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Immigration Law: Specialized Resources

Nationality Migration Greencard
Last Updated: Nov 7, 2023 12:21 PM

Primary Sources - Immigration Law

Primary Sources

STATUTORY

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Act), P.L. No. 82-414, June 27, 1952, c.477, 66 Stat. 163, Title 8 U.S.C. 1101 et. seq. (As Amended) 

Significant amendments:

  • Immigration Reform and Control Act, P.L. 99-603, Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3359
  • Immigration Marriage Fraud Amendments, P.L. 99-639, 100 Stat. 3537, Nov. 10, 1986 
  • Immigration Act of 1990, P.L. 101-649, Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4978
  • Violent Crime Control & Law Enforcement Act of 1994, P.L. 103-322, Title IV, Subtitle G; Title XIII, 108 Stat. 1796, Sept. 13, 1994 
  • Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, P.L. 104-132, Title IV, 110 Stat. 1214, April 24, 1996 
  • Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, Div. C, 1996 U.S.C.C.A.N. 110 Stat. 3009 [576], Sept. 30, 1996 
  • USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act), P.L. No. 107-56, 115 Stat.272, Oct. 26, 2001 
  • Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act, P.L. No. 107-173, 116 Stat. 543, May 14, 2002 
  • Homeland Security Act of 2002, P.L. No. 107-296, 116 Stat. 2135, Nov. 25, 2002 

Federal Immigration Laws, and Regulations KF 4805.99 U54 (Most recent on Reserve)
The Whole Act - INA as amended KF 4806.54 .A19 P38 


Administrative

Regulations

  • Title 8, Aliens and Nationality, C.F.R. KF 70 .A34 (Fed. Core); Additional regulations will be found in the C.F.R. Index KF70 .A34 index (Fed Core)
  • Federal Immigration Laws and Regulations KF 4805.99 U54 (Most recent on Reserve)

Decisions

  • Administrative Decisions Under Immigration and Nationality Laws KF 4812 A2 U55
  • Hein's Cumulative Index to Interim Precedent Decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals KF 4812.7 H45
  • OCAHO Decisions 1991+ KF 4812 A2 U54a
  • OCAHO Decisions Online 1988+ 
  • Administrative Decisions Under Employer Sanctions, Unfair Immigration-Related Employment Practices & Civil Penalty Document Fraud Laws of the U.S. 1988+ KF 4812 .A2 U54b
  • INS General Counsel Opinions (99-1 to 99-6) KF 4819 I75 (Koren AV)

Practitioners' Handbooks - Immigration Law

Practitioner's Handbooks

General


Asylum


Detention


*Westlaw/Lexis access is restricted to law students only

Treatises & Casebooks - Immigration Law

Treatises

  • Dizon & Dadhania, Immigration Law Service, 2d (Available on Westlaw*)
  • Fragomen, Immigration Law and Business KF 4819 F7 1983; Also on Westlaw*
  • Gordon, Mailman, Yale-Loehr & Wada, Immigration Law and Procedure, Law General Collection  v.94 (2006) - v. 105 (2017) K3  A433; Lexis* (updated quarterly)
  • Hornik (NLG), Immigration Law and Defense, Law General Collection (2012- Sp. 2016)  KF 8925 E4 I4572; Also on Westlaw* (semiannual updates)
  • Kesselbrenner & Rosenberg (NLG), Immigration Law and Crimes, updated bi-annually (Available on Westlaw*)
  • Legomsky & Thronson, Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy (7ed, 2019) check for available services
    • Legomsky & Rodriguez, Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy (6ed, 2015) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4819 .L43 2015

Casebooks 

  • Alienikoff, Martin et. al., Immigration and Citizenship: Process and Policy (9ed., 2021) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4819 A75 2021
    • Alienikoff, Martin et. al., Immigration and Citizenship: Process and Policy (8ed., 2016) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4819 A75 2016
  • Alienikoff, Martin et.al., Immigration and Nationality Law of the United States: Selected Statutes, Regulations and Forms (2020) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4805.99 U55 2020
    • Alienikoff, Martin et.al., Immigration and Nationality Law of the United States: Selected Statutes, Regulations and Forms (2018) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4805.99 U55 2018
  • Seipp & Baldini-Potermin, Asylum Case Law Sourcebook (2021) (Available on Westlaw*)

*Westlaw and Lexis access is restricted to law students only

Legislative History - Immigration Law

Legislative History

CIS, Congressional Information Service KF 49 C623 (Koren AV); Lexis Nexis Congressional
Franklin, Legislative History of Naturalization in the United States KF 1814 F84 1969

Hutchinson, Legislative History of American Immigration Policy, 1798 - 1965 KF 4805.8 1981

IHS, Legislative Histories - Microfiche Program (Koren AV)

  • P.L. 82-414 Immigration and Nationality Act 
  • P.L. 85-316 Immigration Act of 1957 
  • P.L. 89-236 Immigration and Nationality Amendments of 1965 

Hein, Immigration and Nationality Acts: Legislative Histories and Related Documents, [1952-1997]

Trelles & Bailey, Immigration and Nationality Acts. Legislative Histories and Related Documents 1950-1978

Bailey, Immigration and Nationality Acts. Legislative Histories and Related Documents 1977-1986 First Series

Montweiler, The Immigration Reform Law of 1986: Analysis, Text, and Legislative History KF 4806.56 A16 M66 1987

AILA, Selected Legislative History of the Immigration Act of 1990 KF 4806.52 A15 1991
Kavass & Reams, Immigration act of 1990: A Legislative History of Pub. L. No. 101-649

AILA, Selected Legislative History of the Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 KF 4806.57 A15 1997

Reams & Nelson, “Immigration Reform and the Simpson-Rodino Act: A Legislative history of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (P. L. 99-603) with Related Documents and Secondary Sources”, 22 Int’l. J.L. Information 12 (1994) K 9 N8485

Journal & Law Review Articles - Immigration Law

Search these legal periodical indexes to identify relevant articles. Be creative with your search terms. Try very general as well as specific searches.

Online Legal Periodical Indexes

  • Index to Legal Periodicals and Books; also Westlaw* and Lexis* (journals 1981-present; books 2000 to present)
  • Index to Legal Periodicals and Books Retrospective (1918-1981
  • LegalTrac (also Westlaw* and Lexis*, but known as Legal Resource Index (LRI))(1980 - present)

Online Indexes with Quickest CURRENT coverage

  • Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP) on Westlaw* only (most recent 8 weeks)
  • SSRN (Social Science Research Network)(2000s-present) Working papers, accepted papers.

Indexes in paper format


Online Indexes with Foreign & International Coverage


Indexes in paper format with Foreign & International Coverage

You can also find relevant articles and other scholarly information by searching other online databases available at UB.


*Westlaw/Lexis access is restricted to law students only

Research Aids - Immigration Law

Research Aids

  • Chanin, Specialized Legal Research ("Immigration Law") KF 240 S69 1987 (Ref Desk)
  • Cordasco, Dictionary of American Immigration History JV 6450 D53 1990 (Ref)
  • Kurzban, Immigration Law Sourcebook (10ed, 2006) Law Library Circulation Desk KF4819.3 K87 2006
  •  Mason, “Sources of International Refugee law: A Bibliography”, 8 Int. J.Ref. L. 597 (1996)  K9 N8489 (Also on HeinOnline)

Digests & Citators - Immigration Law

Digests

Patel, Patel's Immigration Law Digest: Digest of Opinions in Immigration and Nationality Cases:

  • Decisions since 1981 KF 4814 P37 1985 
  • Decisions 1940 to 1981 KF 4814 P37 1982

​Citators

Patel's Citations KF 4812.5 P38 (Most current on Reserve);

Shepard's Citations (Lexis*)
includes:

  • Immigration & Naturalization Interim Decisions (I. & N. Dec. Interim)
  • Immigration and Nationality Decisions ( I. & N. Dec.)
  • Immigration Case Reporter ( Immigr. Cas. Rep. )
  • Immigration Law and Procedure Reporter (Immigr. Law & Proc. Rep. )
  • Board of Immigration Appeals LEXIS cite ( BIA LEXIS )
  • Immigration and naturalization decisions as published in major reports of the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts
  • Immigration and Nationality law provisions of U.S. Code and CFR
  • Georgetown Immigration Law Journal ( Geo. Immigr. L.J.)

*Westlaw/Lexis access is restricted to law students only

News & Analysis - Immigration Law

UB Libraries Online Catalog

Search UB's Online Catalog for books, e-books and other materials.

Try these and other subject searches in the University at Buffalo Libraries Catalog:

IRIS -- IMMIGRATION LAW on CD-ROM

IRIS: Immigration Research Information Service

A CD-ROM containing primary and secondary sources of immigration law. Last updated April 2004.
IRIS: Immigration Research Information Service KF 4819 I75 (Koren AV)

ANALYSIS

Immigration Law Service (also Westlaw*)
Full-text treatise

INS Basic Law Manual (also KF 48 21 U55 1991 )
INS publication on asylum law.

Interpreter Release (also KF 4802 I57 -Most recent on Reserve)
1987+; excludes appendices

Immigration Briefings ( also KF 4802 I463 )
1988+; excludes appendices

Martin's Asylum Case Law Sourcebook (also KF 4836 A7 M37 -Most recent in Ref; Westlaw*)
Summaries of every federal court asylum decision since 1980

UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status (alsoK 3230 R45 H36 1988 -Ref)


PRIMARY SOURCES

International

  • U.N. Documents Relating to Refugees

Judicial

Statutory

  • INA amended through P.L. 108-76
  • 8 USCA and 18 USCA amended through P.O. 108-76
  • Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 P.L. 104-208, Div. CM

Administrative


LABOR CERTIFICATION

BALCA Deskbook, Gordon & Mailman Vol. 8 (also KF 4819 G6 )
Summaries of decisions by Labor Department's Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (also HB 2581 U55 1991 Supp. 1993 -Lockwood Ref; Westlaw* and Lexis*
Labor Department publication of job descriptions and duties

Occupational Outlook Handbook (also HD 8051 A5 -Lockwood Reference; Lexis*;)

DOL Technical Assistance Guide (also LEXIS* - IMMTAG TAG)