Due Process and the Courts

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

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

  • Advocacy

Petition for Rulemaking to Amend Regulations Governing Motions to Reopen and Reconsider Removal Proceedings for Noncitizens Who Depart the United States (submitted Aug. 6, 2010)

The Council submitted a Petition for Rulemaking to the Department of Justice and the Executive Office for Immigration Review, urging the Department to rescind the regulation barring post-departure motions to reopen.
  • Advocacy

Comments on the Immigration Adjudication Draft Report by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) (Feb. 13, 2012)

Addressing representation, stipulated removal orders , prosecutorial discretion, video hearings, and the asylum clock.
  • Advocacy

Petition Comments to the DOJ/EOIR regarding the “Retrospective Regulatory Review” (submitted Nov. 27, 2012)

The Council, in collaboration with AILA, inter alia, urged EOIR to amend regulations pertaining to telephonic and video hearings (see page 4).
  • Advocacy

Testimony submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee for May 18, 2011 hearing, “Improving Efficiency and Ensuring Justice in the Immigration Court System.”

Addressing access to counsel, effective assistance of counsel, protections for noncitizens lacking mental competency, the employment authorization employment clock, and the departure bar to motions to reopen.
  • Advocacy

Comments on the Immigration Adjudication Draft Report by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) (submitted Feb. 13, 2012)

The Council commented on several issues addressed by the draft report, including video hearings (see page 4). ACUS’s draft report and the final recommendations, included that EOIR should consider more systemic assessments of the use of video hearings.
  • Advocacy

Letter to DOJ in response to request for comments regarding the Department’s review of its existing regulations (Mar. 31, 2011)

Regarding the departure bar to motions to reopen, ineffective assistance of counsel, fair removal procedures for noncitizens with mental disabilities, and asylum clock problems.
  • FOIA

Complaints Against Immigrant Judges FOIA

On November 13, 2012, American Immigration Council in conjunction with AILA and Public Citizen, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice’s Executive Office...

  • Blog

A Federal Agency Is Deleting Court Records That Implicate Trump’s Immigration Policies  

November 5, 2019

Understanding how the immigration agencies operate has never been more important. Equally important is being able to rely on the information that those agencies release to the public. For this...

  • Blog

The Perils of the Migrant Protection Protocols

October 23, 2019

Rape, violence, kidnapping, and lack of basic health care is, unfortunately, a reality for hundreds of asylum seekers subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or “Remain in Mexico”...

  • Blog

In Historic Ruling, Thousands of Immigrants Waiting for Their Immigration Records Can Now Challenge Agency Delay

October 17, 2019

A federal court in San Francisco certified two nationwide classes of immigrants and attorneys challenging extreme agency delays in producing immigration case files. Plaintiffs allege that U.S....

  • Blog

Which Immigration Cases Will the Supreme Court Rule on This Session?

October 15, 2019

The Supreme Court began a new session this October, and in the coming months, the justices will hear several high-profile immigration cases. These cases involve the attempted termination of the...

  • Blog

Pennsylvania Should Widen Access to Justice for People in Immigration Detention

October 11, 2019

People in immigration detention who are represented by an attorney are more likely to receive a positive outcome in immigration court than those that face judges alone. Unfortunately, people who...

  • Blog

Federal Judge Says DHS Must Keep Its Promise to Protect Children in Immigration Detention

October 2, 2019

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration’s attempts to significantly undo the Flores Settlement Agreement, which mandates certain protections for children held in immigration...

  • Blog

Federal Judge Blocks the Expansion of Fast-Track Deportation Program, Expedited Removal

September 30, 2019

A federal judge blocked the expansion of a fast-track deportation program, known as “expedited removal,” minutes before the government said it would begin implementing its expansion on September...

  • Blog

How the Immigration Court Reached a Record One Million Case Backlog

September 24, 2019

When Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the immigration courts faced a record backlog of over 542,000 cases. This month, the immigration court backlog hit a new historic high with over 1,...

  • Blog

Chaos and Dysfunction at the Border: The Remain in Mexico Program Firsthand

September 9, 2019

The first thing many people forcibly returned to Mexico tell you is that they’re afraid. Afraid of the cartels, afraid of Mexican immigration officials, and afraid of the months of uncertainty....

  • Blog

Tent Immigration Courthouses Are Being Built at the Texas Border

August 29, 2019

Immigration judges from across the country will soon be reassigned from their normal caseload to  preside over thousands of immigration cases along the U.S.-Mexico border, reportedly in an effort...

  • Press Release

Court Again Rules Against Federal Government's Efforts to Detain Children

July 7, 2016
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association commented on the decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirming that the nearly 20-year-old Flores Settlement Agreement governs the custody and release of all immigrant children, and that the Obama Administration’s family detention practices violate that agreement.
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Shed Light on Customs and Border Protection's Complaint Process

July 6, 2016
he American Immigration Council (Immigration Council), represented by Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, today filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to compel the release of additional documents related to the complaints process at United States Customs and Border Protection.
  • Press Release

Asylum Seekers File Class Action Lawsuit Against DHS

July 1, 2016
The U.S. Government has placed unnecessary hurdles in front of asylum seekers who are attempting to file asylum applications within the required time period.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Grants Class-Action Status in Challenge to Obama Administration

June 27, 2016
A federal court has granted class-action status to a lawsuit challenging the federal government's failure to provide children in immigration court with lawyers in their deportation hearings. Several thousand children are estimated to be members of the class.
  • Press Release

Court Orders Release of Some Evidence of Arizona Border Patrol Detention Facilities

June 27, 2016
A federal district court unsealed some of the photographs central to ongoing litigation challenging deplorable and unconstitutional conditions in Border Patrol detention facilities in the agency’s Tucson Sector. The court also allowed the Arizona Republic newspaper to intervene in the case to argue for the release of the documents.
  • Press Release

Supreme Court Issues Disappointing Split Decision in United States v. Texas

June 23, 2016

Washington D.C. - Today, the Supreme Court issued a 4-4 decision in United States v.

  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Shed Light on Customs and Border Protection's Complaint Process

June 6, 2016

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Immigration Groups Seek Information on Customs and Border Protection’s “Translation” Activities in Northern Border States

June 4, 2016
Last week an alliance of immigration advocacy groups represented by the Legal Action Center filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks Transparency in H-1B Lottery Process

May 23, 2016

shington D.C. - The American Immigration Council (Council) and the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) have teamed up on a lawsuit against the U.S.

  • Press Release

Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in U.S. v. Texas

April 18, 2016

Washington D.C. - Today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Texas.

  • Blog

New ‘Dedicated Docket’ Could Rush Asylum-Seeking Families Through Court

June 3, 2021

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 28 the creation of a new “Dedicated Docket” in immigration court for the claims of asylum-seeking...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rejects Two Ninth Circuit Decisions That Protected Immigrants

June 2, 2021

In two unanimous decisions, the Supreme Court has rejected rules that provided protections for immigrants. The rejected rules came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a court...

  • Amicus Briefs

Council Files Amicus Brief on the Legality of Prolonged Mandatory Detention

Publication Date: 
May 27, 2021
The amicus brief in Ayom v. Garland urges the eighth circuit to affirm that mandatory detention has constitutional limits, and reject the endorsement of prolonged mandatory detention for people in removal proceedings.
  • Letters

Request to Repeal EOIR Rule Imposing Immigration Fee Increases

Publication Date: 
May 21, 2021

The American Immigration Council and over 150 organizations supporting people in proceedings before the Immigration Courts or the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) sent a letter to the Executive...

  • Press Release

New Report Examines Biden’s Approach to Immigration Enforcement

May 20, 2021
A new American Immigration Council report examines the Biden administration’s approach to the U.S. system of immigration enforcement during its first 100 days in office.
  • Special Report

Tracking the Biden Agenda on Immigration Enforcement

Publication Date: 
May 20, 2021
This report analyzes the Biden administration's 100 days progress in reforming immigration enforcement and recommendations for how to best move forward.
  • Letters

Coalition Letter Urges Biden Administration to End Migrant Protection Protocols

Publication Date: 
May 18, 2021
The Council urged the Biden administration to improve MPP wind down processing and toy move ahead with a second phase to include all individuals subjected to MPP.
  • Blog

First Round of Biden Immigration Judges Fails to Increase Diversity

May 13, 2021

The Biden administration announced its first round of immigration judge appointments on May 6. Unfortunately, the immigration court appointments do not show the commitment to diversity that ...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rejects Government Practice of ‘Notice-by-Installment’ in Niz-Chavez v. Garland

April 30, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week in Niz-Chavez v. Garland that immigration law requires the government to give noncitizens complete notice about the initiation of their immigration court...

  • Blog

The Supreme Court Makes It Harder for Immigrants to Fight Deportation

March 5, 2021

The U.S. Supreme Court published a new decision on March 4 that will make it harder—if not impossible—for many longtime immigrants to fight deportation. The case, Pereida v. Wilkson, abandons...

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