Research Strategy For Asylum Cases

The first step in your research should be to familiarize yourself with the relevant statutes and regulations affecting your particular immigration sitution. For this you should use the US primary sources and secondary sources.

If you are preparing an asylum case, the next step is to broaden your research to look at the following: country conditions, relevant international law, relevant foreign law and secondary sources.

There are additional research guides which might also be of help below. Also, if you are trying to keep up with developments in the area look here.

 

Refugee Law

International Instruments: Universal

• Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees

  Travaux Préparatoires

• 1951 Refugee Convention (UNHCR)
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Geneva, 28 July 1951; Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, New York, 31 January 1967, [Audiovisual Library of International Law]
• Commentary on the Refugee Convention 1951: Articles 2-11, 13-37,
• Travaux Préparatoires: Records of the 1951 Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons

   

International Instruments: Regional

• 1969 Organization for African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa
• 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees

International Instruments: Collections

• UN Treaty Collection
  • Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General (MTDSG): provides status information for treaties deposited with the UN. Chapter V covers Refugees and Stateless Persons and Chapter IV covers Human Rights treaties.
• ICRC International Humanitarian Law
• Collection of International Instruments and Legal Texts Concerning Refugees and Others of Concern to UNHCR
• UNHR International Human Rights Law
• RefWorld Legal Collection

Legal Information

• RefWorld Legal Collection
• Migration Law Database
• GLIN
• Lexadin
• WorldLII

Foreign Laws

• See Foreign Law
• Foreign Law Guide

Statistics

• UNHCR  Statistical Yearbook
• Country Information (often includes more recent estimates)

Country Information

• BU Country Conditions Guide
• Treaty Body Database
• World News Connection

IGO's

United Nations

• UN High Commissioner for Refugees
  • UNHCR Handbooks and Guidelines
  • UNHCR External Links
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
• UN Human Rights Research Guide

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

• International Instruments and Regional Instruments (IMO)

African Commission on Human and People's Rights

• ACHPR

Council of Europe

• Commissioner for Human Rights
• European Court of Human Rights

NGO's

• Worldwide NGO Directory

General international and foreign news

• World News Connect (BU only)
• LexisNexis and Westlaw: Search the LexisNexis or Westlaw news files for a particular foreign jurisdiction, the United States, or on a specific topic. Consult the Westlaw Database Directory or the LexisNexis Directory of Sources to choose the best database.
• Google Search Tip
  • If you are looking for news from within a foreign country, Google can be a great resource if you limit your search to search websites ending in the site code for the country (also known as a root zone).
  • Syntax: (search terms) site:.[country code]
  • EX: refugee site:.rw

Research Guides

• Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web from the Law Library Resource Exchange
• Refugee Case Law Site from the University of Michigan: collects and indexes case law from around the world related to the definition of the word "refugee".
• World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII): Law from around the world organized by topic, including:
  • Refugees and Asylum
• International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology from the UNHCR Library and Forced Migration Online (FMO)
• SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) Law: Human Rights
• Refugees, Asylum, Nationality, Displaced, & Freedom of Movement from EISIL
• Alertnet

 

 

 

 

Researching Immigration Law of the United States

Legislation

• Sources for immigration law include:
  • Immigration and Nationality Act (BCIS)
  • Title 8 of the United States Code (LII)
  • For more places you can find statutes, see Federal Statutory Research
• Recently enacted legislation, called Public Laws, is available in
  • List of Public Laws Amending the INA from the BCIS web site.
  • For more information see Federal Statutory Research
• Recently introduced legislation, called bills, can be located in many places, see Bills and Amendments
• It may also be helpful to look at the legislative history of federal statutes.

Administrative law

• Regulations
  • 8 C.F.R., as well as in other C.F.R. sections (BCIS)
• 8 C.F.R. (LII)
• Bender's Immigration Regulations Service (Law Annex KF4819 G67 1988).
• For more sources, see Sources for Federal Regulations
• Proposed Regulations or recently published regulations
  • the BCIS provides access to Federal Register sections related to immigration (1994-present)
  • For more sources, see Sources for Federal Regulations
• Executive Orders of the President can be found in:
  • Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations, see above.

Administrative agencies related to immigration include

• Enforcement of immigration law lies with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, a bureau of the US Department of Homeland Security.
  • BCIS procedure manuals and policy guidances
  • BCIS Interpretations supplement the statutes and regulations governing immigration.
  • BCIS: Asylum information
  • BCIS: Refugees information
  • BCIS: Humanitarian Parole information
  • Asylum Officer Procedures and Training
    • Guidelines and Training Manuals (Asylumlaw.org)
• Administrative Decisions: Immigration law judges handle cases of exclusion and deportation and some of their decisions can be found in
  • Interpreter Releases (Law Annex KF4802 I57)
  • Select opinions are available at the INS site.
• The Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") handles appeals from decisions of immigration law judges. The rulings of the BIA can be found:
  • Administrative Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Laws (Law Annex KF4821 A6)
  • Interpreter Releases (Law Annex KF 4802 I57)
  • LexisNexis (IMMIG:BIA)
  • Westlaw (FIA & BIA)
  • Interim Decisions (1976 (Vol 16) - present) in .pdf format from the Department of Justice.
  • Executive Office for Immigration Review ("EOIR") also has a chronological index of recent BIA and an alphabetical index of Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer decisions available.
• A digest of administrative law decisions allows you to search for decisions by topic.
• Patel's Immigration Law Digest (Law Annex KF4814 P37 1982)

• Secretary of State: through its visa office and the United States consuls shares enforcement responsibilities.
  • Department of State issues:
  • State Department Advisory Opinions to district directors in asylum cases are likely only available from the district office handling the case.
  • Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Law Annex JC571 C6).
  • Department of State Dispatch (Law Annex JX 232 A333) (ceased in 1999) (1999- , refer to Department press releases)
  • Country Background Notes
  • Foreign Affairs Manual

Case Law

• Appeals from the BIA are heard in the federal courts. For case law see Federal Case Law Research.

Forms and sample documents

• BCIS Forms and Fees
• Federal Immigration Laws and Regulations (Law Reserve and Law Annex KF4805.99 U54)
• Steel on Immigration Law (Law Annex KF 4819 S74)
• Immigration Procedures Handbook (Law Reserve KF 4819 I48)

 

Preparing an Asylum Case: Country Conditions

From Governments

• National Documentation Packets
• USCIS Profile Series
• State Department
  • Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
  • Report on International Religious Freedom
  • Trafficking in Persons Report
• IND Country Specific Operational Guidance Notes
• Home Office Country Reports
• Asylumlaw.org - includes government documents like RIC reports

From IGOs

• Refworld and UNHCR
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Country Reports

 

From NGOs

• Human Rights Watch World Report
• Amnesty International Country Reports
• Freedom House Country Reports
• Forced Migration Online: Digital Library
• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre: Key IDP Documents
• Refugees International: Field Reports
• Internal Displacement Monitering Centre: Resources

 

From News Sources

• World News Connection
• World Newspapers or OnlineNewspapers.com
• Ethnic NewsWatch

Preparing an Asylum Case: International Law

Treaties

• Basic Documents on International Migration Law (Law Annex K3275 A35 B37 1997)
• RefWorld: International Instruments (UNHCR)
• International Migration Law Database: International Instruments and Regional Instruments (IMO)
• International Human Rights Instruments: Refugees and Asylum(University of Minnesota Human Rights Library)
• Other Human Rights Treaties (OUNHCHR)
• International Humanitarian Law: Treaties and Documents (IRC)
• For further Treaty Information see United States Treaty Research Guide

 

International Tribunals

• See International Tribunals

IGO Documents

• United Nations
  • UN High Commissioner for Refugees
    • UNHCR Handbooks and Guidelines
  • UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • United Nations Official Document System
• International Organization for Migration
• African Commission on Human and People's Rights
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Council of Europe
  • Commissioner for Human Rights
  • European Court of Human Righ

Preparing an Asylum Case: Foreign Law

Statutes

• International Migration Law Database: National Instruments
• Refworld
• Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)

Judicial Decisions

• Refworld
• Refugee Caselaw Site (Uof Michigan and Melbourne)
• UNHCR Compilation of Case Law on Refugee Protection in International Law
• International Law in Domestic Courts
• Global Legal Information Network (GLIN)

For futher information look under individual countries

 

Secondary Sources

Immigration and Asylum

Books

• Use the online catalog to search for books and loose-leaf services related to immigration and refugee law.
• AILA'S Asylum Primer: A practical guide to U.S. asylum law and procedure, Law Civil Clinic KF4836 .G47 2007
• Basic Procedural Manual for Asylum Represention Affirmatively and in Removal Proceedings (Midwest Immigrant and Human Righst Center 2005)
• Affirmative Asylum Procedures Manual (USCIS 2007)
• LGBT/HIV Asylum Manual (ImmigrationEquality)
• Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook (2002 and 2000 Law Annex KF4819.3 .K87 and 1998: Law Reserve KF4819.3 .K87)
• Immigration Law and Procedure (Law Annex KF4819 .G67)
• International Immigration and Nationality Law (Law Annex
  K3275 .A48)
• Immigration Law in a Nutshell (Law Reserve KF 4819.3 .W4)
• Interpreter Releases (Law Annex KF 4802 I57)
• Immigration Monitoring Report (Law Pappas)
• Immigration Newsletter (Law Annex JV6001 A1 I46)
• Press releases available at government web sites, like the BCIS or the Department of State related to your topic
• BCIS Handbooks, Manuals and Policy Guidance available at the BCIS web sit

Periodicals

• Legaltrac: An index of law review articles from 1980-present). Also on Westlaw (LRI) and LexisNexis (LGLND).
• Full text law review databases on Westlaw and LexisNexis. However, be aware, the date coverage of law review articles varies greatly. Also, searching full-text law review articles can be inefficient, as a search can return an extremely large numbers of articles.
• Hein Online: full-text law journals, many of which are not available on LexisNexis or Westlaw, can be searched or browsed and printed in .pdf format.
• News: you can search newspapers on Westlaw and LexisNexis to find related newspaper articles.
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals

Refugee Law

Books

• Use the online catalog to search for books and loose-leaf services related to international immigration and refugee law.
• Human Rights Protection for Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Internally Displaced Persons: A guide to international mechanisms, Law Annex K3230.R45 H867 2002
• Refugee Law in Context: the exclusion clause, Law Annex K3268.3 .R44 1999
• Refugee Law and Policy: A comparative and international approach, Law Reserve KF4836.A7 M87 2002
• Who is a Refugee?: A comparative case law study, Law Annex K3274 .W46 1997
• Refugee Protection: A Guide to International Refugee Law (UNHCR)
• Refugee Protection in International Law (UNHCR)

Periodicals

• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
• Legal Journals Index via Westlaw (LJI)(1986 to date)
• Hein Online: Foreign and International Law Resources Database
• Max Planck Institute Public International Law index (Law Annex Ref JX3091 P816).
• ECLAS (European Commission Libraries Catalogue)
• Peace Palace Catalog - indexes journal articles
• UNBISnet - the UN catalog also indexes books and articles
• ASILEX - allows you to search all American Society of International Law publications
• Articles in Digital Library (Forced Migration Online)

 

 

Asylum, Immigration and Refugee Law Resources

For further information on researching asylum, immigration and refugee law, see section 8 of Specialized Legal Research (Law Reserve and Law Ref Desk KF240 S63 1987).

Some helpful web sites for asylum, immigration and refugee research include:

• Foreign and Intentional Law Resources: An Annotated Guide to Web Sites Around the World: Immigration and Asylum Law from Harvard Law School Library
• Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web from the Law Library Resource Exchange
• Immigration Law on the Web from the Law Library Resource Exchange
• Refugee Research Guide from Georgetown University Law Center
• Immigration Law: An Overview from Cornell's Legal Information Institute
• Immigration Research Guide from Georgetown University Law Center
• Refugee Case Law Site from the University of Michigan: collects and indexes case law from around the world related to the definition of the word "refugee".
• Office of the Administrative Law Judge, Dept of Labor: Immigration related decisions
• American Immigration Law Foundation
• American Immigration Lawyers Association
• World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII): Law from around the world organized by topic, including:
  • Citizenship & Migration
  • Refugees and Asylum
• International Thesaurus of Refugee Terminology from the UNHCR Library and Forced Migration Online (FMO)
• Refugees, Asylum, Nationality, Displaced, & Freedom of Movement from EISIL
• Alertnet

 

Current Awareness in Asylum, Immigration or Refugee Law

Blogs

• ImmigrationProf Blog
• Center for Immigration Studies Blog
• Institute for Research on Labor & Employment Law Blog
• Greg Suskind's Blog
• Forced Migration Online: Blog

Inter-Governmental Governmental Organizations (IGOs)

• International Organization for Migration
• African Commission on Human and People's Rights
• European Council on Refugees and Exiles
• European Court of Human Rights
• Inter-American Court of Human Rights
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• UN High Commissioner for Refugees
  • RefWorld
• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

• American Refugee Committee
• Amnesty International: see Refugees and Migrants
• Forced Migration Online
• Global IDP Project
• Human Rights Watch
• International Committee of the Red Cross
• International Organization for Migration
• Refugees International
• US Committee for Refugees
• World Refugee
• Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children

General international and foreign news

• World News Connect (BU only)
• LexisNexis and Westlaw: Search the LexisNexis or Westlaw news files for a particular foreign jurisdiction, the United States, or on a specific topic. Consult the Westlaw Database Directory or the LexisNexis Directory of Sources to choose the best database.

Ask a Reference Librarian

In the course of your research on Asylum, Immigration and Refugee Law, if you have any questions or would like to discuss researching a particular topic, please contact Karina Condra:

• Via Email
• Via LiveChat (available times vary)

In Person: See a professional reference librarian during reference hours at the desk located inside the Pappas reading room.

By Phone: The Reference Librarians may be reached by phone at 617-353-3151 during reference hours.

Via Chat: The LiveChat service is available during reference hours.

The following services are limited to BU School of Law Students:

By Email: students may submit an email reference request.

By Appointment: students may make an appointment for an individual research consultation.