Federal Courts/Jurisdiction

Recent Features

  • Practice Advisories

Litigation for Business Immigration Practitioners

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.

  • Practice Advisories

Reinstatement of Removal

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.

All Federal Courts/Jurisdiction Content

  • Fact Sheet

Public Education for Immigrant Students: Understanding Plyler v. Doe

Publication Date: 
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

Defending DAPA and Expanded DACA Before the Supreme Court

Publication Date: 
April 11, 2016
This guide provides brief answers to common questions about United States v. Texas, including what is at stake in the case, how the litigation began, what the contested issues are, and the impact the...
  • Fact Sheet

Background on Judicial Review of Immigration Decisions

Publication Date: 
June 1, 2013

“Judicial review” refers to federal court review of an immigration agency decision. Some individuals whose immigration benefits applications are denied or who are ordered removed from the United...

  • Special Report

The Lasting Impact of Mendez v. Westminster in the Struggle for Desegregation

Publication Date: 
March 25, 2010
Years before the U.S. Supreme Court ended racial segregation in U.S. schools with Brown v. Board of Education, a federal circuit court in California ruled that segregation of school children...
  • Litigation

Challenging Trump’s Unlawful Registration Rule

This lawsuit, filed on behalf of nonprofit organizations, challenges a DHS rule requiring noncitizens to register and carry proof or face prosecution.
  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief to the Second Circuit Arguing for Individualized Custody Determination After Prolonged Mandatory Detention

Publication Date: 
February 12, 2025
The brief argues that an individualized custody determination is necessary when detention becomes prolonged under the mandatory detention provision at 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c).
  • Litigation

Challenging Iowa’s State Deportation Law

We’re suing Iowa for a new law that criminalizes anyone who has reentered the state after being deported — including children — even if that person is now authorized to be in the U.S. This is the most extreme anti-immigrant law in the state’s history.
  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief to Supreme Court Asserting Judicial Review of Consular Visa Denials Available Pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act

Publication Date: 
March 28, 2024
The American Immigration Council filed an Amicus Brief with the American Immigration Lawyers Association to challenge the government's theory that judicial review is never available when a consular officer decides to deny a visa application.
  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief Argues that Exclusionary Rule in Criminal Proceedings Should Apply to Evidence Related to Identity in Prosecutions for Illegal Reentry

Publication Date: 
March 28, 2022
In the amicus brief filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Council argues that the exclusionary rule in criminal proceedings should apply to evidence related to identity, because it is an essential deterrent to ICE’s widespread racially discriminatory enforcement practices.
  • FOIA

Seeking Information About Board of Immigration Appeals' Treatment of Motions to Reconsider

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was filed to learn more about trends in the Board of Immigration Appeal’s treatment of motions to reconsider orders of removal.
  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief to Supreme Court on Judicial Review Over Eligibility Determinations for Certain Forms of Discretionary Relief from Removal

Publication Date: 
September 7, 2021
This amicus brief addresses whether 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i) precludes judicial review over eligibility determinations for certain forms of discretionary relief from removal for non citizens.
  • Amicus Briefs

Council and Partners Submit Amicus Brief to Stop the Reinstatement of the Migrant Protection Protocols

Publication Date: 
August 18, 2021
This brief highlights the court's many factual errors about MPP in its decision to reinstate the program.
  • 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.
  • Amicus Briefs

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

Publication Date: 
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.
  • Practice Advisories

Seeking Stays of Removal

Publication Date: 
January 17, 2025
This practice advisory discusses the law, procedure, and practical tips for seeking a stay of removal from DHS, immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the U.S. courts of appeals.
  • Practice Advisories

Judicial Review of Visa Decisions After the Supreme Court’s Decision in Department of State v. Muñoz

Publication Date: 
January 15, 2025

...
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Padilla v. ICE and Delays in Credible Fear Interviews

Publication Date: 
March 22, 2024
The practice alert explains the scope of a class settlement agreement in Padilla v. ICE that provides protections for detained asylum seekers who face prolonged delays before receiving their credible fear interviews.
  • Practice Advisories

Litigation for Business Immigration Practitioners

Publication Date: 
January 8, 2024
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.
  • Practice Advisories

Common Tools of Statutory Construction for Criminal Removal Grounds

Publication Date: 
November 28, 2023
This practice advisory describes some of the common tools of statutory construction to assist practitioners in advocating for narrow definitions of generic criminal removal grounds...
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Alert: Overview of the Supreme Court's Decision in Pugin v. Garland

Publication Date: 
August 22, 2023
This practice advisory looks into the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court issued in Pugin v. Garland, 143 S. Ct. 1833 (2023). This immigration decision addressed the generic definition of the obstruction of justice aggravated felony ground at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S).
  • Practice Advisories

Practice Tip: Opposing a Motion to Dismiss Asserting the Consular Nonreviewability Doctrine in Agency Delay Cases

Publication Date: 
December 16, 2022
Practitioners who challenge delays in visa processing often face a motion to dismiss based on the consular nonreviewability doctrine. This practice tip examines the scope of the doctrine. It provides arguments, with supporting documentation, to oppose common situations that the government claims are final, nonreviewable decisions.
  • Practice Advisories

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

Publication Date: 
September 14, 2022
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

Immigration Lawsuits and the APA: The Basics of a District Court Action

Publication Date: 
October 4, 2021
This Practice Advisory discusses the primary issues involved in a suit brought under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to challenge an unlawful agency action.
  • Practice Advisories

Mandamus and APA Delay Cases: Avoiding Dismissal and Proving the Case

Publication Date: 
February 19, 2021
This Practice Advisory provides basic information about filing an immigration-related delay action in federal district court under both the Mandamus Act and the APA. It discusses the required elements of a successful mandamus and APA actions as well as jurisdictional concerns that may arise.
  • Blog

Immigrants May Benefit While Others Lose Out From the Supreme Court’s Decision Overruling Chevron

July 11, 2024

The Supreme Court handed a momentous victory to supporters of deregulation on June 28 in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, discarding the long-standing doctrine known as Chevron deference. The...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Allows Deportations Without Adequate Notice, Backtracking on Previous Rulings

June 28, 2024

The Supreme Court made an about-face on June 14, holding that immigration judges may order noncitizens deported if they do not appear for their immigration hearings even if the government never...

  • Blog

Government’s Move to Terminate Flores Agreement Could Leave Immigrant Children Unprotected

May 22, 2024

The Department of Justice asked a court to partially terminate the decades-old agreement that protects the rights of immigrant children earlier this month. The government argues that the Flores...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Judicial Review of Mixed Questions, Even Those That Are Fact Intensive

March 25, 2024

The Supreme Court issued an important victory for noncitizens seeking cancellation of removal and the principle of judicial review of agency action on March 19. And despite the current court’s...

  • Blog

SCOTUS to Decide When Courts Can Review Decisions about Immigration Relief… Again

December 15, 2023

Families are complicated. Especially during the holidays, that’s something we can all agree on. But most of us can’t – or will never have to – imagine being forcibly separated from our closest...

  • Blog

With Challenge to CHNV Parole Program, the ‘Right to Welcome’ Goes on Trial in Texas

August 30, 2023

The Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) went on trial last week. The trial, held in a federal court in Texas, was the...

  • Blog

Law Criminalizing ‘Encouragement or Inducement’ of Immigrants to Live in the US Unlawfully Is Upheld in SCOTUS Case

July 7, 2023

Written by Kelly Chauvin, Summer 2023 Legal Intern for the American Immigration Council Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a section of immigration law that forbids “encourag[ing] or...

  • Blog

Is Chevron deference on the Supreme Court’s chopping block?

May 24, 2023

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide a case that asks the Court to overturn Chevron v. National Resources Defense Council—an influential decision that requires courts to defer to federal...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Declines to Impose New Hurdle on Immigrants Appealing their Cases

May 22, 2023

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled last week that a transgender woman from Guatemala did not need to jump through an additional hoop—filing a new motion with the Board of Immigration...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Pauses Oral Arguments in Title 42 Case – What’s next?

February 17, 2023

In December 2022, the Supreme Court stepped in to keep Title 42 (the pandemic health policy that has allowed the United States to carry out over 2.5 million expulsions since March 2020) in effect...

  • Press Release

District Court Blocks Unlawful Removal of Venezuelan Asylum Seeker Under Alien Enemies Act

May 22, 2025
In a May 21 decision, a federal district court in Georgia ordered the federal government to refrain from disappearing a Venezuelan man under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
  • Press Release

El gobierno de los Estados Unidos detiene ilegalmente a padre de dos hijos en la tristemente célebre prisión salvadoreña

April 16, 2025
El Consejo Americano de Inmigración, el Proyecto Nacional de Inmigración y el Centro de Derechos Constitucionales presentaron hoy una petición de hábeas corpus enmendada en nombre del Sr. Edicson David Quintero Chacón.
  • Press Release

U.S. Government Illegally Detains Father of Two in Notorious Salvadoran Prison

April 16, 2025
The American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project, and the Center for Constitutional Rights today filed an amended habeas corpus petition on behalf of Mr. Edicson David Quintero Chacón.
  • Press Release

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block on SF 2340, Iowa’s Anti-Immigrant Law

January 25, 2025

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI, JAN. 25, 2025 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today upheld a temporary block on SF 2340, Iowa's worst-ever immigration law.

  • Press Release

Misguided Laken Riley Act Does Nothing to Fix the Problems That Plague Our Immigration System

January 22, 2025

WASHINGTON, JAN. 22, 2025 — Today, the House voted in the final step for passing S.

  • Press Release

Iowa Blocks Hateful Anti-Immigrant Law

June 17, 2024
In a victory for immigrant communities and families, on June 17 a federal district court in Iowa issued a preliminary injunction to block SF 2340, one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws ever passed in the state of Iowa.
  • Press Release

Federal Court Temporarily Blocks Key Provision of Florida’s Anti-Immigrant SB 1718

May 22, 2024
On May 22, a federal court blocked a section of a draconian anti-immigrant law passed by Govenor Ron DeSantis's government in Florida.
  • Press Release

Court Hears Challenge to Asylum Turnback

October 13, 2023
On October 13, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will hear arguments in Al Otro Lado and Haitian Bridge Alliance v. Mayorkas, a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s unlawful policy of turning back people seeking asylum without a CBP One appointment.
  • Press Release

Newly Proposed Appellate Rule Would Overturn Trump-era Restrictions for Immigration Judges and Codify Judicial Discretion

September 8, 2023
On Thursday, the Biden administration proposed to rescind a Trump administration rule that stripped authority from immigration judges to manage their own dockets; here is our response.
  • Press Release

Legal Advocates to File Lawsuit Challenging the Constitutionality of Florida’s Anti-Immigrant Law

July 1, 2023
The Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and American Immigration Council have announced they will file a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s draconian Senate Bill 1718, which goes into effect, July 1.
  • Press Release

District Court Blocks Unlawful Removal of Venezuelan Asylum Seeker Under Alien Enemies Act

May 22, 2025
In a May 21 decision, a federal district court in Georgia ordered the federal government to refrain from disappearing a Venezuelan man under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
  • Press Release

El gobierno de los Estados Unidos detiene ilegalmente a padre de dos hijos en la tristemente célebre prisión salvadoreña

April 16, 2025
El Consejo Americano de Inmigración, el Proyecto Nacional de Inmigración y el Centro de Derechos Constitucionales presentaron hoy una petición de hábeas corpus enmendada en nombre del Sr. Edicson David Quintero Chacón.
  • Press Release

U.S. Government Illegally Detains Father of Two in Notorious Salvadoran Prison

April 16, 2025
The American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project, and the Center for Constitutional Rights today filed an amended habeas corpus petition on behalf of Mr. Edicson David Quintero Chacón.
  • Litigation

Challenging Trump’s Unlawful Registration Rule

This lawsuit, filed on behalf of nonprofit organizations, challenges a DHS rule requiring noncitizens to register and carry proof or face prosecution.
  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief to the Second Circuit Arguing for Individualized Custody Determination After Prolonged Mandatory Detention

Publication Date: 
February 12, 2025
The brief argues that an individualized custody determination is necessary when detention becomes prolonged under the mandatory detention provision at 8 U.S.C. § 1226(c).
  • Press Release

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Block on SF 2340, Iowa’s Anti-Immigrant Law

January 25, 2025

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI, JAN. 25, 2025 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit today upheld a temporary block on SF 2340, Iowa's worst-ever immigration law.

  • Press Release

Misguided Laken Riley Act Does Nothing to Fix the Problems That Plague Our Immigration System

January 22, 2025

WASHINGTON, JAN. 22, 2025 — Today, the House voted in the final step for passing S.

  • Practice Advisories

Seeking Stays of Removal

Publication Date: 
January 17, 2025
This practice advisory discusses the law, procedure, and practical tips for seeking a stay of removal from DHS, immigration judges, the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the U.S. courts of appeals.
  • Practice Advisories

Judicial Review of Visa Decisions After the Supreme Court’s Decision in Department of State v. Muñoz

Publication Date: 
January 15, 2025

...
  • Blog

Immigrants May Benefit While Others Lose Out From the Supreme Court’s Decision Overruling Chevron

July 11, 2024

The Supreme Court handed a momentous victory to supporters of deregulation on June 28 in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, discarding the long-standing doctrine known as Chevron deference. The...

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