Immigration, Asylum and Human Rights Clinics  

• Clinical Programs Research Guide
• Find Information on Specific Topics
• Find Information on Mass. Courts
• Search the Web Using Google
• PACER
• Westlaw Dockets

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:

• Asylum, Immigration and Refugee Law Portal from BU
• 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
• Asylum Case 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".
• Immigration related decisions from the Office of the Administrative Law Judge, Dept of Labor
• 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)
• SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) Law: Human Rights
• Refugees, Asylum, Nationality, Displaced, & Freedom of Movement from EISIL
• Alertnet

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, check out the list of current awareness resources.

For docket information on cases litigated in the federal courts, use Westlaw or PACER. If using Westlaw, you can access the full directory of the Westlaw dockets databases by clicking on "Directory" from the main search page and then, under the "Litigation" heading, selecting "Dockets." If using PACER, please contact the reference librarians for the PACER password that has been dedicated for use by the Clinical Programs.  Westlaw also provides access to selected state court docket information.  If you're having trouble finding a docket, please see a reference librarian.

In addition to legal research, students in the clinical programs need to perform investigative research tasks involving people, organizations, or assets. When Finding and Investigating People, you may need to locate contact information, vital records, neighbor and landlord information, criminal records, professional licenses, or motor vehicle registrations. Investigating Companies & Organizations involves locating contact information for companies and charitable organizations, business filings, news, and case law. Finding Information on Assets & Valuations includes locating information on liens and judgments, individual's real and personal property, company assets, and income.