Due Process and the Courts

The U.S. immigration system is complex and can be difficult to understand. These resources provide key data points, historical information, and background on hot topics in immigration. Learn the basics about immigration.

Recent Features

  • Litigation

Stopping Policies Endangering Immigration Attorneys, Clients, and the Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Council filed a lawsuit to close the immigration courts and ensure due process.

  • Blog

‘Your Client Is Going Bye-Bye.’ Investigation Details Immigration Judges’ Cruel Behavior in El Paso Court

The complaint outlines systemic due process concerns around unprofessional behavior by immigration judges and troubling court practices in El Paso.

  • Special Report

Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice

This special report lays out the the incongruency between America's criminal justice system and its immigration justice system, and provides recommendations for how these problems could be fixed.

All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Fact Sheet

The Difference Between Asylum and Withholding of Removal

October 6, 2020
This fact sheet provides an overview of withholding of removal, including the basics of seeking protection in the United States, eligibility requirements, the application process, and data on...
  • Fact Sheet

Prosecuting People for Coming to the United States

January 10, 2020
Over the last two decades, the federal government increasingly has utilized the criminal courts to punish people for immigration violations. This overview provides basic information about entry-...
  • Fact Sheet

Immigrants and Families Appear in Court

July 30, 2019
Comprehensive analyses of the government’s own data show that in the vast majority of situations, immigrants placed into removal proceedings appear for all of their court hearings.
  • Fact Sheet

The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview

July 17, 2019
The Institutional Hearing Program permits immigration judges to conduct removal proceedings for noncitizens serving criminal sentences in certain correctional facilities.
  • Fact Sheet

Legal Orientation Program Overview

September 6, 2018
The Legal Orientation Program (LOP) offers legal education, as well as referrals for free and low-cost legal counsel, to noncitizens in immigration detention.
  • Special Report

Detaining Families

August 16, 2018
This report presents findings from the first empirical analysis of asylum adjudication in family detention. Drawing on government data from over 18,000 immigration court proceedings initiated between...
  • Fact Sheet

Public Education for Immigrant Students: Understanding Plyler v. Doe

October 24, 2016
This fact sheet provides an overview of the Supreme Court’s decision in Plyler v. Doe and subsequent efforts by states and localities to avoid compliance with the decision.
  • Special Report

Access to Counsel in Immigration Court

September 28, 2016
Immigrants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. The lack of legal representation has a profound impact on immigrants’ outcomes in removal proceedings.
  • Fact Sheet

Empty Benches: Underfunding of Immigration Courts Undermines Justice

June 17, 2016
Backlogs and delays benefit neither immigrants nor the government—keeping those with valid claims in limbo and often in detention, delaying removal of those without valid claims, and calling into...
  • Fact Sheet

Children in Immigration Court: Over 95 Percent Represented by an Attorney Appear in Court

May 16, 2016

Over the past few years, thousands of children—many fleeing horrific levels of violence in Central America—have arrived at the U.S. border in need of protection. Most children are placed in...

  • Litigation

Challenging Drastic Immigration Court Fee Increases That Limit Access to Justice

The Council filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rule that would drastically increase fees across-the-board in high-stakes immigration proceedings.
  • FOIA Litigation

Government Faces Lawsuit for Failing to Disclose Information on Expansion of Immigration Courts and Immigration Adjudication Centers

Public information about the location and expansion of these courts and centers is critically important.
  • FOIA Litigation

Council Files FOIA Lawsuit to Expose Immigration Enforcement in Federal Prisons

The Council filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of the University of California (UCLA) School of Law Professor Ingrid Eagly seeking to uncover the scope and operation of...

  • Advocacy

Comment on Executive Office for Immigration Review Proposed Rule Regarding Appeal Procedures and Administrative Closure

September 25, 2020

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, through their joint initiative, the Immigration Justice Campaign, submitted this comment in opposition to...

  • Amicus Briefs

Council Submits Amicus Brief on Two-Step Notice Practice to Supreme Court in Niz-Chavez v. Barr

August 13, 2020
This amicus brief in Niz-Chavez v. Barr urges the Supreme Court to reject the government’s practice of issuing notice of the time and place of a noncitizen’s removal proceedings in multiple documents over time, instead of in the initial Notice to Appear (NTA), as mandated by Congress.
  • Litigation

Stopping Government Interference to Attorney Phone Access in Immigration Detention Centers

This lawsuit was filed to stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from denying detainees the ability to contact their lawyers and the outside world by phone.
  • FOIA

Uncovering Policies on Immigration Court Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, immigration courts have frequently closed without explanation or notice to the public. This Freedom of Information Act request seeks records on the government's response.
  • Advocacy

Letter Demands ICE Release Families Detained During COVID-19 Pandemic

July 17, 2020

The American Immigration Council joined a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security calling on the release of all families held at all three Immigration and Customs...

  • Advocacy

Organizational letter regarding EOIR's decision to prematurely resume the non-detained docket during the COVID-19 pandemic.

June 24, 2020
  • Litigation

Stopping Policies Endangering Immigration Attorneys, Clients, and the Public During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Council filed a lawsuit to close the immigration courts and ensure due process.
  • Practice Advisories

Requesting Attorneys' Fees Under the Equal Access to Justice Act

August 14, 2020
In the immigration context, Equal Access to Justice Act fees generally are available in petitions for review, mandamus actions, Administrative Procedure Act suits, habeas corpus actions, and naturalization actions.
  • Practice Advisories

Whom to Sue and Whom to Serve in Immigration-Related District Court Litigation

May 28, 2020
This Practice Advisory addresses who is, or who may be, the proper respondent-defendant and recipient for service of process in immigration-related litigation in district court.
  • Practice Advisories

Standards of Review Applied by the Board of Immigration Appeals

April 22, 2020
This practice advisory discusses the standards of review that the Board of Immigration Appeals is required to employ when it reviews appeals of immigration judge decisions.
  • Practice Advisories

Administrative Closure Post-Castro-Tum

October 22, 2019
This practice advisory provides a brief overview of administrative closure and explains the impact of that decision on the future availability of administrative closure, as well as on cases that are currently administratively closed.
  • Practice Advisories

Agency Delay Litigation: Opposing a Motion to Dismiss

October 4, 2019
This practice advisory summarizes the most common grounds raised by the government in motions to dismiss federal court agency adjudication delay lawsuits and outlines arguments that can be made in response.
  • Practice Advisories

Federal Court Requires Immigration Courts to Continue to Provide Bond Hearings, Despite Matter of M-S-

July 3, 2019
Immigration courts must continue to provide bond hearings to individuals fleeing persecution who enter the United States without inspection, are placed in expedited removal proceedings, and pass their credible fear interviews.
  • Practice Advisories

Reinstatement of Removal

May 23, 2019
This practice advisory provides an overview of the reinstatement statute and implementing regulations, including how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issues and executes reinstatement orders.
  • Practice Advisories

Notices to Appear

February 27, 2019
This Practice Advisory provides legal and procedural arguments and strategies for attorneys representing noncitizens.
  • Practice Advisories

Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Pereira v. Sessions

December 21, 2018
The rationale underlying the Court’s decision, however, more broadly affects both ongoing and closed cases initiated by defective Notices to Appear. This practice advisory provides an overview of the Pereira v. Sessions decision and its impact on eligibility for cancellation of removal and post conclusion voluntary departure.
  • Practice Advisories

Motions for a Continuance

September 10, 2018
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.
  • Blog

Why Biden’s Immigration Bill Is the Boldest in Decades

January 21, 2021

During his campaign, President Biden promised that immigration reform would be one of his top priorities upon taking office. After unveiling the summary of a sweeping immigration reform bill on...

  • Blog

Trump’s Drastic Immigration Court Fee Hikes Are Blocked in Court

January 19, 2021

The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to stop low-income immigrants from accessing protections and exercising their rights in the United States. Its last attempt—increasing immigration...

  • Blog

It’s Time to Fix the Immigration Court System

January 8, 2021

This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.  The backbone of a functioning justice...

  • Blog

USCIS and ICE Must Give People Access to Their Immigration Files After Losing Lawsuit

December 18, 2020

People who need access to their government immigration records scored a huge victory in the Nightingale et al. v. USCIS case on December 17. A judge ruled that a nationwide class of individuals...

  • Blog

Asylum Is In Danger After Court Upholds Rushed Screening Process at the Border

December 14, 2020

The Trump administration secretly implemented one of its most horrific attacks on America’s long tradition of asylum—holding asylum seekers in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody...

  • Blog

A Judge Fully Reinstated DACA, but Dreamers Are Still in Danger

December 7, 2020

A federal judge in New York has overturned the Trump administration’s latest effort to limit the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative. DACA temporarily protects certain people...

  • Blog

How Two Proposed Rules Make It Harder for Immigration Judges to Manage Their Docket

December 3, 2020

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has proposed two rules that would significantly decrease the due process rights of people in immigration court. Both rules would restrict judges...

  • Blog

Federal Court Invalidates Changes to DACA Because Chad Wolf Was Unlawfully Appointed

November 16, 2020

A judge has ruled that recent changes to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that were a veiled attempt to gut the program are invalid because Chad Wolf—the acting secretary of the...

  • Blog

Trump’s Public Charge Rule Blocked Yet Again in Court

November 2, 2020

Update: On November 5, the Seven Circuit Court of appeals placed an administrative stay on the district court’s ruling, restoring the public charge rule at least temporarily. The Trump...

  • Blog

The Government Wants Immigrants to Show Up for Court—But Neglects to Tell Them How to Attend Their Hearings

October 29, 2020

Over 60,000 people at the southern border have been forced to return to Mexico under the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program. As...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Blocks Dramatic Immigration Courts Fee Increases

January 19, 2021
A federal court blocked nearly all of a Trump administration rule that would have drastically increased fees in immigration proceedings in which the government seeks to deport immigrants, many of whom are long-term residents of this country.
  • Press Release

Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Immigration Courts Fee Increases and Access to Justice

December 24, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Law Center and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s new rule that drastically increases fees across-the-board in immigration proceedings.
  • Press Release

District Court Orders Immigration Agencies to Produce Immigration Case Files in First of Its Kind Class Action

December 17, 2020
Judge William H. Orrick granted summary judgment in favor of two nationwide classes suing DHS, USCIS, and ICE for failing to timely produce the class members’ immigration files (A-Files). The court ordered the agencies to clear their backlogs by responding to the more than 40,000 thousand cases outstanding within 60 days.
  • Press Release

American Immigration Council Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Ensure Bond Hearings for Certain Immigrants Seeking Protection in the United States

November 12, 2020
The American Immigration Council, other immigrant rights organizations, and legal service providers filed a friend-of-the-court (or amicus) brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief urges the justices to find that immigrants who seek humanitarian protection from removal should have access to bond hearings—instead of being subjected to mandatory detention.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Uncover Secretive Expansion of Judicial Black Sites for Immigration Cases

October 30, 2020
A lawsuit filed against the EOIR—which oversees immigration courts—and the GSA seeks information on the expansion and creation of immigration adjudication centers, which were established as part of EOIR’s Strategic Caseload Reduction plan designed to accelerate removal proceedings at the expense of due process.
  • Press Release

The American Immigration Council Mourns the Loss of a Fierce Advocate and Justice Seeker

September 21, 2020
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States and champion of fairness and equality, died Friday in Washington, DC. The following statement is from Beth Werlin, executive director of the American Immigration Council:
  • Press Release

TPS Termination Will Disrupt Communities Across America and Upend the Lives of Thousands of U.S. Citizen Children

September 14, 2020
A federal court has ruled that the Trump administration’s termination of Temporary Protected Status for more than 300,000 people living in the United States can continue.
  • Press Release

Time for Us All to Stand Up for Our Democracy

September 11, 2020
It is not news that our nation is in an unprecedented moment where many of our democratic traditions and norms are being challenged. We have grown deeply concerned by the ongoing attacks on democracy that are unfolding before us.
  • Press Release

Detained Immigrants Ask Court to Stop ICE Interference to Phone Access in Immigration Detention Centers

August 26, 2020
Individuals in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Otero County Processing Center filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop ICE from denying detained individuals the ability to contact their lawyers and the outside world by phone.
  • Press Release

New FOIA Request Filed to Force Agency to Release Immigration Court Operations Information on COVID-19 Pandemic

August 4, 2020
The public has a right to know the safeguards that the government has in place to prevent the unnecessary illness and possible death of numerous individuals still reporting to work in immigration courts throughout the country.
  • Blog

Why Biden’s Immigration Bill Is the Boldest in Decades

January 21, 2021

During his campaign, President Biden promised that immigration reform would be one of his top priorities upon taking office. After unveiling the summary of a sweeping immigration reform bill on...

  • Blog

Trump’s Drastic Immigration Court Fee Hikes Are Blocked in Court

January 19, 2021

The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to stop low-income immigrants from accessing protections and exercising their rights in the United States. Its last attempt—increasing immigration...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Blocks Dramatic Immigration Courts Fee Increases

January 19, 2021
A federal court blocked nearly all of a Trump administration rule that would have drastically increased fees in immigration proceedings in which the government seeks to deport immigrants, many of whom are long-term residents of this country.
  • Policy Briefs

The Biden Administration and Congress Must Guarantee Legal Representation for People Facing Removal

January 15, 2021
The Biden administration should take steps immediately upon entering office to expand federally funded legal representation programs for people facing removal. Here's why.
  • Blog

It’s Time to Fix the Immigration Court System

January 8, 2021

This article is part of the Moving Forward on Immigration series that explores the future of immigration in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.  The backbone of a functioning justice...

  • Comments

Comments Filed to Oppose Serious Flaws in Proposed Motion to Reopen Rule

December 28, 2020

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed comments to address the serious flaws in the Department of Justice's proposed changes to regulations...

  • Press Release

Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Immigration Courts Fee Increases and Access to Justice

December 24, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the National Immigration Law Center and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s new rule that drastically increases fees across-the-board in immigration proceedings.
  • Litigation

Challenging Drastic Immigration Court Fee Increases That Limit Access to Justice

The Council filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s rule that would drastically increase fees across-the-board in high-stakes immigration proceedings.
  • Comments

Comment in Opposition to Executive Office for Immigration Review Rule "Good Cause for Continuances"

December 21, 2020

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted the following comments in response to the Executive Office for Immigration Review proposed rule,...

  • Blog

USCIS and ICE Must Give People Access to Their Immigration Files After Losing Lawsuit

December 18, 2020

People who need access to their government immigration records scored a huge victory in the Nightingale et al. v. USCIS case on December 17. A judge ruled that a nationwide class of individuals...

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