Due Process and the Courts

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.

  • 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.

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All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Amicus Briefs

Ngassem v. Chertoff - Second Circuit

Publication Date: 
April 16, 2008
The Council filed an amicus brief arguing that the district court had jurisdiction over the denial of an asylee relative petition in a case brought under the Administrative Procedure Act. Case settled without a decision from the court.
  • FOIA

Access to Counsel Before USCIS FOIA

The Council filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to compel the release of records relating to noncitizens’ access to counsel before United States Citizenship and...

  • FOIA

Access to Counsel Before ICE FOIA

The Council filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to compel the release of records relating to noncitizens’ access to counsel before Immigration and Customs Enforement...

  • FOIA

Video Hearings in Immigration Court FOIA

Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) began using video hearing equipment in immigration courts across the country. As a result, frequently a noncitizen facing removal is deprived of the opportunity to appear in person before an immigration judge. Video hearings are more common where a noncitizen is detained, though many non-detained individuals are subjected to video hearings as well. EOIR uses video hearings for both preliminary hearings (“master calendar hearings”) and merits hearings (“individual hearings”). In February 2012, the American Immigration Council submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to EOIR asking for records related to video teleconferencing (VTC). EOIR produced two sets of records.
  • Advocacy

Comments on EOIR’s proposed rule on streamlining BIA cases (Aug. 18, 2008)

Addressing the BIA's affirmance without opinion process, three-member panel decisions, and precedent decisions, as well as exhaustion of administrative remedies and the scope of administrative review
  • Advocacy

Letter by the Council and AILA urging USCIS to address reports of widespread and recurrent restrictions on access to counsel. (Mar. 24, 2011)

In this March 24, 2011 letter, the Council and AILA urged USCIS to address reports of widespread and recurrent restrictions on access to counsel. These restrictions, documented in a nation-wide survey (http://www.aila.org/infonet/final-results-attorney-representation-before-dhs) of immigration attorneys, included limitations on attorneys’ ability to communicate with their clients, restrictions on attorney seating during USCIS interviews, and limitations on attorneys’ ability to submit documents to the interviewing officer.
  • Advocacy

Providing a Safety Valve: The Need for Greater Discretion in Immigration Decision Making (Jun. 6, 2013)

Discussing efforts in S. 744, “The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” to restore a measure of discretion and flexibility to the immigration system.
  • Advocacy

Letter to EOIR recommending possible steps to take to protect the right to effective assistance of counsel (Nov. 12, 2009)

In November 2009, the American Immigration Council sent a letter to the Executive Office for Immigration Review recommending steps the immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals can take to protect the right to effective assistance of counsel and help ensure that noncitizens in removal proceedings are afforded a fair hearing.
  • Advocacy

Amicus Letter, urging reconsideration of Compean I (Feb. 6, 2009)

Urging Attorney General Holder to vacate Matter of Compean, 24 I & N Dec. 710 (A.G. 2009), which he later did in Matter of Compean, 25 I&N Dec. 1 (A.G. 2009)
  • Advocacy

Council and AILA comments to the DOJ/EOIR regarding the “Retrospective Regulatory Review” (Nov. 27, 2012)

Pertaining to regulations on motions to reopen, stays of removal, bond hearings, telephonic and video hearings, filing and service of documents and decisions, and stipulated removal orders.
  • Blog

USCIS’ Change to How ‘Unlawful Presence’ Is Calculated Is Defeated in Court

February 12, 2020

A federal district court stopped U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) from drastically changing how the agency determines when a foreign student or exchange visitor is “unlawfully...

  • Blog

Conditions in Border Facilities Deny Asylum Seekers Meaningful Screening Interviews

February 4, 2020

In U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody, asylum seekers are detained in horribly cold and overcrowded facilities, unable to sleep, without access to food, water, or adequate medical...

  • Blog

Calls for Independent Immigration Court Grow Louder at Congressional Hearing

January 30, 2020

A congressional oversight committee held a hearing this week on the need for immigration court reform and the systemic due process challenges within the immigration court system. The House...

  • Blog

Judge Allows Certain Family Separations at the Border to Continue

January 21, 2020

The Trump administration received an unfortunate victory in the case against their family separation policy. On January 13, 2020, Federal Judge Dana Sabraw sided with the government in a lawsuit...

  • Blog

Tent Immigration Courts Are Still Not Fully Open to the Public

January 17, 2020

Asylum seekers subject to the Migrant Protection Protocols—or the “Remain in Mexico” program—in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas attend their court hearings in tents known as “port courts.” The...

  • Blog

‘Zero Tolerance’ Overwhelmed Courts and Diverted Resources From Criminal Investigations

December 5, 2019

Attorney General Sessions’ orders to prioritize prosecuting people for immigration-related offenses in 2017 and 2018 put a significant strain on law enforcement across the border, diverting...

  • Blog

Immigration Courts Further Limit Legal Help Available to People Facing Deportation

December 3, 2019

Every year, thousands of people are forced to face the complex deportation system without an attorney representing them. Now, the immigration courts are seeking to limit the assistance that these...

  • Blog

‘I Was Denied Access to the Tent Courts Where Asylum Seekers Are Rushed Through a Sham Process.’

November 18, 2019

Nearly 60,000 people seeking asylum in the United States have been returned to Mexico to wait for their U.S. court hearings under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain...

  • Blog

Immigration Agencies’ Intrusive Searches of Cell Phones, Laptops Are Ruled Unconstitutional

November 15, 2019

A federal court ruled this week that sweeping policies permitting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to search personal cell phones,...

  • Blog

What’s Happened to the People Returned to Mexico Under the Migrant Protection Protocols?

November 6, 2019

It’s been nearly a year since the Trump administration announced the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or the “Remain in Mexico” program. This program forces vulnerable asylum seekers to return...

  • Press Release

Lawsuit Challenges Government’s Interference with Legal Representation of Mothers and Children Detained in Dilley, Texas

June 2, 2017
Access to legal counsel is a core American value and is the cornerstone of our justice system. Yet, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has severely limited access to legal assistance for asylum-seeking women and children held in family detention facilities.
  • Press Release

Immigrants’ Access to Counsel Topic of New Rulemaking Petition

May 25, 2017
AILA and the Council have petitioned the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to issue new regulations that will ensure all immigrants have access to legal counsel in secondary and deferred inspection, as well as overseas consular interviews.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Grants Nationwide Class Status in Suit to Protect Asylum Seekers

January 12, 2017
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.
  • Press Release

Jeff Sessions Nominated to Serve as Attorney General

November 18, 2016
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.
  • Press Release

Groups Settle Lawsuit Challenging Failure of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to Timely Respond to FOIA Requests

October 5, 2016
In accordance with a settlement reached by the parties, a federal district court dismissed a class action lawsuit which challenged U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) nationwide practice of failing to timely respond to requests for case information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
  • Press Release

Developments with Respect to the One-Year Deadline for Filing Asylum Applications

September 20, 2016
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), Dobrin & Han, PC, American Immigration Council, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild commend the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) for reversing course and now allowing asylum applicants to file their applications by mail or in person at an immigration court window.
  • Press Release

Court of Appeals Strengthens Government Transparency

August 1, 2016
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.
  • Press Release

Council Urges Prompt Appeal to the Supreme Court of Flawed Fifth Circuit Decision

July 20, 2016
In a disappointing but unsurprising decision, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the federal government’s appeal of the preliminary injunction that has temporarily stopped President Obama’s latest deferred action initiatives from being implemented.
  • Press Release

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

July 19, 2016
Immigration, civil rights and labor groups joined the legal effort to defend President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration by filing an amicus “friend of the court” brief in the case, State of Texas vs. United States.
  • Press Release

Fifth Circuit Finds Motions to Reopen Can Be Equitably Tolled

July 10, 2016
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.
  • Advocacy

Coalition Outlines Immigration Priorities for a Just Budget in Fiscal Year 2023

Publication Date: 
August 17, 2021
The Council and more than 130 organizations urged the Biden administration to redirect government funding for fiscal year 2023 away from draconian enforcement measures and invest in legal services...
  • Letters

Council Calls on Biden Administration to Block the Return of MPP

Publication Date: 
August 16, 2021
The Council led more than 100 other organizations in a letter urging the Biden administration to do everything in its power to prevent the return of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which was...
  • Practice Advisories

Bivens Basics: An Introductory Guide for Immigration Attorneys

Publication Date: 
July 19, 2021
This practice advisory provides an overview of the Supreme Court’s decision in Bivens, the benefits and risks of bringing a Bivens claim, and practical and legal information about filing a Bivens claim in federal court.
  • Blog

Attorney General Garland Brings Back Administrative Closure for Immigration Judges

July 16, 2021

Attorney General Merrick Garland vacated Matter of Castro-Tum on July 15, reviving a key tool to help judges prioritize cases in the overburdened immigration court system and allow people facing...

  • Letters

Coalition Letter Expresses Concerns About the Housing of Support Services Within ICE

Publication Date: 
July 16, 2021
The Council responded to ICE's Request for Information for a National Case Management Program, expressing concern that ICE's management of the program would be a conflict of interest.
  • Press Release

Congress Must Ensure a Permanent Solution for Dreamers

July 16, 2021
U.S. Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas ordered the Biden administration to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
  • Press Release

AG Garland Restores Judges’ Discretion to Manage an Overburdened Docket

July 15, 2021
Attorney General Merrick Garland today restored immigration judges’ ability to administratively close deportation cases.
  • Practice Advisories

Litigation for Business Immigration Practitioners

Publication Date: 
June 10, 2021
This Practice Advisory has information practitioners need to assess whether filing suit in federal court is the right option for challenging an employment-based petition denial.
  • Blog

DHS Issues New Guidance for Government Attorneys in Immigration Court Proceedings

June 9, 2021

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) issued a new memorandum on May 27 that provides guidance on how its attorneys can and should exercise...

  • Research and Analysis

Coalition Letter Expresses Concerns About Proposed Expedited Asylum Process

Publication Date: 
June 8, 2021
The Council expressed concerns about the Biden administration's plans for a new type of expedited asylum proceedings.

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