SJI Continues Focus on Immigration Issues in the State Courts
In FY 2009, SJI awarded a Strategic Initiative Grant to the Center for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) for Phase II of the Immigration and the State Courts: Meeting the Challenge project. During Phase I of the project, CPPS worked with Maricopa County, Arizona, two counties in western Minnesota, and Miami-Dade County, Florida, to document and assist those jurisdictions with immigration issues impacting their state courts. Phase I also included the completion of a Bench Guide for state court judges on the immigration consequences of state criminal actions.
Phase II of the project has five major components:
- Facilitate improvement work in additional pilot learning sites.
- Prepare a Bench Guide on immigration issues in juvenile and family cases.
- Complete and test a model measurement system.
- Develop training courses for judges and court personnel.
- Facilitate the ongoing federal/state/local dialogue on immigration issues in the state courts.
CPPS is currently working with several counties in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area and will begin work in additional pilot learning sites within the next month. CPPS is also developing a bench guide on immigration issues in juvenile and family cases, as family and juvenile issues have consistently been identified as priorities in all the learning sites. Training will be developed for judges and court personnel that will describe the issues involving immigrants in state courts, outline the impacts of those issues on the state courts, and highlight the differences between federal and state laws. Finally, CPPS is working to develop a website and resource library featuring all the material developed in the project and providing timely information on immigration issues in the state courts.
