TPS
A federal court of appeals has rejected a request to reconsider its decision that the Trump administration’s abrupt cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Venezuela and Haiti was unlawful. Read more.
Moving Beyond Externalization: U.S. and Mexican Scholars Offer Roadmap for U.S.-Mexico Migration Policy with Release of Binational Report
Today, UCLA’s Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) and the Seminar Migration, Inequality and Public Policies (MIGDEP) of El Colegio de México (COLMEX) jointly released “Moving Beyond Externalization in the U.S.-Mexico Relationship” a paper that proposes ways to reimagine the U.S.-Mexico relationship with respect to migration. Read more.
Attorneys File for Class Certification, Seek to Block ICE Re-Detention Practice at Check-In Appointments in the Southern District of California
Attorneys representing immigrants who were unlawfully re-detained at check-in appointments by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Diego are asking a federal court to temporarily block ICE from continuing to re-detain other immigrants who were previously released, while a lawsuit moves forward. Read more.
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Permits TPS Terminations for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua to Take Effect
A federal court of appeals today stayed a lower court’s final ruling in National TPS Alliance v. Noem (NTPSA II) that held the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 60,000 individuals from Honduras, Nepal and Nicaragua was unlawful. Read more.
Federal Court Ruling Offers Resounding Victory to TPS Alliance in NTPSA v. Noem
A federal court of appeals on Wednesday ruled that the Trump administration’s 2025 decision to abruptly strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from 600,000 Venezuelans was unlawful. Read more.
CILP Response to DHS' Murders in Minnesota and its Brutal Enforcement Tactics
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy’s faculty and staff made statements in response to the recent DHS murders in Minnesota and other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) tactics. Read more.
Federal Court of Appeals Hears Challenge to Cancellation of TPS for One Million Haitians and Venezuelans
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument today in a legal challenge to the cancellation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans and Haitians. Read more.
Federal Court Rules Trump Administration Illegally Ended TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
The Trump administration’s abrupt decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for individuals from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua is unlawful, a federal court ruled Wednesday. Read more.
Federal Court Grants Release of Three Immigrants Unlawfully Detained by ICE in San Diego
Three people who were abruptly detained in San Diego by immigration agents at check-in appointments despite previously being ordered released are free after a federal court intervened. Read more.
New Lawsuit Seeks to End Unlawful Trump Administration Practice Detaining Immigrants without Due Process in San Diego County
Three unlawfully detained immigrants in San Diego County filed a class-action lawsuit today against the federal government for its illegal practice of re-detaining and indefinitely jailing individuals who it previously released, have since committed no crimes, and have dutifully shown up to their immigration check-ins. Read more.
Federal Judge Holds Pivotal Hearing on Termination of TPS for 60,000 Immigrants from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
On Tuesday, Nov. 18, advocates, families, and community leaders gathered outside the Phillip Burton Federal Courthouse as a federal judge considered the legality of the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 longtime U.S. residents from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. Read more.
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law Brings Together Media, Community Leaders to Discuss Unprecedented Immigration Raids
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) hosted a panel discussion focused on the raids and the lessons learned from the collective response to those actions. Read more.
California Supreme Court Upholds Ruling That University of California Employment Policy Discriminates Against Undocumented Students
The California Supreme Court has upheld a lower court decision that found the University of California’s policy of barring undocumented immigrants from accessing on-campus jobs and paid research positions is discriminatory. Read more.
TPS Holders and Advocates Denounce Supreme Court Ruling in NTPSA 1 v. Noem
In an unreasoned three-paragraph order, the U.S. Supreme Court today granted the Trump administration’s request to stay a federal court decision protecting Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) while it appeals the lower court’s ruling. Read more.
Statement from TPS Holders in Filing of Brief Opposing Government's Request for Supreme Court Stay in NTPSA v. Noem
Attorneys for Venezuelan and Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders today filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in opposition to the Trump administration’s request for an emergency stay of a federal court ruling protecting the Venezuelan community. Read more.
UCLA Faculty Develop Website Tracing Every Deportation Order in U.S. History Over More Than 100 Years
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law and Million Dollar Hoods have partnered to create Mapping Deportations, an unprecedented website and organizing tool that traces every deportation order in the U.S. since 1895. Read more.
Federal Court Orders Trump Administration to Comply with Court Order Following Violations by the Government
A federal judge today ordered the Trump administration to comply with his earlier ruling reinstating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans. Read more.
Judge Rules Trump Administration Unlawfully Stripped TPS From More Than a Million Venezuelans and Haitians
A federal judge today ruled the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to strip Temporary Protected Status (TPS) from Venezuelans and Haitians is unlawful. Read more.
Ninth Circuit Court Upholds Federal Court’s Authority in Lawsuit Challenging the Trump Administration’s Attempt to Strip TPS From Venezuelans
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today unanimously upheld a federal judge’s ruling that concluded the unprecedented termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an estimated 600,000 Venezuelans is illegal, and held the federal judge has the authority to decide the case. Read more.
Ninth Circuit Court Allows Termination of TPS to Proceed for 60,000 Long-Term Residents from Nepal, Honduras, and Nicaragua
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today granted the Trump administration’s request to stay–or pause–a district court order that had continued Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 people from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua. Read more.
University of California's Policy of Denying Undocumented Students Access to On-Campus Jobs Ruled Unlawful
A California Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled the Regents of the University of California’s policy of barring undocumented immigrants from accessing on-campus jobs and paid research positions violates state law. Read more.
Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Delay Termination of Humanitarian Protection for 60,000 TPS Holders Who Have Lived in the US for Years
A federal judge in San Francisco on Thursday ordered a halt to the Trump administration’s decisions ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 60,000 people from Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua while the case proceeds. Read more.
TPS Holders Challenge the Termination of Temporary Protected Status for 60,000 Nepali, Honduran, and Nicaraguan Long-Term Residents of the United States
The National TPS Alliance (NTPSA) and seven individual plaintiffs today sued the Trump administration over its termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nationals of Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua who have lived lawfully in the U.S. for many years. Read more.
New Resource: Protecting Sanctuary – Tools for Upholding the California Values Act (SB54)
As federal immigration enforcement mounts across California, a new resource released today by the Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic, part of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, shares tools for upholding the state’s sanctuary law. Enacted in 2017, the California Values Act (SB 54) restricts the use of local and state law enforcement resources for cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. In the face of resistance to SB 54 from local jurisdictions and threats from the federal government, the need to uphold and enforce the law has never been more urgent. This new resource offers ways that individuals, organizations, and the California Attorney General can uphold SB54’s promise to protect the rights of California’s immigrant communities and enhance public safety for all Californians. Read here.
CILP Response to Federal Lawsuit Challenging Los Angeles Sanctuary Policies
The federal government on Monday filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles and others alleging that local sanctuary policies thwart federal immigration enforcement actions. Read more.
CILP Leaders Respond to Intensified Immigration Enforcement in Los Angeles
The federal government’s recent immigration raids across Southern California, and the unprecedented use of the National Guard and military forces to support those actions, has raised serious legal and public policy questions. Read more.
CILP Response to U.S. Supreme Court's Devastating Ruling on Humanitarian Parole Programs
The U.S. Supreme Court today issued an order granting the Trump administration’s emergency request to revoke humanitarian parole for more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who entered through what is collectively known as the “CHNV” program. Read more.
In Summary Order, SCOTUS Backs Trump Administration, Strips Protections from 350,000 Venezuelan TPS Holders
Today, in a two-paragraph summary order, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the district court’s order in NTPSA v. Noem, a challenge to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s cancellation of humanitarian protection to Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders. Read more.
Statement on Court Hearing in Lawsuit Challenging UC Regents' Discriminatory Policy that Denies Students Jobs Based on Immigration Status
Attorneys for undocumented students today presented oral argument at the California Court of Appeal in a historic case that seeks to end the University of California’s discriminatory policy denying educational employment opportunities to students based on their immigration status. Read more.
Government Requests Supreme Court Stay in NTPSA v. Noem
The Trump Administration today asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the district court’s order in NTPSA v. Noem, which has preserved Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants who are unable to safely return to Venezuela. Read more.
Federal Court Denies Government Request to Stay Order Ensuring Continuing TPS Humanitarian Protection for 350,000 Venezuelans
A federal court of appeals today denied the government’s request for a stay of a district court order preventing the federal government from stripping Temporary Protected Status from Venezuelans while the case moves forward. Read more.
Federal Court Blocks Trump Administration’s Termination of TPS for Hundreds of Thousands of Migrants from Venezuela
A federal court today blocked the federal government’s attempt to strip Venezuelans of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) while the case moves forward. Read more.
TPS Holders Challenge Cancellation of Humanitarian Relief for 600,000+ Venezuelans
Today, a federal judge heard a challenge from a group of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders against the Trump administration’s unlawful termination of TPS humanitarian relief. Read more.
TPS Holders Sue the Trump Administration Over Unlawful Attempt to Strip Protection from Venezuelans
A group of Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) today sued the Trump administration over its unprecedented attempt to strip hundreds of thousands of migrants of lawful immigration status. Read more.
Borders and Belonging: Changing the Conversation Around Immigration
Immigration remains one of the most polarizing issues in American political life. Read more.
CILP Statement on Trump Termination of Humanitarian Parole Programs
The Trump administration announced Monday that it intends to terminate humanitarian parole programs, including for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, collectively known as the CHNV program. Read more.
Immigrant Leaders at the University of California Secure Procedural Victory In Discrimination Lawsuit
The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a lower court to rule on the merits of a lawsuit filed against the University of California for discriminating against undocumented students enrolled at the university. Read more.
CILP Welcomes New Director of Strategic Communications
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law is thrilled to welcome Sandra Hernandez as the new Director of Strategic Communications. Read more.
CILP Message to Students on 2024 Presidential Election
The 2024 presidential election result raises profound questions for immigrant communities across the United States. Read more.
Immigrant Leaders at the University of California Sue School for Discrimination
Today, a UCLA alumnus and a university lecturer, represented by attorneys from the law firm of Altshuler Berzon LLP, Organized Power in Numbers, and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, filed a lawsuit against the University of California (UC) for discriminating against undocumented students enrolled at the institution. Read more.
Amidst Rise of Anti-Immigrant Policies Across the Globe, New Report Examines Treatment of Migrants Seeking Protection in U.S. and EU
A new report released today by the Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic, part of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, and Equal Rights Beyond Borders, a European human rights organization, takes a rare transnational look at the detention of asylum seekers, finding striking similarities in the United States (U.S.) and European Union (EU) detention systems. Read more.
New Report: Family Separation Persists at the U.S.-Mexico Border
A new report from the Immigrants' Rights Policy Clinic, part of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, sheds light on how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) continues to separate families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Told through timelines, policies, and personal stories, the report, entitled Cruel Indifference: Family Separation at the U.S.-Mexico Border Before and After Zero Tolerance, addresses the common misconceptions that family separation started under the Trump administration and ended under President Biden. Read more.
Federal Court Upholds Biden Immigration Parole Policy, Allows Thousands of Americans to Welcome Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans to the U.S.
The federal district court for the Southern District of Texas ruled against states today in Texas v. DHS, a lawsuit that attempted to curtail the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela Humanitarian Parole program. The court found that states lacked standing to sue. Read more.
University of California Defers Promise for Equitable Student Employment
Over strong dissents from several regents, the UC Board of Regents and UC President Drake rejected undocumented students’ demands for equitable access to employment opportunities on campus through the Opportunity for All campaign, deferring for one year a May 2023 commitment that it would devise and implement a policy allowing the UC to hire students, regardless of immigration status. Read more.
No Fair Day: Damning New Report Reveals the Biden Administration’s Unlawful Treatment of Children in Immigration Courts
A damning new report finds that the Biden administration has failed children in immigration court under its watch. Despite taking important steps in its early days, the report details how the administration's policies have led to grave injustices for children facing immigration court proceedings in the United States, and resulted in tens of thousands of children ordered deported, most without legal representation or a fair day in court. Read more.
CILP Joins #WelcomeWithDignity in Rejecting Efforts to End Asylum
Several media outlets have reported that the Biden administration is willing to curtail life-saving protections to people fleeing persecution, as well as expand the use of rapid deportation proceedings for those already in the United States, in exchange for emergency foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel. Read more.
Solutions That Work? Analyzing State Employment Authorization for Noncitizens in the U.S.
Although border and asylum issues remain front and center in virtually all U.S. immigration news, a key question lurking just beneath the surface is now arising in several different contexts: Can states authorize noncitizens to work? Read CILP Faculty Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham's latest blog post in Just Security.
UCLA Legal Experts Join Calls for U.S. Senators to Stand Against Callous Efforts to Restrict Asylum
Legal experts at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law are joining growing calls urging U.S. Senators to reject negotiations that threaten to dismantle access to asylum and other humanitarian protections. Read more.
Opportunity for All Campaign Continues as UC Regents Fail to Meet Self-Imposed Deadline for Announcing Plan to Implement Equitable Employment Opportunities for Undocumented Students
Undocumented student leaders at the University of California secured a critical victory in the Opportunity for All campaign in May 2023 as the UC Board of Regents announced their commitment to move forward with removing hiring restrictions for all UC students, regardless of immigration status. Read more.
NEW REPORT: Migration, Race, & Criminalization: Federal Criminal Entry & Reentry Laws in the United States
In June 2023, we submitted a report to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) alongside the Promise Institute for Human Rights at UCLA School of Law and several regional partners. The report details personal testimony and legal analyses of structural racism in migration throughout the Americas. The report follows our groundbreaking hearing before the IACHR in March 2023, where we were joined by more than a dozen partner organizations working across the Americas to present at a thematic hearing regarding human mobility, structural racism, and the need for an anti-racist approach. Read more.
‘Gross Miscarriages of Justice’ Continue Two Years into Biden Administration’s Fast-Track Court Program for Families Seeking Asylum
Two years ago, the Biden administration launched the “Dedicated Docket,” a fast-track immigration court program targeting families seeking asylum at our southern border, promising that it would resolve cases “more expeditiously and fairly.” Read more.
Undocumented Student Leaders Secure First Victory in Opportunity for All Campaign as UC Announces its Support of Removing Hiring Restrictions for Undocumented Students
Undocumented student leaders at the University of California secured a critical victory in the Opportunity for All campaign today as the UC Board of Regents announced their plan to move forward with removing hiring restrictions for all UC students, regardless of immigration status. Read more.
New Evidence of Horrific Treatment of Pregnant People in CBP Custody Reignites Demands For Change
Jewish Family Service of San Diego, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and ACLU of Texas, along with over 175 advocacy organizations, medical professionals, and individuals sent a letter today to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Troy Miller demanding CBP uphold the reproductive rights and health of migrants in the wake of new evidence of harm. Read more.
District Court Grants U.S. Citizens’ Motion to Intervene in Texas v. DHS
A federal district court in Texas has granted a motion by seven U.S. citizens over the objection of plaintiff states to become parties in Texas v. DHS, ensuring that their voices will be heard as they defend their ability to sponsor loved ones and others from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela through a recently announced “CHNV” humanitarian parole program. Read more.
U.S. Citizens and Leading Immigrant Rights Groups File Intervention in Texas v. DHS
A schoolteacher, a retiree, a doctor, and four other U.S. citizens asked a federal district court to allow them to become parties to Texas v. DHS to defend their ability to sponsor loved ones and others from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela through a recently announced “CHNV” humanitarian parole program. Read more.
CILP’s Ahilan Arulanantham, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Broach Child Deportations, Immigrant Representation, Temporary Protected Status and More
Ahilan Arulanantham, Professor from Practice and Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, interviewed Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Thursday, March 9 at Fordham University Law School. Read more.
In Groundbreaking Testimony, Migrant Justice Advocates from Across the Americas Highlight Effects of Racism in Migration Before the IACHR
During the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) Period of Sessions in Los Angeles today, the Promise Institute for Human Rights and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at UCLA Law were joined by more than a dozen partner organizations working across the Americas to present at a thematic hearing on human mobility, structural racism in the region, and the need for an anti-racist approach. Read more.
Immigration Law Scholars Publish Groundbreaking New Report Exposing Anti-AAPI Racism Behind U.S. Immigration Laws
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, in partnership with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, with research support by students at the UCLA School of Law, and with state funding provided at the behest of the California Asian American and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, published a groundbreaking new report that details the history of anti-AAPI racism in U.S. immigration policy and the devastating and pervasive impact these laws continue to have on AAPI communities to this day. Read more.
Statements By TPS Holders and Civil Rights Groups on Ninth Circuit Decision to Rehear Case Against Trump TPS Terminations
Today, the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a petition for a rehearing en banc, filed by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders and their U.S.-citizen children in the case, Ramos v. Mayorkas. Read more.
Illegal Entry and Reentry Laws: Their Racism, Their Impact and the Movement to End Them
On Wednesday, November 2, at 12:15 pm Pacific, 3:15 pm Eastern, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) will host Illegal Entry and Reentry Laws: Their Racism, Their Impact, and the Movement to End Them. Read more.
Undocumented UC Student Organizers, Professors from UCLA CILP & Labor Center Launch Groundbreaking Campaign for Equal Access to Job Opportunities
Today, undocumented student organizers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), along with professors from the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Labor Center, launched Opportunity for All: a campaign that could remove significant barriers to important educational opportunities for thousands of undocumented students in the UC system. Read more.
Children Ordered Deported, Lack of Legal Representation, Families Retraumatized: Legal and Medical Professionals Call on Biden to End Dedicated Dockets
Legal service providers, court observers, medical professionals, and allied organizations from across the country are calling on the Biden administration to end the fast-track court process for families seeking asylum, known as Dedicated Dockets. Read more.
Javier Martinez Deserves the Right to Challenge Imprisonment by ICE
This week, the ACLU, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) filed an amicus brief in support of Javier Martinez, a Nicaraguan man whom the federal government has imprisoned for more than four years for a nine-year-old drug offense. Read more.
Citing Racist, Anti-AAPI History at Root of ICE Transfer Policies, Legal Experts Express Disappointment in California State Senate’s Failure to Pass the VISION Act
In response to the California State Senate failing to pass the VISION Act, Professor Hiroshi Motomura, Faculty Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law, released the following statement: Read more.
Inside the U.S. Immigration System: USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou in Conversation with Professor Ahilan Arulanantham
Please join UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy’s Ahilan Arulanantham for a conversation with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur M. Jaddou, UCLA Law ‘01, on Monday, August 29, at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Read more.
CILP Sends Letter in Support of VISION Act, Exposing History of Anti-Asian Racism Behind California’s ICE Transfer Policies
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at the UCLA School of Law sent a letter to the California State Senate yesterday urging, based on CILP’s research, support for Assembly Bill 937, the Voiding Inequality and Seeking Inclusion for Our Immigrant Neighbors (VISION) Act. Read more.
Innovation Law Lab Files Appeal in Louisiana v. CDC
Today, Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, filed its appeal brief at the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana v. CDC, a case brought in the Western District of Louisiana by Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states seeking to stop the Biden Administration’s termination of the Title 42 order, which has effectively shut down access to asylum at the southern border. Read more.
In Biden v. Texas, Supreme Court Rules Against Texas and Missouri, Allowing Biden Administration to End the Remain in Mexico Policy, For Now
The United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Biden v. Texas, holding that the Biden administration's decision to terminate the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico policy, did not violate federal immigration law, and the DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ second memorandum terminating the program was a valid final agency action. Read more.
Settlement Negotiations Begin in Landmark Case Against Indefinite Detention of Immigrants
Yesterday, after 15 years of litigation, including two arguments before the Supreme Court and four before the Ninth Circuit, the Biden Administration and class counsel will begin formal settlement negotiations in Rodriguez v. Jennings, the landmark class-action lawsuit that successfully challenged ICE’s practice of jailing noncitizens for long and indefinite periods of time without a bond hearing. Read more.
Innovation Law Lab Files Motion to Stay Nationwide Injunction in Arizona v. CDC
Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, has filed a motion to stay the nationwide scope of the injunction issued in Arizona v. CDC, a case brought in the Western District of Louisiana by Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states seeking to stop the Biden administration’s termination of the Title 42 order. Read more.
New Report Finds Children Ordered Deported, Families Without Lawyers, and Other Gross Miscarriages of Justice on the Biden Administration's Dedicated Docket
A report released today reveals gross miscarriages of justice in the expedited immigration court docket established by the Biden administration for families seeking asylum, including the deportation of several hundred children who never had their day in court. Read more.
Innovation Law Lab, Counsel, Respond to Dangerous and Unlawful Ruling in Arizona v. CDC
In response to Judge Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana’s ruling allowing Arizona, Texas, and 22 non-border states to stop the Biden Administration from terminating Title 42, Innovation Law Lab, a nonprofit organization that has filed an amicus brief and a motion to intervene in Arizona v. CDC and their counsel, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law (CILP) and the National Immigration Project for the National Lawyers Guild, issued the following statements. Read more.
Asylum-Seeking Family and Innovation Law Lab File Motion To Intervene in Arizona v. CDC
A family seeking asylum at the California-Mexico border and Innovation Law Lab, a non-profit organization that seeks to advance refugee and immigrant justice, filed a Motion to Intervene in Arizona v. CDC. Read more.
CILP’s Ahilan Arulanantham Hosts Conversation with Lead Plaintiff in Jennings v. Rodriguez, National Leaders in Movement to Abolish Immigration Prisons
On Friday, April 22, at 12:15 pm Pacific, 3:15 pm Eastern, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) will host Immigration Prison: Hard Questions About Abolition. Read more.
Lawmakers Must Confront Racist History of Illegal Reentry Statute To Stop Perpetuating White Supremacy
Last Friday, the Center for Immigration Policy, the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies, and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Carillo-Lopez, a case involving a racial justice issue of enormous significance. Read more.
To Stop Perpetuating White Supremacy, Lawmakers Must Confront Racist History of Illegal Reentry Statute
This week, the Center for Immigration Policy, the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies, and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Rodrigues-Barios, a case involving a racial justice issue of enormous significance. Read more.
In Biden v. Texas Amicus Brief, CILP Asks Supreme Court to Limit National Injunctions
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law today filed an amicus brief in Biden v. Texas arguing that injunctions obtained by individual states should rarely be applied nationwide, and instead should generally be limited to the territory of the states that filed suit. Read more.
Ruling in Doe v. Mayorkas Ensures Individuals Seeking Asylum and Forced into MPP Can Continue Their Fight for Access to Counsel
This week, Judge Dana Sabraw rejected the Biden Administration’s attempts to indefinitely stay or dismiss Doe v. Mayorkas, a case challenging the government’s practice of denying access to counsel to people fleeing persecution who are forced to undergo nonrefoulement interviews along the California-Mexico border in order to be able to pursue their case for asylum in the United States, under to the Trump-era “Migrant Protection Protocols” (MPP). Read more.
Supreme Court Reverses Ninth Circuit, But Rules Sheik Yassir Fazaga, Ali Malik and Yasser AbdelRahim Can Pursue Their Religious Discrimination Claims In Lower Courts
Today, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to endorse the federal government’s attempt to win dismissal of the religious discrimination claims presented by Sheik Fazaga, Ali Malik, and Yasser AbdelRahim. Read more.
Trailblazing Immigration Lawyer Talia Inlender Joins UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy as Deputy Director
Talia Inlender joins CILP after launching and leading Public Counsel’s Detained Deportation Defense Program for over a decade. Read more.
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy Announces Fall Conference: The Road Ahead in Immigration Law: What Can the President Do?
Univision National Network Anchor Jorge Ramos to kick-off conference convening leading activists and scholars. Read more.
Muslim Americans File Brief Challenging Religious Discrimination in U.S. Supreme Court Case FBI v. Fazaga
At stake is whether the U.S. Government can escape accountability for secretly spying on Americans due to their religious beliefs. Read more.
Ahilan Arulanantham, Counsel for the Plaintiffs in Ramos v. Mayorkas, Responds to Extension of Temporary Protected Status
The decision impacts TPS holders from El Salvador, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Sudan, and Haiti. Read more.
Leading Law Professors to Mayorkas: “Prosecutorial discretion guidelines need not be focused on who to deport, but who can stay.”
In a new letter to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a group of leading immigration law professors and scholars submitted a detailed legal analysis for the Secretary to consider prior to announcing his department’s new guidelines for prosecutorial discretion in immigration law enforcement. Read more.
CILP Welcomes Inaugural Visiting Scholar Moritz Baumgärtel
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law today announced that Dr. Moritz Baumgärtel has joined the Center as its first Visiting Scholar. Read more.
Seasoned Immigration Advocate Gabriela Domenzain Joins UCLA Law’s New Center for Immigration Law and Policy
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy today announced that Gabriela Domenzain, a seasoned communications professional with over twenty years of experience in immigration advocacy, media, and politics, is joining the organization to serve as its inaugural Communications Director. Read more.
UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy Hosted DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
On April 30, 2021, with the Biden administration officially past the 100-day mark, the Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, participated in the UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy's first-ever virtual conference. Read more.
Learn more about Immigration Policy in the Biden Administration: The First 100 Days and Beyond, a virtual conference held April 23, April 30, and May 7, 2021.
Scholars Describe Racist Origins of Unlawful Reentry Law in Supreme Court Amicus Brief
Three leading scholars of the history of immigration law from UCLA and Columbia University filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in United States v. Palomar-Santiago. Their brief describes the explicitly racist, anti-Mexican origins of the federal law criminalizing unlawful reentry after deportation. Read more.
UCLA Law launches Center for Immigration Law and Policy with $5 million commitment
Expanding UCLA School of Law’s role as a national leader in immigration law and boosting its robust immigration programming and clinics, the school has established the Center for Immigration Law and Policy with a $5 million commitment from alumna Alicia Miñana and her husband, Rob Lovelace. Read more.
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy offers innovative programming that touches on immigration scholarship, policy, and practice.
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Past Events
Event recordings, when available, are linked below.
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2026 Events
One Year of Trump II: Reflecting on the State of Affairs of Immigration Law and Policy
Wednesday, February 11
No video recording available.
Join Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) for a lunchtime panel discussion with immigration attorneys and advocates to mark one year since President Trump’s second inauguration. Panelists will discuss how the field of immigration law has changed in the first year under Trump II, reflect on the administration’s impacts on their work, and share insights they have learned over the past year to bring into continued advocacy for immigrant justice
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2025 Events
Lessons in Resistance: Learning from the Response to the LA Raids
Friday, November 14
Earlier this year, Los Angeles served as ground zero for the federal government’s pledge to undertake the largest planned immigration enforcement effort in modern U.S. history. Unidentified masked agents swept across the region, detaining immigrants, legal residents and even U.S. citizens, often based on little more than an individual’s appearance or language spoken. The results have been devastating. Families are being separated; businesses remain shuttered, and schools are struggling. The raids, however, have not gone unanswered.
Join us for an important conversation with Mayra Joachín, Immigrants’ Rights Project Deputy Director at the ACLU of Southern California; Carlos Amador, Economic Justice Manager at CLEAN Carwash Worker Center; and Jacob Soboroff, Senior Political and National Correspondent at MSNBC, to discuss the lessons learned from the collective response to the raids. This event will be moderated by Hiroshi Motomura, Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Director at the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law. The discussion will examine strategies that worked, and what other cities and states may consider going forward in an unprecedented era of immigration enforcement.
Documenting Deportation: A Dialogue on Race, Removal, and Resistance
Thursday, September 18th
Join us for a conversation about how we visualize the system disappearing immigrants from the streets of Los Angeles and beyond. This in-person, public event will discuss the current siege on migrant communities as the most-recent attack in a long history of racist immigration enforcement. The event will also introduce Mapping Deportations—a new website and organizing tool—that unmasks the past and present of structural racism in the U.S. immigration regime.
Hosted by filmmaker Alex Rivera, the evening will feature a conversation with one of the nation’s leading litigators, Ahilan Arulanantham, the award-winning historian Kelly Lytle Hernández; rebel cartographer Mariah Tso (Diné), and visionary advocates Pablo Alvarado and Sirine Shebaya. The panelists will use film, data, and dialogue to engage the audience in this urgent conversation.
This event is sponsored by Borderlands Cinematic Arts, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, Million Dollar Hoods, and the National Immigration Project.
Dinner will be provided.
Mapping Deportations Launch Event
Wednesday, September 17th
Join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law (CILP) and Million Dollar Hoods (MDH) for this webinar launch of a groundbreaking new project: Mapping Deportations.
Mapping Deportations is a website that uses maps, data, and timelines to unmask the relationship between race and U.S. immigration enforcement throughout U.S. history. Tracking every deportation since 1895, the data shows that 96% of all deportations have been to countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa. In short, Mapping Deportations illustrates how the immigration laws, and particularly deportation policy, have engineered the racial make-up of the country since its founding—a phenomenon that is taking place in plain sight today.
This event will feature a webinar presentation and discussion about the website between MDH Cartographer Mariah Tso (Diné), MDH founder Kelly Lytle Hernández, and CILP Faculty Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham, and will be moderated by CILP Faculty Co-Director Hiroshi Motomura.
Immigrant Justice Advocates Welcome Picnic
Monday, September 8
No video recording available.
Join the immigrants' rights lawyers and advocates from UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) and the members of Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) on Monday, September 8th at 12:15 pm. The space is intended to build community for the new school year and start a dialogue where folks can learn and share with one another. This lunchtime convening will be an opportunity to learn about what immigrants' rights work is happening at UCLA Law and how our community can get involved.
The New Immigration Policy Landscape: California’s Role
Friday, April 25, 2025
Please join California Attorney General Rob Bonta for a conversation with UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy’s Faculty Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham on Friday, April 25 at 3:30 pm Pacific Time. California has long been a leader in advancing immigrants' rights and protecting against harsh federal enforcement. The first 100 days of the second Trump administration have put California's commitment to the test. During this conversation, Attorney General Bonta and Professor Arulanantham will discuss the state's role in responding to federal policies, proactive steps the state can take to protect all of its residents, and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead.
Borders and Belonging Book Launch
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
No video available.
Please join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP), students, alumni, and members of the immigrants’ rights community for an evening conversation to launch our Faculty Co-Director, Hiroshi Motomura’s book, Borders and Belonging: Toward a Fair Immigration Policy. Professor Motomura’s book—informed by his personal experience and more than 40 years teaching immigration law—offers a complex and fair-minded account of immigration, its root causes, and the varying responses to it. The conversation will include insights from a diverse panel of guests: Jean Guerrero, investigative journalist, columnist, and author; Nicholas Espiritu, Deputy Legal Director at the National Immigration Law Center (NILC); and Stephen Lee, Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law. We look forward to a rich discussion that will examine the issue’s complexity and resolve to move us closer to a more realistic and sustainable immigration policy. There will be an opportunity for attendees to eat, drink, and connect with Professor Motomura, the panelists, and each other prior to the start of the conversation and after. Books will be available for sale at the event.
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2024 Events
Where to From Here? Post-Election Reflections and the Road Ahead for Immigration Law and Policy
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
No video available.
Please join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP), Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ), and Public Interest Law Program (PILP) for an in-person discussion about the potential impacts of the election results on immigrant and immigrants’ rights advocacy communities. The program will include time to debrief as well as a structured dialogue with CILP faculty and staff about their experiences engaging in immigrants’ rights advocacy in the wake of past elections. The event will take place in Room 1457. Lunch will be provided to those who RSVP by Thursday, November 7th at 12 PM.
Immigrant Justice Advocates Welcome Picnic
September 11, 2024
No video available.
Join the immigrants' rights lawyers and advocates from UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) and the members of Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) on Wednesday, September 11th at 12:15 pm in the Sculpture Garden. This lunchtime conversation will include a discussion of the modern landscape of immigration law and policy making, working in immigration justice advocacy, and what immigrants’ rights work is happening at UCLA Law. The space is intended to build community for the new school year and start a dialogue where folks can learn and share with one another.
Chance to Come Home
May 10, 2024
Join the National Immigrant Justice Center, The Center for Immigration Law and Policy at UCLA School of Law, Arizona State University and Borderlands Studios for an unforgettable virtual & in-person town hall and film screening on Friday, May 10 as deported advocates and immigration leaders fight for a “Chance to Come Home.”
A View from the Border: Exploring Challenges & Solutions for Immigration Policy with Advocates on the Ground
March 13, 2024
Please join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at UCLA School of Law for a conversation about challenges at the border and real solutions grounded in welcoming new migration. This program will feature CILP Faculty Co-Director Hiroshi Motomura and Senior Staff Attorney Monika Y. Langarica in dialogue with California and Texas-based advocates at the forefront of this work, including Kate Clark from Jewish Family Service of San Diego, Pedro Rios from the American Friends Services Committee's U.S.-Mexico Program, and Astrid Dominguez from Good Neighbor Settlement House in Brownsville, Texas.
Putting Scholarship into Practice: Detained Immigration Courts, Race Discrimination Claims, and New Immigrant Youth
February 25, 2024
No video available.
Please join the Center for Immigration Law & Policy (CILP), students, alumni, and members of the immigrants’ rights community for Sunday brunch and a conversation that bridges the gap between cutting-edge immigration scholarship and practice. UCLA professors Ahilan Arulanantham, Ingrid Eagly, and Nina Rabin will discuss their forthcoming articles: Reversing Racist Precedent (Arulanantham); Detained Immigration Courts (Eagly and Shafer); and Second Wave DREAMers (Rabin). The conversation, moderated by Hiroshi Motomura, will examine three timely topics: the argument that courts should disregard the precedential force of case decisions that were motivated by racial animus, the emergence of a segregated system of detained immigration courts, and the distinct challenges faced by contemporary child migrants. We look forward to a rich discussion of how this new scholarship can contribute to an understanding of today's immigration landscape and the advocacy tools needed to navigate it. There will be opportunity for attendees to eat and connect with the authors and each other prior to the start of the conversation and after.
UCLA School of Law is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider. This session is approved for 1 hour of MCLE Credit.
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2023 Events
Film Screening of Sansón & Me
November 9, 2023
No video available.
As a Spanish interpreter, filmmaker Rodrigo Reyes met a young man named Sansón, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Sansón and Reyes worked together over a decade, using hundreds of letters as inspiration for recreations of Sansón’s childhood—featuring members of Sansón’s own family. The result is a vibrant portrait of a friendship navigating immigration and the depths of the criminal legal system.
Opportunity for All: Where We Are & What's Next
October 30, 2023
Undocumented student organizers, legal scholars, & labor leaders will discuss lessons learned and next steps in the campaign to allow all students, regardless of immigration status, to work at the University of California.
Immigrants' Rights Advocates Welcome Picnic
September 11, 2023
No video available.
Come meet the immigrants' rights lawyers and advocates from UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) on Monday, Sep. 11 at 12:15 pm in a lunchtime conversation about working in immigration justice advocacy, navigating a career in public interest law, and the challenges and opportunities presented by working in an academic environment. Moderated and co-hosted by the Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ).
Reproductive Rights at the Margins: Injustice in Immigrant Confinement
April 5, 2023
On Wednesday, April 5, from 12:15-1:30pm PT, Tina Vasquez, editor-at-large at Prism, will interview Monika Langarica, Staff Attorney for the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) to discuss “Reproductive Rights at the Margins: Injustice in Immigrant Confinement.” They will primarily discuss reproductive rights in ICE and CBP custody, with a focus on a campaign that Monika has worked on for years to end or limit CBP’s detention of people who are pregnant, postpartum, and/or nursing, which is critical to upholding the reproductive rights of people at the border.
The event, hosted by the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at UCLA Law and the UCLA Law Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy, is part of the Visions and Voices of Reproductive Justice series.
Student/Alumni Breakfast Mixer
March 12, 2023
No video available.
Please join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) and Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ) to meet and connect with UCLA students and alumni working in the immigration field. This gathering will take place in Glickman Courtyard (located to the right of the main Law School entrance) from 10 am to 11 am on Sunday, March 12th-- just prior to PILP's UServe event. We’ll have coffee and breakfast treats on hand. Families welcome.
Looking Back and Looking Forward: Fifteen Years of Advancing Immigration Representation
March 9, 2023
Hosted by Fordham Law School.
Since 2008, the Katzmann Immigration Study Group has envisioned and put into practice innovative solutions to the immigration representation crisis. Led until his passing by the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Study Group has launched initiatives including the Immigrant Justice Corps, the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, and public-private partnerships.
This symposium, marking the Study Group's fifteenth year, will highlight projects undertaken to date, current trends, and pressing needs. Experts in the field will discuss the latest findings and research. A session will celebrate Chief Judge Katzmann's accomplishments in the legal representation of immigrants and the administration of justice.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 186th Regular Period of Sessions: Session on the Situation of Human Mobility from an Ethnic-Racial Approach
March 7, 2023
Hosted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Promise Institute for Human Rights at the UCLA School of Law
During the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ (IACHR) Period of Sessions in Los Angeles today, the Promise Institute for Human Rights and the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) at UCLA Law were joined by more than a dozen partner organizations working across the Americas to present at a thematic hearing on human mobility, structural racism in the region, and the need for an anti-racist approach.
It’s the first time an IACHR hearing focused on the intersection of race and migration. Impacted people from communities throughout the Americas testified directly to the Commission emphasizing the ways in which racism imperils migrants at every stage in their journey.
UCLA Law’s CILP and Promise Institute for Human Rights spearheaded this hearing in close collaboration with allies from throughout the Americas, including Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), RacismoMX, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Espacio Migrante, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Comunidades Indígenas en Liderazgo (CIELO), Asociación Pop No’j, and National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPLNG).
Building Power from Within: A Conversation with Detained and Deported Organizers
February 22, 2023
On Wednesday, February 22, at 12:15 pm Pacific, 3:15 pm Eastern, the UCLA Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ), Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP), and California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ) will host Building Power from Within. CCIJ’s Community Engagement Director, Edwin Carmona-Cruz, and systems-impacted panelists will explore the landscape of organizing from inside immigration detention facilities and after deportation. There is a wealth of organized resistance within immigration detention facilities but we often do not hear the perspectives of those fighting on the inside.
This panel will center the experiences of four people who have led labor and hunger strikes, advocated for the termination of the last contract between ICE and a California county, lobbied for the passage of legislation to end the transfer of people from prisons to ICE custody, and fought for greater protections in facilities during COVID-19. The panelists will explore the intersections between legal services and organizing, with a particular focus on how legal workers and outside advocates can bolster the efforts of those who are detained or deported.
Building Power from Within is especially timely given a rise in calls for the abolition of immigration detention facilities, prisons, and jails. This dialogue will feature immigrant leaders who have been incarcerated and detained as they discuss the challenges of fighting for “humane” detention conditions, while simultaneously advocating for liberation.
Visiting Scholars Lunch
February 3, 2023
No video available.
Please join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) for lunch and informal conversation on Friday, February 3 with our current visiting scholar, Silvia Adamo, and our two incoming visiting scholars, Marta Gorzcynska and Niamh Keady-Tabbal. Silvia joins us from the University of Copenhagen, and is an expert in European immigration and integration law. Marta joins us from the University of Warsaw, and is a leading human rights lawyer and scholar specializing in EU law on asylum and migration. Niamh joins us from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, and is a researcher focusing on human rights, migration and refugee law, particularly in the Aegean. We’re thrilled to be able to host these scholars at UCLA. We look forward to introducing them to you, and to the meaningful conversations we know will follow.
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2022 Events
Illegal Entry and Reentry Laws: Their Racism, Their Impact and the Movement to End Them
November 2, 2022
One of the most prosecuted federal crimes today - 8 U.S.C. 1326 - was written by eugenicists in 1929.
Join CILP’s Gabriela Domenzain in conversation with a man behind bars, convicted of illegal reentry; the family he’s separated from; Professor Kelly Lytle Hernández, a UCLA historian who exposed the law’s racist history; Professor Ingrid Eagly, a UCLA law professor who studies their impact; and Kara Hartlzer, a federal public defender fighting to end them.
Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be available during the webinar.
Meet & Greet Picnic for UCLA Law Immigrants' Rights Advocates
September 28, 2022
No video available.
Come meet the immigrants' rights lawyers and advocates from UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) in a lunchtime conversation about working in immigration justice advocacy, navigating a career in public interest law, and the challenges and opportunities presented by working in an academic environment. Moderated and co-hosted by the Law Students for Immigrant Justice (LSIJ), the event will include a free lunch for all of those who RSVP by noon on Friday, September 23rd.
Inside the U.S. Immigration System: USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou in Conversation with Professor Ahilan Arulanantham
August 29, 2022
Please join UCLA Center for Immigration Law and Policy’s Ahilan Arulanantham for a conversation with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur M. Jaddou, UCLA Law ‘01, on Monday, August 29, at 3:30 p.m. Pacific Time. This conversation will take place before a live audience and broadcast simultaneously via Zoom from UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music’s Lani Hall.
A component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, USCIS administers lawful immigration to the United States and adjudicates benefits and services that include, but are not limited to, permanent residence, naturalization and U.S. citizenship, asylum and refugee status, Temporary Protected Status, deferred action (including DACA), and employment authorization.
Immigration 101
June 1, 2022
No video available.
Hosted by the ACLU of Southern California.
Laws and policies affecting immigration, citizenship, and immigrants’ rights have become important to many areas of public interest law, especially in Southern California but also throughout the United States, with so many noncitizen clients and constituencies. Hiroshi Motomura, Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy delivers a crash course in the basics of immigration and citizenship law.
Meet & Greet Picnic with CILP
April 27, 2022
No video available.
Join CILP & LSIJ for a meet & greet picnic lunch on Wednesday, April 27th to learn more about CILP staff members’ experiences in law school and their paths to public interest legal careers. This event will include Q&A and a discussion about how to stay grounded in the fight for immigrants’ rights, especially as we head into final exams.
Immigration Prison: Hard Questions About Abolition
April 22, 2022
The United States runs the largest immigration prison system in the world. This so-called “detention” system jails half a million people a year. Some are undocumented, others have green cards, and many have come here seeking asylum. For the most part, they have no right to an appointed lawyer, no right to ask a judge for release on bond, and often no right to a deportation hearing at all. And most jailed immigrants are held in for-profit prisons, despite the progress made in reducing private prisons in the criminal legal system. Recognizing these realities leads us to an uncomfortable truth: this country runs a very large system of imprisonment without trial—just for immigrants. What should be done about this? Can we both reduce the harm the system causes and at the same time work to end it?
On Friday, April 22, at 12:15 pm Pacific, 3:15 pm Eastern, Prof. Ahilan Arulanantham from the Center for Immigration Law and Policy will host a 90-minute webinar, Immigration Prison: Hard Questions About Abolition. You’ll hear directly from Alex Rodriguez, who spent more than three years in immigration prison, and leading advocates Silky Shah and Andrew Free, who have spent their entire careers organizing and litigating against this system. The panel will also feature an exclusive interview with a recently released immigrant who had been imprisoned since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Together, they will explore hard questions facing the movement to abolish immigration prisons: Does advocating for bond hearings, counsel, or more humane conditions help or hurt the cause? Does the movement to end immigration prisons gain power, or lose it, by aligning itself with the broader movement for prison abolition? What do we make of the massive increase in the use of “alternatives to detention” under the Biden Administration? And what advice do these movement leaders have for students and other advocates?
From Brownsville to San Diego: A Conversation with CILP Attorneys About Living and Working on the Border
March 9, 2022
No video available.
What is it actually like to work on issues related to immigration law along our country’s southern border? Join the Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) for this panel discussion featuring attorneys who have lived and worked all along the southern border, from Brownsville to San Diego. CILP Faculty Co-Director Hiroshi Motomura will moderate a conversation with CILP’s Deputy Director Talia Inlender, Staff Attorney Monika Y. Langarica, and Fellow Astghik Hairapetian ’20. They will discuss their experiences working to bring deported veterans home, challenging unlawful border policies including the “Remain in Mexico” program, and clerking for a federal district judge along the border.
Storytelling with Purpose: Media as Advocacy for Immigrant Defense
February 25, 2022
No video available.
UCLA Law's LSIJ and CILP invite you to hear from Lilian Calderon, the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the Trump administration's separation of married couples, on how news media, legislative advocacy and social media were used to free Lilian from detention, and bring awareness to the plight of immigrants in Rhode Island.
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2021 Events
The Road Ahead in Immigration Law: What Can the President Do?
October 20 and October 22, 2021
Session 1: Univision National Network’s Jorge Ramos in Conversation with Three DREAMers Who Fought the President and Won
Jorge Ramos, Univision National Network Anchor and one of the nation’s leading voices on immigration, will launch CILP’s conference with a live interview of three leaders of the immigrants’ rights movement: Erika Andiola, Chief Advocacy Officer of RAICES Texas, Cristina Jiménez Moreta, Co-Founder of United We Dream, and Lorella Praeli, Co-President of the Center for Community Change. As undocumented youth a decade ago, Erika, Cristina, and Lorella each played a crucial role in the advocacy that contributed to DACA, the most significant advance for the rights of undocumented immigrants in a generation. Erika, Cristina, and Lorella have particular insight into the present political moment because each of them was told time and time again that the President did not have the power to create what became DACA. Their persistent advocacy changed the course of history. Jorge will engage these three powerful advocates in a reflective, personal conversation about what they have learned from their time in the movement, and how they see the path forward.
Session 2: Hiroshi Motomura in Conversation with Leading Advocates on Efforts Toward Executive Action Today
How should advocates think about the legislative and executive landscape for administrative relief? We ask three people with profound insight into that question. The impact that Pablo Alvarado, the Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Guerline M. Jozef, President of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, and Karen Tumlin, Founder and Director of Justice Action Center, have had on immigrant communities is both undeniable and profound. NDLON’s organizing and litigation efforts were critical in building the National TPS Alliance as a powerful political force within the immigrants’ rights movement, effectively stopping the Trump Administration’s attempt to terminate the Temporary Protected Status of nearly half a million long-time lawful residents. Haitian Bridge Alliance has done extraordinary work to protect Haitian refugees, and most recently achieved what is thus far the only successful campaign under the Biden Administration to win large-scale administrative relief – reauthorized Temporary Protected Status – for any group of immigrants. Justice Action Center has played a crucial role in preserving DACA and crafting the response to the ever-shifting judicial, administrative, and legislative landscape surrounding it. CILP’s Faculty Co-Director Hiroshi Motomura will moderate.
Session 3: Ahilan Arulanantham in Conversation with Leading Scholars on the Scope and Limits of Executive Branch Authority Over Immigration
Regardless of what happens in Congress over the next few months, at least several million people who have lived here for years will find themselves at risk of deportation and without authorization to work when the new year comes. Can anyone in the executive branch do anything about that? To discuss, we bring together three of the most knowledgeable voices on presidential authority to shape immigration law and policy. Adam B. Cox, Robert A. Kindler Professor of Law at New York University School of Law, recently co-authored an exhaustive legal analysis of the President’s authority to craft immigration policy. Jennifer M. Chacón, Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law, is an influential expert on immigration enforcement, with special expertise on the role of race in enforcement decisions. Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia, Clinical Professor of Law and Founder and Director of Penn State University’s Center for Immigrants’ Rights Clinic, is the nation’s leading authority on the nature of executive prosecutorial discretion authority in the immigration context. They will analyze the current moment for executive decision making and administrative relief, putting today’s controversies in historical context. CILP’s Faculty Co-Director Ahilan Arulanantham will moderate.
Arguing About Secret Surveillance at the Supreme Court: Professor Ahilan Arulanantham Discusses FBI v. Fazaga
October 13, 2021
No video available.
Join Professor Arulanantham in an event open only to students as he discusses FBI v. Fazaga, a case he will be arguing at the Supreme Court on November 8. Professor Arulanantham will describe the issues in the case, starting with the post-9/11 history of FBI surveillance on Americans who practice Islam, the story of the FBI informant who spied on people in Southern California and then publicly revealed his role, and the relationship between the state secrets privilege and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is the central issue presented in the Supreme Court litigation. He will then talk about how he approaches argument preparation, his thoughts on arguing at the Court in the present political moment, and more.
Immigrant Families & Asylum: How Has President Biden Shifted the Policy Landscape?
August 26, 2021
The Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) is hosting a conversation about the Biden Administration's policies toward families seeking asylum at the border. The conversation, hosted by CILP’s Gabriela Domenzain, will explore two strategies the Biden Administration has now started to employ: Expedited Removals and Expedited Dockets. The conversation will highlight what UCLA Law Professor Ingrid Eagly's research shows on these subjects, the first-hand experience of Suny Rodriguez, a Honduran mother who experienced both policies under the Obama Administration, and the on-the-ground defense work of Elora Mukherjee, the director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, that resulted in Suny, and many other detained families, being released and then winning their asylum cases.
Searching for the North Star
July 2021
Hosted by the ACLU of Southern California.
From inside the jails holding Muslim immigrants after 9/11, to courtrooms filled with unrepresented children fleeing violence in Central America, to the Supreme Court arguments challenging the prolonged imprisonment of immigrants, Ahilan Arulanantham, UCLA Law’s Professor from Practice and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy, tells stories from his work and offers a positive vision of justice for all.
Immigration 101
June 11, 2021
No video available.
Hosted by the ACLU of Southern California.
Laws and policies affecting immigration, citizenship, and immigrants’ rights have become important to many areas of public interest law, especially in Southern California but also throughout the United States, with so many noncitizen clients and constituencies. Hiroshi Motomura, Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy delivers a crash course in the basics of immigration and citizenship law.
Immigration Policy in the Biden Administration: The First 100 Days and Beyond
April 23, April 30, and May 7, 2021
During the 2020 presidential campaign, President Biden repeatedly signaled his interest in adopting an immigration policy very different from that of the prior administration. After winning the election, several leaders from the immigrants’ rights movement joined the new administration, suggesting that fundamental change was imminent. As we approach one hundred days into this new era, it has become clear that the Biden Administration will reset U.S. immigration policies. But reset to what?
This conference brought together important stakeholders to address three central questions: First, what should federal immigration policy look like, both in the Biden Administration and beyond? Second, have the first 100 days put the country on a path toward achieving those goals, or is the reality mixed? Third, what should immigrants’ rights advocates do to achieve the world they want, in terms of both substantive demands and tactics to achieve them?
Visit the conference page for more information.
LOS ANGELES, CA – The University of California Los Angeles Law's Center for Immigration Law and Policy (CILP) today announced that Gabriela Domenzain, a seasoned communications professional with over twenty years of experience in immigration advocacy, media, and politics, is joining the organization to serve as its inaugural Communications Director.