Due Process and the Courts

While updating our immigration system has been a slow process, over the last decade, there have been efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation and the DREAM Act. Other reform efforts include executive actions such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Learn more about the ways America can upgrade its immigration system.

Recent Features

  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

We're demanding information to uncover the hiring process for Assistant Chief Immigration Judge and their influence over the immigration courts.

  • 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.

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.

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All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Amicus Briefs

Mata v. Lynch - Supreme Court

Publication Date: 
March 1, 2015
By statute, noncitizens who have been ordered removed have the right to file one motion to reopen. 8 U.S.C. § 1229a(c)(7)(A). In most cases, these statutory motions to reopen are subject to strict filing deadlines. See 8 U.S.C. §§ 1229a(c)(7)(C)(i), (b)(5)(C)(i). However, as nine courts of appeals have recognized, the deadlines are subject to equitable tolling, a long-recognized principle through which courts can waive the application of certain non-jurisdictional statutes of limitations where a plaintiff was diligent but nonetheless unable to comply with the filing deadline. Several courts have also recognized that the numerical limitation on motions to reopen is subject to tolling. The Council continues to advocate in the remaining courts of appeals for recognition that that the motion to reopen deadlines are subject to equitable tolling and, with the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers' Guild (NIPNLG), has filed amicus briefs in the Fourth, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits.
  • Press Release

Texas Decision at Odds with Legal Precedent, History and Facts on Immigration Enforcement

February 17, 2015
  • Blog

Unrepresented Children Still Being Fast-Tracked Through Immigration Hearings

February 6, 2015

Since the government began “prioritizing” the deportation of unaccompanied children and mothers with children last summer, legal service providers and other court observers across the country have...

  • Advocacy

Comments on Streamlining and Improving the U.S. Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Systems

January 29, 2015
The Council submitted comments in response to a request by DHS and the Department of State (DOS) for input on streamlining and improving the U.S. immigrant and nonimmigrant visa systems. In the comments, the Council recommended that DHS amend 8 C.F.R. § 292.5(b) to ensure that individuals in secondary inspection are provided with a regulatory right to counsel during their examinations, and that DOS promulgate regulations in 22 C.F.R. Part 40 to provide for meaningful access to counsel during interviews at consular posts.
  • Press Release

Second Circuit Narrowly Interprets Aggravated Felony Bar Under INA § 212(h)

January 27, 2015

Washington, D.C.—Recently, the U.S.

  • Press Release

Second Circuit Narrowly Interprets Aggravated Felony Bar Under INA § 212(h)

January 22, 2015

Washington, D.C.—Recently, the U.S.

  • Press Release

Immigration, Civil Rights and Labor Groups Join Legal Effort to Defend Immigration Action

December 29, 2014

Washington D.C. - Today, immigration, civil rights and labor groups joined the legal effort to defend President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration by filing an

  • Press Release

U.S. District Court in D.C. Hears First Arguments Against Executive Action on Immigration

December 22, 2014

Washington D.C. - Today, the U.S.

  • Press Release

U.S. District Court in D.C. Hears First Arguments Against Executive Action on Immigration

December 22, 2014

Washington D.C. - Today, the U.S.

  • Blog

How Can a Three Year Old Represent Himself in Court?

October 22, 2014

Each week, in immigration courts across the United States, hundreds of children, some as young as just a few months old, come before immigration judges and are called upon to defend themselves...

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