Immigration Courts
Immigration courts play a crucial role in ensuring that immigration laws are applied fairly and consistently, providing due process to those facing removal. Learn more about issues facing the courts today and explore the actions we're taking to ensure the rights of immigrants are upheld and legal integrity is maintained.
The Justice Department Is Halting Its Legal Advice Program for Detained Immigrants
In its latest attack on due process and access to counsel in the immigration court system, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has decided to suspend its Legal Orientation Program (LOP) despite its demonstrated ability to increase efficiencies in the nation’s horribly backlogged immigration courts. Read More
DOJ Cuts Immigrants’ Access to Counsel in Latest Attack on Due Process
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced its intention to cancel the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) despite its immensely positive impact on judicial efficiency and fundamental fairness, and Congress’ express instruction to continue such programming, along with the provision of funding in the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill, recently signed by the president. Read More
Immigration Judge Quotas Could Result in Assembly Line Justice
In a controversial move, the Department of Justice recently announced new case completion quotas for immigration judges. These new quotas will result in time constraints and pressure for judges to reach decisions quickly, impacting individuals’ ability to have a fair day in court. The Executive Office… Read More
DOJ Strips Immigration Courts of Independence
The Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), has instituted strict quotas as part of immigration judges' individual performance evaluations, a shift that strips away the independence held by judges who are making high stakes decisions about whether a person will be deported. Read More
District Court Issues Favorable Nationwide Ruling on Behalf of Thousands of Asylum Seekers
A federal district court judge in Washington State ruled today that the federal government’s failure to notify asylum seekers that they must apply for asylum within one year of arriving in the United States violated their right to due process, and ordered the government to provide such notice. Read More
Supreme Court Finds No Right to a Bond Hearing Under Immigration Law
Indefinitely detained immigrants facing possible deportation lost ground in their fight for the right to a bond hearing following a Supreme Court decision on Tuesday. Their sole remaining weapon is the U.S. Constitution. The ruling by Justice Samuel Alito in Jennings v. Rodriguez reverses a decision that had required… Read More
AG Jeff Sessions is unfit to decide immigration case, say immigration groups
The American Immigration Council, joined by several other immigration groups, submitted an amicus brief that argues that due process requires an impartial adjudicator and that Sessions’ anti-immigrant statements and actions prevent him from acting as one. The brief lays out Sessions’ decades-long public record of anti-immigrant statements, including specific statements evidencing prejudgment of issues in the case, and urges Sessions to either vacate the referral order or recuse himself from the case. Read More
Trump’s Budget Proposal Would Increase Harsh Immigration Enforcement
President Trump released his formal budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, which doubles down on his aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The proposed budget seeks to fund the border wall, as well as increase funding for immigration enforcement, detention, and deportations. Much of it mirrors the yet-to-be-passed… Read More
Government Shuts Down While Negotiations Continue on Dream Act, but Most Immigration Functions Continue
With the national conversation focused squarely on Dreamers, Congress was unable to find common ground on a budget deal and has shut down the U.S. Government. Congressional leadership decided not to bring a vote on bipartisan Dream Act legislation. Instead, this was the fourth time in as many months that… Read More
Lawsuit Challenges Illegal Bond Hearing Practices in Charlotte Immigration Court
The lawsuit challenges the practice of three of the four sitting immigration judges in the Charlotte Immigration Court who refuse to conduct bond hearings—even though they are required to do so—and are consequently prolonging the detention of bond-eligible individuals for several weeks. Read More
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