Pritzker Legal Research Center: Immigration Law Clinic: Secondary Sources

Treatises, Manuals, and Databases

AILALink
Created by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is intended to be a one-stop-shop for immigration law research. It contains electronic copies of most AILA publications, including Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook, Business Immigration: Law and Practice, and AILA's Asylum Primer. The database also contains statutes, regulations, cases, and more.

Access is restricted to the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law community, as well as students in the Center for Legal Studies on the Evanston Campus.

Please note that the platform supports only 15 concurrent users.

Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook
16th edition on reserve at the Law Library. 18th edition available online through AILALink. Includes the history of the development of immigration law, expert analysis and updates on the current state of the law, a quick reference for citations to cases, statutes, and regulations. Also covers law of refugees, asylees, relief from removal, administrative and federal judicial review, visas, permanent resident status, employment-based immigration and labor certification, actions against government officials, employer sanctions, noncitizen-employee rights, employment authorization, naturalization, and citizenship. Appendices include citizenship and naturalization charts, immigrant eligibility for federal public benefits, visa classification symbols, and list of commonly used abbreviations. Table of authorities includes INA, conversion table from 8 USC to INA, and list of immigration USC provisions.
AILA's Asylum Primer
9th edition on reserve at the Law Library and available online through AILALink. American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)'s comprehensive, practical guide to U.S. asylum law and procedure.
Fragomen Immigration Handbooks
Westlaw. H-1B Handbook, Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook, Immigration Law & Business, Immigration Legislation Handbook, Immigration Procedures Handbook, Labor Certification Handbook, State Immigration Employment Compliance Handbook.
Fragomen on Immigration Fundamentals: A Guide to Law and Practice
PLI Plus. See Chapter 6. Refugee and Asylum Law and Other Humanitarian Protections. Also covers employment-based and family-based immigration, other avenues for permanent residence, temporary (“nonimmigrant”) admissions for business, study, work, and other purposes, naturalization of foreign-born persons and acquisition of citizenship at birth, denial of admission and removal of foreign nationals on security- and criminal-related grounds (and other statutory grounds), administrative and judicial review of unfavorable immigration determinations.
Law of Asylum in the United States
Westlaw. This treatise covers eligibility for asylum, persecution, withholding of removal, the Convention Against Torture protection, standards of proof, and evidence. Also covers basic procedures for applying for relief.
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC) Procedural Manual For Asylum Representation
NJIC's asylum manual provides an overview of the U.S. asylum process and basic guidelines for asylum representation affirmatively and in removal proceedings. Appendices include sample forms.
Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief 2024: The Basics
PLI Plus. Course handbook prepared for distribution at the Asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), Crime Victim, and Other Immigration Relief Program.
Asylum Case Law Sourcebook
Westlaw. Summarizes important federal court asylum decisions since 1980 and includes more than 1,000 decisions categorized by subject matter. Outlines the most important elements of the court's holding, provides the full citation and case history, lists the country of origin of the asylum seeker, and highlights significant topics covered by the case. Foreword includes update in asylum law.
Immigration Law and Procedure
Lexis. Charles Gordon; Stanley Mailman; Stephen Yale-Loehr; Ronald Y. Wada. The authors are nationally respected immigration specialists whose professional expertise has made Immigration Law & Procedure the flagship immigration treatise. Their analysis and opinions on undecided points of law have always carried considerable weight with the courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
AILA’s Immigration Law Practice and Procedure Manual: A “Cookbook” of Essential Practice Materials
AILALink. Sample forms, templates and checklists on DACA program, temporary protected status (TPS), humanitarian parole, B-1 and B-2 visas and the visa waiver program (VWP), E-1 and E-2 visas, H-1B visas, H-2B visas, L-1 visas, O-1 visa, R-1 visa, TN USMCA professionals, PERM process, I-140 immigrant petition based on certified PERM, alternatives to PERM, EB-1C visas, K-1 and K-3 nonimmigrant visas, family-based immigration, VAWA self-petitions, T nonimmigrant status, U nonimmigrant status, consular processing, post-permanent residence concerns, naturalization and citizenship.

Human Interest Highlights

Shackled by Rebecca A. Sharpless
Call Number: BLC Book Display; MON KF4842 .S53 2024

Publication Date: 2024

A rare look at the brute-force mechanics of deportation in the United States. In December 2017, U.S. immigration authorities shackled and abused 92 African refugees for two days while attempting to deport them by plane to Somalia. When national media broke the story, government officials lied about what happened. Shackled tells the story of this harrowing failed deportation, the resulting class action litigation, and two men's search for safety in the United States over the course of three long years. Through Abdulahi's and Sa'id's firsthand accounts, immigration lawyer Rebecca A. Sharpless brings to life the harsh consequences of the U.S. deportation system and how racism and anti-Blackness operate within it. Sharpless follows the money that ICE funnels into local jails, private contractors, and charter jets, exposing a sprawling system of immigration enforcement that detains and abuses noncitizens at scale. Woven with the wider context of Abdulahi's and Sa'id's stories, this immigration odyssey reveals disturbing truths about Somalia, asylum, and the U.S. court system. Shackled will galvanize readers--attorneys, activists, policymakers, and scholars alike--to call out and dismantle this brutal infrastructure.