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.
Federal Court Grants Nationwide Class Status in Suit to Protect Asylum Seekers
A federal court in Seattle has granted nationwide class action status to a case seeking to protect the rights of thousands of asylum seekers pursuing protection from persecution in their home countries. Read More
Asylum Free Zones in the U.S. Examined by Inter-American Commission
Entire jurisdictions in the United States have become so hostile to asylum seekers and their representatives that the U.S. government, and its immigration court system, is failing to deliver on its international and national obligation to protect them. The asylum-seekers who end up in one of these hostile jurisdictions, which… Read More
Jeff Sessions Nomination for Attorney General is Highly Concerning to Future of Immigration Policy
President-Elect Donald Trump has nominated, Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (R-AL) to serve as the nation’s next Attorney General. Senator Sessions has led the fight against immigration reform at every turn during his 20 years in the Senate. He has urged severe restrictions on visas, called for… Read More
Jeff Sessions Nominated to Serve as Attorney General
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions will be nominated to serve as Attorney General in President-Elect Trump’s new administration. The following is a statement from Beth Werlin, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council. Read More
How the Immigration Court Backlog Would Skyrocket Under Donald Trump’s Plan
For more than a decade, the immigration court system has struggled with an enormous backlog. The latest figures from (TRAC) record the backlog at an all-time high of 521,676 as of the end of October, the first month in Fiscal Year (FY) 2017. The data release coincides with… Read More
Ninth Circuit Finds Court Has No Authority to Hear Lawsuit Seeking Access to Counsel for Children
In 2014, a legal challenge was mounted against the federal government for its failure to provide legal representation to indigent children in deportation proceedings. The case, F.L.B.. v. Lynch was brought by the American Immigration Council, American Civil Liberties Union, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Public Counsel, and K&L… Read More
Immigrants’ Access to Legal Representation Is Unequal and the Consequences Are Serious
Nationally, only 37 percent of all immigrants had legal representation, and only 14 percent of immigrants in detention had a lawyer. In a paper issued today, Access to Counsel in Immigration Court, Ingrid Eagly and Steven Shafer analyzed 1.2 million individual removal cases in immigration court between fiscal years… Read More
Court of Appeals Strengthens Government Transparency
An appellate court has ruled for an immigration group in a lawsuit against the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) challenging its response to a request for information regarding alleged misconduct by immigration judges and records that would reveal whether the agency adequately investigates and resolves complaints against immigration judges. Read More
Fifth Circuit Finds Motions to Reopen Can Be Equitably Tolled
The decision strongly reaffirms the importance of immigrants’ statutory right to file a motion to reopen, a procedural protection meant to ensure a proper and lawful outcome in an immigration proceeding. Read More
Court Rejects Government Attempt to Redact Names of Immigration Judges
This summer, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) in its lawsuit seeking the disclosure of unredacted versions of complaints filed against immigration judges. To date, the government has refused to turn over the names, locations, and genders… Read More
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