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.
Disarray in Baltimore Immigration Court Is Emblematic of Systemic Issues
Overwhelmed immigration courts and massive court backlogs have long been a nation-wide problem. Hearings are regularly scheduled years in advance—in some jurisdictions, judges are scheduling hearings into 2022. This means that many immigrants are held in limbo for years, unable to move forward, while living with the uncertainty… Read More
As Immigration Court Quotas Go Into Effect, Many Call For Reform
On October 1, immigration judges around the country will arrive at work and face a daunting new task; complete 700 removal cases in the next year or risk official sanction. The new court quotas and performance metrics were imposed as part of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ ongoing push to reduce… Read More
Sessions Limits Immigration Judges’ Ability to Dismiss Deportation Cases
In his latest attempt to micromanage immigration judges and ensure a maximum number of deportations, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a decision last week restricting a judge’s ability to terminate cases. He made this decision despite the fact that these cases may be unnecessary to pursue and helpful to… Read More
Matter of L-A-B-R-
This amicus brief discusses how Sessions’ public statements indicate prejudgment about the use of continuances and explains how Sessions’ use of the referral authority suggests that he is choosing to refer cases to himself to achieve predetermined political and policymaking goals. Read More
Immigrant Rights Groups Demand Timely Bond Hearings and Legal Protections for Asylum Seekers
Yesterday, plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit challenging the U.S. government’s targeted efforts to obstruct asylum seekers filed a motion for preliminary injunction demanding timely bond hearings that comport with due process. Read More
In a Speech to New Immigration Judges, Attorney General Sessions Attacks Immigration Lawyers and Judicial Independence
Rather than encourage the new class of 44 immigration judges to be fair and impartial adjudicators in his Monday morning speech, Attorney General Jeff Sessions advocated for a deeply flawed immigration court system and directed judges to carry out the Trump administration’s punitive, anti-immigration agenda. While many would have… Read More
Motions for a Continuance
This Practice Advisory provides a practitioner-focused overview of motions to continue a case in removal proceedings, from the basics of making the motion to advanced issues of jurisdictional bars to appellate review of continuances. Read More
New Government Study Attempts to Undermine Legal Orientation Program for Detained Immigrants
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released “Phase I” of its review of the federally-funded Legal Orientation Program (LOP) this week. The review came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions attempted to end the program in April but was forced to reverse that decision after receiving significant bipartisan pushback from Congress. Read More
Challenging Credible Fear Interview and Bond Hearing Delays
This case challenges the punitive practice of keeping asylum seekers in custody for weeks or months without access to credible fear interviews or bond hearings and the lack of basic procedural protections—like hearing transcripts and written decisions—in bond hearings, as well as whether asylum seekers must bear the burden of proof in bond proceedings. Read More
Sessions’ Decision Places New Burdens on Individuals in Removal Proceedings and Immigration Judges
Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a decision on continuances in immigration court that both recognized their importance and decried their alleged overuse. This decision will have widespread implications for immigration court process. The case, Matter of L-A-B-R-, addresses circumstances under which an immigration judge can continue a case so a… Read More
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