Legalization Project

CLINIC is preparing the Catholic Church in the United States in partnership with faith-based and other pro-immigrant networks to implement a broad legalization program for the undocumented when immigration reform ultimately passes. CLINIC's Legalization Project assists charitable Catholic and non-Catholic immigration programs in building, improving and expanding their immigration legal services capacities.

Although it will likely be a number of years before Congress passes a significant immigration bill, CLINIC has already established itself as a specialist in legalization preparation.

To date, the Legalization Project has:

Released and distributed a guide for legalization preparation entitled Preparing for Legislation: A Manual for Immigration Legal Service Providers;
Hosted a Legalization and Enforcement Conference that initiated significant public education work and coordinated capacity building among virtually all of the nation’s pro-immigration networks;
Established 84 points of contact in communities across the country that can lead legalization preparedness activities in their diocese;
Produced and distributed legalization preparedness materials through email, the CLINIC website, the Catholic Legal Immigration Newsletter, trainings, and community education forums.

For additional information on the Legalization Project, please contact Jeff Chenoweth at jchenoweth@cliniclegal.org or 202-635-5826.

GENERAL RESOURCES

Immigration Issues and Need for Reform - Aug. 2010

MANUALS

CLINIC has updated its 2006 Legalization Manual.

The manual, Preparing for Comprehensive Immigration Reform: An Earned Pathway to Citizenship and Beyond offers recommendations from “veterans” of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). The manual was created to help charitable immigration agencies increase program capacity and prepare for a large increase in the number of people needing immigration services. Its recommendations are offered to spur thinking and planning by these programs.

REPORTS

BIA Recogniton and Accreditation Overview

Toolkit for BIA Recognition and Accreditation

SSA No-Match Program and DHS No-Match Final Rule - September 2007.

CLINIC Fact Sheet: DHS Publishes Final Rule on No-Match Letters - August 2007.

Backlogs in Immigration

Preparing for Legalization: The Task at Hand

States and Localities: Immigration Legislation, Ordinances and Resolutions

Immigration Raids

PRESENTATIONS

Preparing for Legalization (for advocates)

El Momento Actual de la Legslacion de Inmigracion y Estrategias a Seguir