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Immigration & Human Rights on the Internet

Introduction

The purpose of this short guide is to highlight key online resources for researching immigration and human rights on the Internet. For more detailed information, see our two research guides, Human Rights Law and CALS Asylum Case Research or contact the Reference Desk.

If you have additional questions on human rights and immigration research, please feel free to contact the Wolff Library reference desk at 202-662-4195 or by email: intlref@law.georgetown.edu. You may also submit your question via this online form.

Immigration Sites

Government Sites

• US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS): Laws, Regulations and Guides Includes law, regulations, and BIA interim decisions.The site can be searched and files can be downloaded. Please note that once you click on the section heading the links on the left change and offer different relevant resources. The USCIS homepage contains links to statistics, filing fees, and other information. Immigration forms are also available by mail or you can download them from the site. There is also a small section on Asylum Resources under the Education and Resources heading.
• DOJ, Executive Office for Immigration Review
• Board of Immigration Appeals Precedent Decisions are available through the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) Virtual Law Library (VLL)
  Contains BIA decisions from decision no. 2526 (September 1, 1976) to present.
• Office of Special Counsel for Immigration - Related Unfair Employment Practices
  Information about Immigration and Nationality Act INA and related forms, plus "outreach" booklets.
• Department of Labor
  Contains laws, regulations and publications related to migrant and seasonal agricultural foreign workers.
• Office of Administrative Law Judges, Immigration Collection
  Contains the full-text of recent BALCA decisions, Dictionary of Occupational Titles, the Judges Benchbook: Alien Labor Certification, and relevant laws and regulations.
• Thomas,has legislative Information on the Internet

Other Immigration Sites

• American Immigration Center has informative tutorials (located at the bottom for the page).
• American Immigration Resources on the Internet
• Center for Immigration Studies
• Cornell University's Legal Information Institute: Immigration Law
• Immigration Superhighway
• Immigration-USA
  See also the forms page and resources on the Internet.
• LawGuru.com has an Internet Law Library with a section on, Immigration, Nationality & Citizenship Laws they include immigration resources from many countries.
• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) with links on the left hand of the page, to cases and decisions, as well as, legislation and advocacy.

Major Human Rights Sites

Many of these sites contain the full-text of international instruments, commentary, and other useful information related to human rights.

• Council of Europe,Directorate General of Human Rights and Legal Affairs (DGHL)
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), International Humanitarian Law
  See also the National Implementation Database for legislation and case law.
• International Labour Organization (ILO), Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work
• Multilaterals Project, Human Rights (Tufts)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) RefWorld has refugee policy documents, country reports, national legislation and international instruments.
• ReliefWeb
• United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• United Nations Treaty Collection (Georgetown Law only)
• Human Rights Library (University of Minnesota)
• Bayefsky.com

Status of International Instruments

There are many other sources for status information. Consult sources from the body that issued the international instrument (the UN committee, the Council of Europe, etc.). For more detailed information about status information on the Internet, see American Society of International Law (ASIL) Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights and Treaties. Many of the sources listed below also contain information about reservations.

• United Nations Treaty Collection (Georgetown Law only) See Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General.
• ILOLEX (ILO)
• Treaty Bodies Database (UNHCHR)
• International Humanitarian Law Database (ICRC)
• European Treaties (Council of Europe)
• The Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs on the left Treaties in Force (TIF) (U.S. Dept. of State)

Case Law

• European Commission of Human Rights
• European Court of Human Rights
• Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
• Inter-American Human Rights Database
• Inter-American Commission and Court (University of Minnesota Human Rights Library)
• UNHCHR Treaty Bodies Database
  Includes decisions from the bodies that administer the seven major human rights treaties.
• THe Michigan-Melbourne Refugee Caselaw Site (University of Michigan)

Country Reports

Many international organizations produce reports on the human rights conditions in various countries. Human rights activists and lawyers rely on these reports for asylum proceedings and when appearing before various treaty bodies and tribunals. For more information on country documentation, see the CALS Asylum Case Research Guide.

• Amnesty International Library
• Country of Origin Research Information (Immigration & Refugee Board of Canada)
• Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (U.S. Dept. of State)
  Reports from 1993 to the present are available online.
• Human Rights First
• World Report (Human Rights Watch) for the most current report
• Annual Report (International Committee of the Red Cross)
  Reports from 1994 to the present are available online.
• State of the World's Children (UNICEF) for the most current edition
  Older reports starting in 1996 are also available.
• Basic Country Conditions Research (University of Minnesota Human Rights Library)
  Provides a chart linking to sources for many countries.

Research Guides

• Researching International Human Rights Law (Georgetown)
• Introduction to International Legal Research (Georgetown)
• CALS Asylum Research Guide (Georgetown)
• Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Human Rights (ASIL)
• EISIL - Electronic Information System for International Law (ASIL)
• Immigration Law - A Comparative Approach: Guide to Immigration Law of Australia, Canada and the United States (GlobaLex)
• INCORE Internet Thematic Guides (International Conflict Research) Includes gender, refugees, children, land mines, etc.
• Guide to Country Research for Refugee Status Determinations (LLRX)
• Guide to International Refugee Law Resources on the Web (LLRX)
• Immigration Law (Findlaw)
• International Women's Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Toronto)
• Asylum, Immigration and Refugee Law (Boston University)

Other Useful Sites

• Science and Human Rights Coalition (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
• Forced Migration Online
• Human Rights Internet
• INCORE Internet Country Guides
• OneWorld.net

Revised January 2007 (aeb)
Updated August 2008 (ras)
Revised August 2009 (ras)

© Georgetown University Law Library.
These guides may be used for educational purposes, as long as proper credit is given.  These guides may  not be sold.  Requests to republish or adapt a guide should be directed to the Head of Patron Services. Proper credit includes the statement: Written by Georgetown Law Library (current as of .....).