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.
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.
As a capacity building organization, we p
rovide training webinars, written resources, Pro Bono guidance for organizations and solo practitioners as well as technical assistance support to aid attorneys, legal staff, and social workers on the ground working with youth along with pro bono attorneys. To see how CILA took action in 2022, take a look at our 2022 Annual Report.
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.
Download the resource list here.
CILA provides monthly case summaries to support your practice. Read BIA, 5th Circuit, and Supreme Court case summaries here.
To be notified when a new one is available, please sign up for our national monthly newsletter "Champions for Immigrant Youth" here.
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.
To watch the video series, please click here.
Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Overview
CILA has created the resource "Cultural Competency and Humility When Representing Unaccompanied Children" to assist attorneys in creating a safe space for their clients to share their complete identity, which will also will help the attorney to persuasively present the child's case to an adjudicator and provide effective representation.
CILA attorneys, Dalia Castillo-Granados and Yasmin Yavar, wrote the following law review article: A New Legal Framework for Children Seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
CILA created a chart identifying publications for citation by publication in Central America, to facilitate service in this manner when necessary. The chart contains contact information, pricing, and general circulation areas for publications in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. The chart is by no means exclusive and if you use or are aware of other publications that you’d recommend, please let us know.
Download the publications list here.
CILA has created the resource, "Quick Reference Guide – Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and EB-4
Immigrant Visa Availability," to address the issue of the EB-4 visa backlog for certain countries and how it affects children with Special Immigrant Juvenile Status.
CILA Resources
Check back often for new & updated resources, videos, webinars and more.
The Texas Office for Refugees (TXOR) gave a presentation to CILA’s Texas UC Asylum Working Group on their work in Texas and what services are available to asylees and victims of trafficking.
To view and download the presentation slides and Texas Resources booklet, please click on the respective links.
