Featured Issue: Immigration Courts

The U.S. immigration court system suffers from profound structural problems that have severely eroded its capacity to deliver just decisions in a timely manner, as well as public confidence in its outcomes. The Trump administration used these foundational flaws to manipulate the courts to their breaking points – pressuring judges to render decisions at a break-neck pace at the cost of accuracy, eliminating docketing tools, growing the backlog, and restricting access to relief. It is imperative that Congress pass legislation that creates an independent Article I immigration court system.

AILA submitted a statement for the record, entitled “Why America Needs an Independent Immigration Court System,” for the January 20, 2022, House Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship’s hearing “For the Rule of Law, An Independent Immigration Court.”

See below for resources on why the courts need to be rehabilitated, progress that's been made, and how you can help.

Resources on Rehabilitating the Immigration Courts

• AILA Statement: “Why America Needs an Independent Immigration Court System,” submitted to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship - January 20, 2022
• How the Trump Administration Broke the Immigration Court System – April 19, 2021
• Policy Brief: Why President Biden Needs to Make Immediate Changes to Rehabilitate the Immigration Courts - February 12, 2021
• AILA and Partners Send Letter to President Biden on DOJ Reform of Immigration Courts and Enforcement Priorities – February 1, 2021
• AILA and Partners Urge DOJ to Review EOIR Personnel and Install New Leadership – May 19, 2021
• Featured Issue: Use of Video Teleconferences During Immigration Hearings
• AILA Position on the Use of Virtual Hearings in Removal Proceedings – October 20, 2021

Agency Announcements

• Featured Issue: Biden Administration Recognizes the Immigration Judge Union - December 7, 2021
• EOIR Amends PM 21-18 on Filing Deadlines in Non-Detained Cases – December 16, 2021
• EOIR Issues Policy Memo on Administrative Closure Following Matter of Cruz-Valdez – November 22, 2021
• EOIR Rescinds and Cancels PM 21-08 and Provides Guidelines for Pro Bono Legal Services – November 5, 2021
• EOIR Announces Dedicated Docket Process for More Expeditious Immigration Hearings – May 27, 2021
• EOIR Issues Policy Memo Revising Case Flow Processing Before the Immigration Courts – April 2, 2021
• EOIR Rescinds Policy Memorandum on Case Processing at the BIA – March 17, 2021
• Tracking Changes to the EOIR Policy Manual

A.G. Garland Certifications

• B-Z-R-, 28 I&N Dec. 424 (A.G. 2021)
• NEGUSIE, 28 I&N Dec. 399 (A.G. 2021)
• A-C-A-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 351 (A.G. 2021)
• CRUZ-VALDEZ, 28 I&N Dec. 326 (A.G. 2021)
• A-B-, 28 I&N Dec. 307 (A.G. 2021)
• L-E-A-, 28 I&N Dec. 304 (A.G. 2021)

Practice Resources

• Practice Pointer: “Operation Horizon” and What to Do with Your Client’s Notice to Report (Form I-385) – December 3, 2021
• Practice Alert: EOIR Final Rule Making Major Changes to BIA Procedures Enjoined by District Court – March 26, 2021
• Practice Alert: Federal Court Grants Partial Injunction of Proposed EOIR Fee Increases – January 23, 2021

Other Resources

• Representatives Urge Attorney General to Reverse Trump’s Attacks on Immigrants – June 10, 2021
• Former Immigration Judges Ask AG Garland to Review and Rescind Prior AG Certifications – May 25, 2021
• Senators Send Letter to Attorney General Garland to Stop Attacks on Immigration Judges – May 24, 2021
• Senators Urge Attorney General Garland to Make Key Reforms to Immigration Courts - March 23, 2021
• Just Security: The Urgent Need to Restore Independence to America’s Politicized Immigration Courts – November 12, 2020
• Senators Announce GAO Investigation of the Politicization and Mismanagement of Immigration Courts – September 14, 2020

Take Action

• Help us advocate for consistent, fair WebEx policies by sharing your examples: Call for Examples: Tell AILA What’s Going Wrong (and Right!) With WebEx
• Use AILA’s template to ask your member of Congress to make immediate reforms to guarantee judicial independence, fairness, and consistency in decision-making.

Reforming Immigration Courts

Ultimately, to operate in a balanced and fair manner, Congress must pass legislation creating an Article I immigration court system. Agency policy alone cannot outweigh the conflict of interest built into the system: the immigration courts are overseen by the Attorney General (AG), who also supervises the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers who prosecute immigration cases in federal courts. In other words, the chief prosecutor is also the chief judge.

For years we have seen the detrimental effects of a politicized immigration court system. Administrations have repeatedly made policy decisions not because they’re efficient or legally sound, but because they’re politically expedient. This flawed system is what enabled the Trump administration to transform the immigration courts into an enforcement agency rather than a fair and neutral arbiter, turning immigration judges into “prosecutors in ... judge’s robe[s].”

Take Action

• Use AILA’s template to ask your member of Congress to create an independent immigration court.

Resources on Reforming the Immigration Courts

• AILA Statement: “Why America Needs an Independent Immigration Court System,” submitted to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship - January 20, 2022
• Letter from AILA, the American Bar Association, the National Association of Immigration Judges, and the Federal Bar Association: Legal Associations Call for Independent Immigration Court System - July 11, 2019
• NGO Letter: Congress Must Establish an Independent Immigration Court – February 18, 2020
• New York Times (Opinion): Immigration Courts Aren’t Real Courts. Time to Change That. – May 8, 2021
• AILA Policy Brief: Restoring Integrity and Independence to America’s Immigration Courts – January 24, 2020
• House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing: Courts in Crisis: The State of Judicial Independence and Due Process in U.S. Immigration Courts – January 29, 2020

Cite as AILA Doc. No. 21041931.