Federal Courts/Jurisdiction

Federal Courts/Jurisdiction

The Criminal Justice Act: Appointment of Counsel in Habeas Corpus Proceedings

The Criminal Justice Act: Appointment of Counsel in Habeas Corpus Proceedings

This Practice Advisory presents a short introduction to the Criminal Justice Act (CJA), which authorizes U.S. district courts to appoint counsel to represent financially eligible individuals in habeas corpus actions brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. Read More

The Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine: FOIA and Petitions for Review

The Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine: FOIA and Petitions for Review

This Practice Advisory examines how the courts and the agencies apply the fugitive disentitlement doctrine which arises in the immigration context when courts of appeals use the doctrine to dismiss petitions for review and when government agencies invoke the doctrine to deny FOIA requests. This Practice Advisory examines how the courts and the agencies apply the doctrine in these contexts. Read More

Finality of Removal Orders for Judicial Review Purposes

Finality of Removal Orders for Judicial Review Purposes

The Immigration and Nationality Act authorizes the courts of appeals to review “final” removal orders. This Practice Advisory addresses whether a removal decision issued by an Immigration Judge or the BIA is a “final” removal order for purposes of federal court review. Read More

Electronic Filing and Access to Electronic Federal Court Documents

Electronic Filing and Access to Electronic Federal Court Documents

This Practice Advisory explains the federal rules authorizing electronic filing in federal court; describes how to file documents in federal court using the Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) System; and outlines how to access electronic documents through Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER). The Advisory discusses restrictions on electronic access to court documents in immigration cases. Read More

Failure to Appeal to the AAO: Does it Bar all Federal Court Review of the Case?

Failure to Appeal to the AAO: Does it Bar all Federal Court Review of the Case?

This Practice Advisory discusses whether and how a person can get review of a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services decision in federal court if he or she did not appeal the decision to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The Advisory addresses the Supreme Court case Darby v. Cisneros, holding that a plaintiff is not required to exhaust non-mandatory administrative remedies in certain situations, and how it may apply to cases involving appeals to the AAO. Read More

Federal Court Jurisdiction Over Discretionary Decisions After REAL ID

Federal Court Jurisdiction Over Discretionary Decisions After REAL ID

This Practice Advisory discusses the changes that the REAL ID Act made to INA § 242(a)(2)(B) and outlines an analysis for whether §242(a)(2)(B) applies to a particular case. It also discusses federal court jurisdiction over discretionary decisions after the REAL ID Act in the removal and non-removal contexts. The government has asserted this jurisdictional bar in employment-based, family-based, and humaritarian-based immigration cases. Read More

Supreme Court to Consider Whether DHS Can Subject Noncitizens to Prolonged, Mandatory Detention

Supreme Court to Consider Whether DHS Can Subject Noncitizens to Prolonged, Mandatory Detention

Last month, the Supreme Court announced that, in fall 2016, it will hear arguments in Jennings v. Rodriguez, a challenge to the prolonged detention of noncitizens in removal proceedings. At issue is whether the government can keep a noncitizen who is fighting her deportation case locked up for however… Read More

Supreme Court Issues Disappointing Split Decision in United States v. Texas

Supreme Court Issues Disappointing Split Decision in United States v. Texas

The Supreme Court issued a 4-4 decision in United States v. Texas, the case challenging expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA).  This means that the Fifth Circuit’s decision upholding the preliminary injunction against these initiatives will stand.  The… Read More

These Anti-Immigrant Organizations Are Behind the Effort to Derail Executive Action on Immigration

These Anti-Immigrant Organizations Are Behind the Effort to Derail Executive Action on Immigration

The tentacles of the modern anti-immigrant movement in the United States extend far and wide, but they emanate from a single source: John Tanton—a white nationalist trying his hardest to ensure that racial and ethnic minorities, fed by immigration and relatively high birth rates, don’t one day outnumber non-Latino… Read More

Judge Hanen Halts Order That Would Have Revealed Personal Information of DACA Recipients

Judge Hanen Halts Order That Would Have Revealed Personal Information of DACA Recipients

Judge Hanen halts his order that would have the Department of Justice (DOJ) turn over personal information of about 50,000 individuals who have received three-year reprieves from deportation and three-year work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. This original May 19, 2016 order will… Read More

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