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U.S. Immigration Law Research Starting Points: Sources of U.S. Government Publications

Guide created for Brooklyn Law School's Safe Harbor Clinic

Free Sources of U.S. Government Publications

GovInfo (online access to official publications of the U.S legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government - provider: U.S. Government Publishing Office)  Links to:

Regulations.gov (online access to U.S. regulatory materials, including: "trending regulations, public comments, supporting analyses, FR notices, and rules" - provider: U.S. government)

  • Look for link: Document Comments when viewing a recently proposed federal regulation

The White House - Describes the current Administration and its priorities. Provides News of Presidential actions, press briefings, speeches, and statements.  

Note: Executive Orders and additional presidential documents appear in the Federal Register (daily, 1936-present) [Publisher: Office of the Federal Register, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration]

 

BLS Library's Subscription Databases to Find/Analyze Key U.S. Government Publications

Immigration Law & Policy in the U.S. (in HeinOnline) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN). [Publisher: W.S. Hein] ( server)

  • HeinOnline describes the content as "the most important historical documents and legislation related to immigration in the United States, as well as current hearings, debates, and recent developments in immigration law."

ProQuest Congressional > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides the full text of many U.S. legislative and executive publications. ( server)

  • Tip: Click tab: Browse Topics.  Topics include: Border Security, Citizenship, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and Immigration Deportation and Detention.
    • Each topic includes news, background reports, featured events, viewpoints (= "views on the topic documented in the oral and written testimony from witnesses during a [U.S.] congressional hearing") + links to primary sources (such as laws + presidential materials).
  • Tip to find a specific document: Link: Advanced (beneath main screen search box) supports searches by content type + states the date range of available material for each content type (example: Content type: Hearings: 1824-Present).
    • Search example: Researchers can enter the name of a witness/panelist and limit the search by content type: Hearings.

ProQuest Legislative Insight > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (PROQUEST) - Provides legislative histories of U.S. public laws.  As ProQuest notes here: "[l]egislative histories enable you to trace the development of a public law from early consideration to enactment."  These legislative histories include links to specific documents (such as bills, discussions in the Congressional Record and reports). ( server) 

  • Tip: Click: Browse All Topic Pages.  Includes legislative histories on Border Security and Refugees.
  • Offers a main screen search box, including a link to Popular Law Names (provides legislative histories for many U.S. immigration laws). 
  • Offers an Advanced Search feature to search by number/citation (e.g., by bill number or by public law number).
  • Supports searches in the full text of documents associated with a U.S. public law.

U.S. Congressional Documents Library (in HeinOnline) > in BLS Library's SARA catalog record, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (HEIN). [Publisher: W.S. Hein] ( server)

  • Features the Congressional Record bound volume set (1873-present) + its predecessor titles: Annals of Congress (1789-1824), Register of Debates (1824-1837) and the Congressional Globe (1833-1873).  Also provides the Congressional Record Daily edition from 1980-present.
  • Features House and Senate documents and reports included in the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (scope:1817-2017) + a collection titled: Congressional Documents (2018-present).
  • Also provides collections of Committee Prints and Congressional Hearings.

Westlaw Precision page: Statutes & Court Rules (requires Westlaw username/password) provides:

Westlaw Precision page: Legislative History (requires Westlaw username/password) includes:

  • Arnold & Porter Legislative Histories, including Homeland Security Act of 2002.
  • Congressional Record (scope: 99th Congress (1985) - present)
  • Legislative History - 1776 (scope: "Documents related to the founding of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, notes on the debates in the Federal Convention of 1787, the Federalist papers, and ratification resolutions of the states. Coverage begins with selected resolutions passed by the First Continental Congress in 1774.")
  • Legislative History - Congressional Reports (scope: "All congressional committee reports, including reports on bills that did not become law, beginning with 1990. Also sets out the legislative history of public laws as reprinted in U.S. Code Congressional and Administrative News (USCCAN) from 1948 through 1989, as well as the legislative history of securities laws beginning with 1933 and presidential signing statements reprinted in USCCAN beginning with 1986.")