Email from Dominique Fowler, Director of Student Life, and Sarah Luke, General Counsel, sent on Feb. 18, 2025 to members of the Brooklyn Law School community:
Recent executive orders regarding immigration policy have caused concern, fear, and uncertainty for many within our community. In response to requests from students and other constituents, we have created the attached Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource to help address concerns regarding recent developments in immigration policy. These FAQs align with the guidance provided ... by Governor Hochul, and with the practices we are seeing throughout higher education. It is important to note that these FAQs are intended as general guidance. We are continuing to monitor closely all developments and we will continue to update this resource with new information as it becomes available.
Current BLS students, faculty & administrators have off-campus access to selected BLS Library ebooks & to articles in $ databases (e.g., International Journal of Refugee Law, Journal of Refugee Studies, Refugee Survey Quarterly) that require use of a proxy server. Tip: Implement BLS proxy server instructions for 1 web browser, close/reopen the browser & access this guide through the browser that now communicates with the BLS proxy server. Based on patron feedback, librarians recommend the BLS proxy instructions for Firefox. For initial help implementing the BLS proxy instructions, email: library.lab@brooklaw.edu On campus using the BLS network, one should be able to link directly to these sources without needing the BLS proxy server. During reference hours (fall/spring semesters: 9-5, M-F + Sat. afternoon), BLS librarians can answer questions about sources through: askthelibrary@brooklaw.edu & the chat feature ("Need Help?") on this page.
BLS students in the Safe Harbor Clinic assist clients in gaining immigration status and asylum. Some BLS students in the LGBTQ Advocacy Clinic assist clients who are seeking asylum because the clients are fleeing anti-gay or anti-trans persecution in their home countries. BLS students also lead and participate in several pro bono projects with an immigration focus, including Asylum Relief Project (helping with various aspects of asylum cases) and Immigrant Youth Assistance Project (helping to develop Special Immigration Juvenile Status applications, including family court filings/appearances and preparing immigration filings). If an attorney wishes to hire a BLS student extern, to post a summer position announcement for law students or to post a graduate position announcement, please contact: PublicService@brooklaw.edu.
$ Lexis+ > click Go to Lexis+ > on left side of home screen, click: Document Analysis icon > click: Analyze a brief or passage or Compare multiple briefs > upload brief or motion in Microsoft Word or PDF. (Text is only stored for current session.) Tip: Lexis + Document Analysis feature Analyze a brief or passage can help you to identify "hallucinated" case cites and quotes.
Note: In a memo used as a test, L+: Document Analysis provided Shepard's treatment for both cases & BIA Decisions cited in the memo. Safe Harbor participants: please check L+ Document Analysis!
$ Westlaw Precision > scroll down to "Key Features" and click: Quick Check > choose option, such as: Check your work > upload brief or motion in Microsoft Word or PDF. (Text is only stored for current session.) Tip: Westlaw Precision Quick Check features Check your work and Analyze an opponent's work can help you to identify "hallucinated" case cites and quotes.
Tip: If document does not upload in Microsoft Word, try uploading document as a PDF.
$ Lexis For Microsoft Office for Law Schools
After downloading Lexis for Microsoft Office: When you open your Word document and click tab: LexisNexis, you will be able to Shepardize citations in your document, to check the Bluebook format of citations in your document, to check the accuracy of quotes in your document and to create a table of authorities.
This LibGuide was last substantively updated:
On: Apr. 8, 2025
At: 1:30 PM
By: Jean Davis
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, All News, Alerts + Laws and Policy
Tip: Researchers can filter Alerts by category/month/year. Example: Filtering by category: H-1 Visas & year: 2025 includes: H-1B Final Rule, H-2 Final Rule, and Revised Form I-129 Effective Jan. 17, 2025. Subscribe to receive email notification of new alerts.
Laws and Policy links to pertinent U.S. immigration legislation (including the Immigration and Nationality Act), regulations, the USCIS Policy Manual + recent updates to this Manual, policy memoranda, handbooks & the USCIS "Forms" page. Note: USCIS is in the process of retiring its Adjudicator's Field Manual (AFM) and updating/incorporating AFM content into the USCIS Policy Manual.
Other Resources links to U.S. Dep't. of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals decisions.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Reports and Studies
Links to annual reports and studies, such as USCIS' Annual Statistical Report FY 2023.
U.S. Dep't. of Homeland Security, Featured News, All DHS News + DHS.gov (includes some news & updates)
All DHS News supports searching by topic (topics include: Citizenship and Immigration Services & Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
DHS.gov supports searching.
U.S. Dep't. of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, News Releases and Statements
U.S. Dep't. of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, EOIR Home
Tab: ACCESS EOIR links to:
Virtual Law Library - Page now states: “Please be advised that some of the provisions in Title 8 of the CFR may have been enjoined and are not currently in effect."
EOIR Policy Manual - Includes Part VI – EOIR Memoranda - Research Tip: To find current information, search AILA Research Library by keyword: EOIR + document type: Agency Memos & Announcements. This will yield alerts & links to agency documents like: USCIS Announces Completion of FY2026 H-1B Initial Registration Selection Process (AILA Doc. #25033102, 3.31.25), USCIS Releases Policy Memo on Issuance of NTAs in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Removable Noncitizens (AILA Doc. No. 25030305, 2.28.25), EOIR Rescinds Memo Providing Guidance on Enforcement Priorities and Prosecutorial Discretion (AILA Doc. No. 25020401, 2.3.25) + EOIR Issues Memo on Laken Riley Act (AILA Doc. No. 25013106, 1.30.25) + EOIR Forms
U.S. Dep't. of State, searchable Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) & associated Handbooks (FAHS)
FAM vols. include link: View Changes
The White House (describes current Administration & its priorities + provides News of Presidential actions, press briefings, speeches & statements)
Tip: All researchers can browse/link to U.S. government documents for free at AILA's Tracking Notable Executive Branch Action during the Second Trump Administration. AILA members also can link to Practice Pointers and Alerts highlighted at Tracking Notable Executive Branch Action during the Second Trump Administration.
HIghly useful: $ AILALink subscription, available off campus to current BLS students, faculty & staff who have implemented the BLS proxy server instructions. This subscription supports up to 3 simultaneous users - please click Sign Out in upper right of screen when finished.
Provides: tailored collections of immigration law primary sources through home page menu options Statutes & Regs, Court and Admin Decisions + government manuals, memos & correspondence + highly useful AILA books for practitioners, such as Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook & AILA's Asylum Primer: A Practical Guide to U.S. Asylum Law + recent AILA conference publications.
U.S. law school students who are "enrolled in a full course of study" at an ABA-accredited law school can apply for FREE membership in American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)!
AILA's instructions: To apply, start by creating an account at AILA.org, through: Membership > Create an Account to Apply. After entering your information, return to AILA.org and click: Membership > Have Account Already, Log in to Apply to start your Law Student membership application. A law student will have the opportunity to attach proof of student status, which is a necessary part of the application process. Questions? Contact: membership@aila.org or 202-507-7635
Benefits of AILA law student membership include access to: immigration law research collection $ AILALink, AILA8 (= daily immigration e-newsletter), AILA Membership Directory, law student sessions of AILA's Annual Virtual Conference & free seminars/roundtables held for law student members.
$ Lexis+ > Practice Center > Immigration
Includes U.S. immigration statutes, regulations, federal court decisions & administrative decisions/guidance + Immigration Law and Procedure treatise + Bender's Immigration Bulletin + Law360 Immigration legal news.
$ Westlaw Precision > Practice Area > Immigration
Includes U.S. immigration statutes, regulations, federal court decisions & administrative decisions/guidance + Asylum Case Law Sourcebook + treatises such as Law of Asylum in the United States & Steel on Immigration Law, handbooks such as H1-B Handbook & Immigration Procedures Handbook + analysis of immigration law developments in Interpreter Releases & Interpreter Releases Daily + checklists, practice notes & forms under: Practical Law Connect Tasks at bottom of Immigration screen.
Aggregators of "Country of Origin Information" (COI) appear in section: COI of BLS Library's International Refugee Law LibGuide.