AILA’s Advocacy Action Center allows you to advocate for legislative and policy reforms consistent with AILA’s principles and priorities.
Get InvolvedThe brand-new 18th edition of Kurzban's Immigration Law Sourcebook is now shipping.
Order NowLearn how to tackle challenges like finding and retaining affordable staff, working better in a hybrid or remote environment, when and how to raise fees, and much more.
Register NowAILALink puts an entire immigration law library at your fingertips! Search the AILALink database for all your practice needs—statutes, regs, case law, agency guidance, publications, and more.
AILA Doc. No. 18040330 | Dated April 3, 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), has instituted strict quotas as part of immigration judges' individual performance evaluations, a shift that strips away the independence held by judges who are making high stakes decisions about whether a person will be deported.
"For years, the immigration court system has been strained past the breaking point, too often denying immigrants, even children, a fair chance to present their claims," said Jeremy McKinney, AILA Secretary. He continued, "The system is so flawed that it's being mocked by late night comedians like John Oliver's show this past Sunday. Congress just appropriated more money to fund the immigration courts, but instead of working to improve structural flaws, the Administration is weakening its foundation. These unprecedented numeric quotas are so onerous that many judges will rush through cases to protect their own jobs. Decisions in immigration court have life or death consequences and cannot be managed like an assembly line. This policy adds another cog to the administration's deportation machine that seeks to rapidly remove massive numbers of people at the expense of due process. This push to compel judges to complete cases is new and dangerous and is the latest example of why the courts need independence."
Karen Lucas, Director of the Immigration Justice Campaign, a joint effort of AILA and the American Immigration Council, added, "We can't forget that this is a system that already lacks basic procedures to ensure a fair hearing, like the right to legal counsel if you cannot afford one and, in many cases, the right to a bond hearing. The impact of these quotas will fall hardest on the most vulnerable and isolated individuals: detained immigrants, often including those seeking protection from persecution in their home countries. Placing time constraints on judges will pressure them to reach decisions without allowing sufficient time for evidence to be secured, for interpreters in rare languages to be obtained, and perhaps most important, for legal counsel to be found. Data shows detained immigrants who have legal counsel are ten times more likely to be granted asylum or other relief from the court. Forcing immigrants to move forward without an attorney eliminates any meaningful chance at a fair day in court. We should not sacrifice due process for speed and make an already rushed deportation process even more unfair."
Can't see the audio player? Download the Audio File (MP3)
Cite as AILA Doc. No. 18040330.
American Immigration Lawyers Association
1331 G Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20005
Copyright © 1993-
American Immigration Lawyers Association.
AILA.org should not be relied upon as the exclusive source for your legal research. Nothing on AILA.org constitutes legal advice, and information on AILA.org is not a substitute for independent legal advice based on a thorough review and analysis of the facts of each individual case, and independent research based on statutory and regulatory authorities, case law, policy guidance, and for procedural issues, federal government websites.