TA Program News

TA Program New Resources and Upcoming Trainings

CGRS regularly adds new resources to the TA Library, schedules upcoming trainings, and makes technical improvements and updates to our site. Keep an eye on this page for program updates!

Please note that the resources listed below are limited to those authored by CGRS or universal expert declarations provided by CGRS. Our TA Library also includes a wide range of third-party materials such as sample briefs, unpublished decisions, and resources authored by other organizations. We encourage you to check the TA Library regularly for new and helpful resources.

Events and Trainings

CGRS regularly offers events and trainings on refugee law, policy, and human rights. These are generally open to the public, including advocates, legal and social service providers, students, and community members. If your organization is interested in collaborating on an event or training, please contact us at cgrs-ca@uclawsf.edu.

Upcoming Events

MCLE Webinar: Overview to Working with Expert Witnesses in Asylum and Related Claims

February 6, 2025 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm PST
MCLE Webinar: Overview to Working with Expert Witnesses in Asylum and Related Claims

In this training, CGRS attorneys will discuss when expert witnesses may be useful, how they can benefit fear of return cases, best practices for screening experts for an individual case, and identify the major steps in working together from the initial conversation to the conclusion of proceedings.

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New Litigation Support Resources
Access through the TA Library
Dec 23, 2024
New CGRS Circumvention of Legal Pathways Resources

CGRS has released new resources, regarding the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways (CLP) rule that can be accessed now through CGRS's TA Library, including "Advocates' Guide to the Family Unity Exception to the CLP" and "Know Your Rights: An Asylum Seeker's Guide to the Family Unity Exception to the CLP."

Access in the TAL
Dec 23, 2024
New CGRS Climate-Related Resources Available

CGRS has released new climate-related resources, that can be accessed now through CGRS's TA Library, including a practice advisory, "Investigating Climate-Related Aspects of Fear-of-Return Claims: Indigenous Guatemalan Individuals" and country conditions toolkits for Guatemala and El Salvador.

Access in the TAL
Dec 23, 2024
New CGRS Practice Advisories Available

CGRS has released new practices advisories, that can be accessed now through CGRS's TA Library, including "Preparing for a New Administration: Overview of Anticipated Changes to Asylum Law and Policy and Case Considerations," "Domestic Violence-Based Claims for Asylum and Related Relief," and "Working with Expert Witnesses in Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and Convention Against Torture Claims."

Access in the TAL
Dec 11, 2024
New CGRS Webinar: Overview to Convention Against Torture Claims

This webinar discusses the differences between asylum/statutory withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture including the different standards applicants must meet to establish their entitlement to CAT protection. The panelists also discuss scenarios where one may wish to consider CAT claims for clients and strategies for representing clients before the immigration court.

Access in the TAL
Nov 14, 2024
New CGRS Webinar: Asylum and Climate Change: Identifying and Analyzing Climate-Related Claims in the United States

This webinar focuses on how to identify and analyze U.S. asylum claims involving climate change and environmental disasters, including rapid- and slower-onset climate events, and how to elicit critical facts to support such claims.

Access in the TAL
Nov 8, 2024
New Expert Declaration: Elizabeth G. Kennedy on Gang and Gender-Based Violence in Honduras

CGRS has released a new universal declaration authored by Dr. Elizabeth G. Kennedy addressing gang and gender-based violence in Honduras.

Access in the TAL
Nov 1, 2024
New CGRS Country Conditions Toolkit: Harm Based on Armed Group and Gang Violence in Colombia

This toolkit includes pertinent resources on the historical and social context of armed group and gang violence in Colombia, the prevalence of this type of harm, and violence targeted at specific groups.

Access in the TAL
Nov 1, 2024
New CGRS Webinar: Overview of Convention Against Torture Claims for Unaccompanied Children

In this training, CGRS attorneys provide an overview of bringing claims under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), focusing on CAT claims for unaccompanied children (UCs). The panelists discuss when and why to raise a CAT claim for an unaccompanied child and offer guidance on child-specific arguments.

Access in the TAL
Sep 20, 2024
New CGRS Webinar: Overview to Withholding of Removal Claims

This training provides an overview on statutory withholding of removal claims. CGRS attorneys discuss the differences between asylum and withholding of removal and the different standards applicants must meet to establish their entitlement to withholding.

Access in the TAL
Sep 19, 2024
Updated CGRS Country Conditions Resources on Honduras

CGRS has released two updated country conditions toolkits on violence against women in Honduras and government ineffectiveness in Honduras and a sample annotated table of contents on violence against women in Honduras.

Access in the TAL
Sep 16, 2024
New Expert Declaration: Donald Hernández Palma on Climate Disasters and Environmental Degradation in Honduras

CGRS has released a new universal expert declaration authored by Donald Hernández Palma addressing the disproportionate and harmful impacts of environmental policies, climate disasters, and environmental degradation on groups of people already facing structural inequalities.

Access in the TAL
TA Program Newsletters
November 2024 Newsletter

Announcements include: new TA resources released since July 2024, recent webinars, our request for expert witness recommendations, CGRS's victory in “metering” lawsuit, our 25th anniversary kickoff event, recommendations on addressing climate displacement, new team members, and a summer intern spotlight

Read the Newsletter Here
July 2024 Newsletter

Announcements include: new TA resources, expert witness database updates, CGRS's federal lawsuit and comment over the new anti-asylum rules, our testimony on the climate emergency and humans rights, a report on Haitian asylum seekers in Mexico, and new advocates to our team.

Read the Newsletter Here
February 2024 Newsletter

Announcements include: new TA resources released since October 2023, February and March webinars, CGRS's brief to the Inter-American Court of human rights on climate displacement, and our complaint on human rights violations at Open-Air Detention Sites.

Read the Newsletter Here
October 2023 Newsletter

Announcements include: new TA resources released since July 2023, a December 2023 webinar, updates on CGRS's lawsuit challenging the Biden Administration's turnback policy, a Rally to Restore Asylum in Southern California, and new advocates to our team.

Read the Newsletter Here
Other TA Program News and Updates
Join CGRS's TA user focus group

Want to help improve CGRS's TA services and get access to new features early? Click below to join our new focus group.

Sign up
New case intake form feature

CGRS has added a field to our case intake form to track asylum ban cases.

Submit asylum ban cases
New feature: edit your case intake after submitting

You can now edit your own case record to add new information and immediately get relevant materials in the TA Library. Go to your My Account page to edit.

View your cases
New feature in the Expert Witness Database

Organizations or clinics offering expert evaluations are now listed in the Expert Witness Database.

Browse the database
Share a TA Library with co-counsel

If you are working on a case with other colleagues, clinic students, or pro bono counsel, add others as shared users to access the same resources and save time. To share, click Share Case on the case record.

Learn more
Submit resources for inclusion in the TA Library

Support CGRS by helping expand our TA Library! We welcome submissions of sample briefs, country conditions research, universal declarations, and more.

Submit here
Help Support CGRS!

CGRS relies on individual donations to provide informative events and trainings free of charge. Please consider donating to support our work. Donate here.

Donate here
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