CILA's team creates resources to support attorneys, legal staff, social services staff, and pro bono attorneys and volunteers working with immigrant youth. This page includes a few publicly available resources. CILA has written many additional resources, and to have access to the full list of CILA resources, create a CILA account. You can find an index of available CILA resources per topic, here. You can find also CILA's trainings on this webpage, and it does not require an account to access them.
Unaccompanied Minors in Immigration Court: The Critical Role of Legal Representation
This explainer by the Commission on Immigration (COI) & CILA describes how attorneys help children navigate complex applications for legal relief. Without attorneys, children face significant challenges in participating in their cases, leading to unfair outcomes and increased vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation.
Unaccompanied Immigrant Children: The Difference Representation Makes
CILA created this new one-pager to provide information on the difference representation makes for unaccompanied immigrant children and the difference CILA makes as a capacity-building organization supporting attorneys and social services staff across the country.
Fact Sheet: Unaccompanied Children at the Border
View the ABA CILA's Fact Sheet: Unaccompanied Children at the Border resource. With the increased media attention on the United States’ Southern border, CILA wanted to provide some information regarding the systems involved and context to what is happening. The Fact Sheet also provides information regarding advocacy needs for unaccompanied children.
Pro Bono Guide
CILA’s Pro Bono Guide, is intended to help provide a background to pro bono attorneys representing children in immigration cases. The Guide is designed to provide introductory information and links to webinars and additional resources to explore for more detailed training. The Guide covers essential advocacy skills that go beyond the black letter of the law and has an emphasis on practical tips to help you navigate your pro bono representation.
Helpful Resources in Representing Unaccompanied Children
CILA has prepared the chart "Helpful Resources in Representing Unaccompanied Children," to facilitate research, especially for those new to the world of children's immigration law. The chart contains links to a variety of resources but is by no means exhaustive. As you discover new and helpful resources you'd like to see added, do let us know.
CILA's Bite-Sized Tips
CILA staff created bite-sized tips to support new immigration practitioners and pro bono attorneys working with children and youth. This project consists of 7 short videos featuring a different substantive or skills-based issue important to new practitioners. The CILA team also highlighted different related CILA written resources and recorded trainings to learn more. CILA also wrote a blog post summarizing each tip and linking all resources for easier access. Read the blog post here.
Supporting Our Clients in the Interim by Rescreening for Relief
