The COI's 2018 Standards for the Custody, Placement and Care; Legal Representation; and Adjudication of Unaccompanied Alien Children in the United States.
Urges the United States Department of State to interpret the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1401, to recognize those children born to intended parents, even if those legally recognized parents do not have a biological (genetic or gestational) relationship to the child, so long as at least one of the intended parents is a U.S. citizen who is legally recognized as the child’s parent by the country of birth or the intended parents state of domicile and the relevant resident or physical presence requirements are met.
Supports the appointment of counsel for unaccompanied minors in all immigration proceedings and special training for state and other courts that hear related cases.
Adopts amendments to the 2012 ABA Civil Immigration Detention Standards from August 2014 to urge that segregation only be used as a last resort in ICE custody.
Supports initiatives that marshal the resources of newly-admitted lawyers to meet the unmet legal needs of underserved populations in sustainable ways.
Adopts the black letter Standards for Programs 2 Providing Civil Pro Bono Legal Services to Persons of Limited Means, dated August 201 3 to 3 supplant the Standards adopted August 1996.
2012
Annual Meeting - Chicago, Illinois
102
Adopts the ABA Civil Immigration Detention Standards, dated August 2012, which govern the treatment of persons in the U.S. immigration detention system.
107B
Urges prosecutors to fulfill their traditional prosecutorial functions and further protect the public through the use of a broad spectrum of strategies to discharge that duty and urges increased funding for prosecutors to achieve these objectives.
107C
Urges defender organizations and criminal defense lawyers to address clients’ inter-related criminal, civil and non-legal problems and urges funding for these purposes.
113
Urges the Department of Homeland Security to create a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program and immediately begin paroling into the United States already-approved Haitian beneficiaries of family-based visa petitions.
Supports modifications to immigration laws that take into account the best interests of minor children who may be affected by a parent, legal guardian, or primary caregiver’s immigration detention or removal.
Supports policies for detained parents, legal guardians, and primary caregivers of children to have meaningful participation with their attorneys at judicial proceedings involving their children; and that those involved in family and juvenile courts be educated regarding the connection between state child welfare laws and immigration laws.
Supports prompt screening upon apprehension, that repatriation include formal intercountry child welfare agency involvement, and full access to documents for unaccompanied immigrant children.
Urges federal, state, territorial, tribal and local governments to provide funding to state and federal public defender offices and legal aid programs specifically for the provision of immigration advice about the immigration consequences of criminal proceedings to indigent non-U.S. citizen defendants, and about any available relief from such consequences.
Adopts the ABA Model Access Act, dated August 2010, which is a model statute for implementing jurisdictions to establish and administer a civil right to counsel, consistent with ABA policy adopted in August 2006.
Supports full implementation of legislation by Congress to provide for the creation of Start-up visa (by way of the creation of the EB-6 Visa Program, the reformation of the EB-5 Visa Program or similar creation, reformation and/or restructuring of the current U.S. immigration regime) to provide for a mechanism whereby immigrant-founders of businesses can obtain legal status in the U.S.
Urges the United States, state and territorial governments to work to ensure that the fundamental protections of Article 36 to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (“Article 36”) are extended fully and without obstacle to foreign nationals within United States borders.
Urges the Department of Homeland Security to implement specific policies and procedures within the immigration removal adjudication system and urges Congress to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act regarding the removal of noncitizens convicted of certain crimes.
Supports measures to improve immigration courts and create a more professional, independent and accountable immigration judiciary, including a provision to increase the number of immigration judges by at least 100, increase the number of law clerks to a ratio of one clerk per judge, increase the number of support personnel and increase the number of Assistant Chief Immigration Judges, and expand their deployment to regional courts.
Supports improving the efficiency, transparency and fairness of administrative review by the Board of Immigration Appeals through increasing the resources available to the Board, including additional staff attorneys and additional Board members.
Supports the restoration of federal judicial review of immigration decisions and urges Congress to enact legislation to ensure that noncitizens are treated fairly in the adjudication process and also to provide oversight for the government’s decision-making process.
Supports the creation of an Article I court, with both trial and appellate divisions, to adjudicate immigration cases, which should have features substantially consistent with specific guidelines, or as an alternative to an Article I court, supports the creation of an independent agency for both trial and appellate functions.