Defending Immigrants Partnership

Welcome to the Defending Immigrants Partnership!

This site was developed by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrant Defense Project, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild to assist criminal defense counsel effectively represent noncitizen clients.

Website Highlights:

A library of resources on the immigration consequences of crime. (Membership required)
A news page with recent news and events related to immigration and crimes.
Upcoming trainings on immigration and crimes.

Recent Library Highlights:

Practice Advisory for Criminal Defenders: Certain Criminal Offenses May Bar Persons from Applying for the New Deferred Action Status Program Announced by President Obama. Click here to download.
2012 Update to the National Manual: Click here to download the Defending Immigrants Partnership National Manual on Representing Noncitizens, updated as of April 2012. (Membership required)
Curriculum from the 2012 DIP National Training, held in Denver, Colorado, May 7 & 8, 2012. (Membership required)
- Training Powerpoints
- Training Booklet
Padilla v. Kentucky: Basic Materials
On March 31, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court issued its watershed decision in Padilla v. Kentucky, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires criminal defense counsel to affirmatively and competently advise their clients of the immigration/deportation consequences of criminal charges and criminal pleas. Failure to do so constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel. To assist criminal counsel meet this duty, the Defending Immigrants Partnership is pleased to present the following resources:
1. PowerPoint Presentation from May 12, 2010 webinar on Padilla and the Duty of Criminal Defense Counsel to Advise Clients of Immigration Consequences
2. Padilla v. Kentucky Decision
3. National Practice Advisory: Duty of Defense Counsel Representing an Immigrant Defendant After Padilla v. Kentucky, Appendix B includes a list of national, regional, and state resources on immigration consequences of crimes
4. National Practice Advisory: Steps to Representing a Noncitizen Defendant Under Padilla v. Kentucky
5. National Practice Advisory: How Much to Advise: What are the Requirements of Padilla v. Kentucky
6. National Practice Advisory: Retroactive Applicability of Padilla v. Kentucky
7. Padilla Sample Intake Form
8. Immigration Consequences of Convictions Summary Checklist
9. Protocol for the Development of a Public Defender Immigrant Service Plan
10. Report: Ensuring Compliance with Padilla v. Kentucky Without Compromising Judicial Obligations: Why Judges Should Not Ask Criminal Defendants About Their Citizenship/Immigration Status. (If you have comments or suggestions about this report or judicial practices in general, please email Joshua Epstein at the Immigrant Defense Project at jepstein@immigrantdefenseproject.org.)
11. Surviving Padilla: A Defender's Guide to Advising Noncitizens on the Immigration Consequences of Criminal Convictions is a 120-page easy-to-use handbook for criminal defense attorneys that offers a practical step-by-step method for analyzing the immigration consequences of criminal convictions and advising clients of them.
12. Seeking Post-Conviction Relief Under Padilla v. Kentucky After Chaidez v. U.S. is a practice advisory discussing claims for post-conviction relief that can still be asserted by immigrants who were not properly advised regarding the immigration consequences of a pre-Padilla criminal case.