Featured Issue: U.S. Immigration Courts under Trump 2.0
The U.S. immigration court system plays a critical role in upholding due process and ensuring fair hearings for individuals facing deportation. However, since January 20, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has implemented significant changes that challenge the structural integrity of these courts. This page aims to provide up-to-date information on the policy and legal shifts affecting the U.S. immigration court system.
Latest Updates
Updates from EOIR
Browse the Featured Issue: U.S. Immigration Courts under Trump 2.0 collection
Former IJ Jeffrey S. Chase Asks: Are Summary Denials Coming to Immigration Court?
It has been reported that immigration judges around the country have been denying asylum cases summarily without hearing testimony. Former Immigration Judge Jeffrey S. Chase discussed this development in immigration court, including a timeline of recent decisions.
District Court Grants Habeas Relief to Person Not Taken Immediately into ICE Custody
A U.S. District Court ruled that INA §236(c) does not apply to an individual not taken into custody immediately upon release from criminal custody, finding that a nearly five-year delay is “clearly unreasonable” under §236(c). (Sall v. ICE, 5/24/18)
DHS Issues Fact Sheet on Zero-Tolerance Prosecution and Family Reunification
DHS published a fact sheet about how CBP, ICE, and HHS process parents and children who have been separated as part of the zero-tolerance prosecution policy at the border, and the role these agencies will play in the reunification process.
House Democrats Request Investigation to Reunite Children and Families
On 6/22/18, Congressman Lou Correa (D-CA) led 122 members of Congress in urging the Inspectors General of DHS and HHS to investigate whether the departments have records capable of reuniting families.
Memo from DHS Regarding Decision to Rescind DACA Policy
On 6/22/18, Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued a memorandum, in response to the court’s request for a more elaborate explanation for rescinding DACA, concurring with and declining to disturb Acting Secretary Duke’s decision to rescind the DACA policy.
Tearing Down the Wall and Building Bridges
This blog post is adapted from the president's installation speech given by Anastasia Tonello, June 14, 2018 in San Francisco; she shares her message to AILA members and goals for her presidential year.
AILA Quicktake #242: Executive Order on Family Separation Policy
AILA President Anastasia Tonello discusses the family separation Executive Order that President Trump signed on June 20, 2018.
Supreme Court Rules That Notices Triggering Stop-Time Rule Must Include Time and Place
The Supreme Court held that a putative notice to appear that fails to designate the specific time or place of the noncitizen’s removal proceedings is not a “notice to appear under §1229(a),” and so does not trigger the stop-time rule. (Pereira v. Sessions, 6/21/18)
CBP Issues Statement on Implementing Executive Order on Family Separation
CBP released a statement on President Trump’s EO on family separation, stating that family unity will be maintained for families apprehended crossing the border illegally and transferred to ICE custody. Border Patrol will continue to refer for prosecution adults who cross the border illegally.
USCIS Announces Recall of 800 Incorrectly Printed EADs
On 6/21/18, USCIS will begin recalling approximately 800 employment authorization documents (EADs) that were issued in conjunction with Form I-589, Application for Asylum and for Withholding of Removal, due to a production error. Affected individuals and their attorneys will be notified.
ICE Agents Issue Letter to DHS Requesting HSI and ERO Become Separate Entities
In a letter obtained by the Texas Observer, 29 ICE HSI agents requested that HSI be separated from ERO, stating “HSI’s investigations have been perceived as targeting undocumented aliens, instead of the transnational criminal organizations… impacting our communities and national security.”
DC’s Highest Court Rules That Criminal Defendant’s Potential Removal Warrants Jury Trial
Reversing conviction, en banc court decided that penalty of deportation, when viewed together with maximum period of incarceration that doesn’t exceed six months, overcomes presumption that offense is petty and triggers Sixth Amendment right to jury trial. (Bado v. U.S., 6/21/18)
BIA Holds California Disorderly Conduct Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that disorderly conduct under Calif. Penal Code 647(a) is not a CIMT because it does not require lewd or specific intent to offend or defendant to be aware of presence of others. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Wang, 6/21/18)
Sign-On Letter Opposing Speaker Ryan’s “Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018” (H.R. 6136)
On June 20, 2018, AILA joined approximately 350 organizations in a letter to members of Congress expressing grave concerns with Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018” (H.R. 6136), and asking them to vote against the bill.
AILA Members’ Letter to the Editor Template on Family Separation
We encourage AILA members to personalize and submit this Letter to the Editor on the administration’s harsh treatment of families at the border. Please email newsroom@aila.org with any questions or to share your success.
Attorney General Publishes Op-Ed in USA Today on Family Separation
Attorney General Jeff Sessions published an op-ed in USA Today defending DOJ’s zero tolerance policy and family separation, claiming, “We don’t want to separate parents from kids.”
AILA: Expanding Family Detention Is Not the Answer to Cruel Family Separation Policy
Responding to the Executive Order regarding family separation, AILA President Anastasia Tonello stated, “The barriers to due process that AILA attorneys have encountered at every detention facility only underscore what needs to happen: both family separation and family detention must end.”
White House Releases Fact Sheet on Border Prosecutions and Families
The White House published a fact sheet about zero-tolerance border prosecutions and family separation, calling on Congress to “close the loopholes that limit detention of families together to mere weeks but require years to effectuate removal.”
BIA Holds Ohio Statute Not a Firearms Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that the improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle under Ohio Rev. Code 2923.16(E)(1) is not a firearms offense because state has prosecuted under similar statutes for possessing antique firearms. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Edwards, 6/20/18)
Code Red: The Fatal Consequences of Dangerously Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention
More people died in immigration detention in FY2017 than any year since 2009, and reports on deaths shows that they are still linked to dangerously inadequate medical care. Human Rights Watch, ACLU, National Immigrant Justice Center, and Detention Watch Network issued a report on this information.
H.R. 6136: Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018
H.R. 6136, the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act of 2018, would create an avenue for Dreamers to obtain green cards, increase border security funding, eliminate the Diversity Visa lottery program, and reform family immigration and asylum laws.
Sign-On Letter Opposing Representative Goodlatte’s “Securing America’s Future Act” (H.R.4760)
On June 19, 2018, AILA joined approximately 226 organizations in a letter to members of Congress opposing Representative Bob Goodlatte’s (R-VA) bill, the “Securing America’s Future Act” (H.R.4760).
AMA Urges Government to Withdraw “Zero Tolerance” Policies
The American Medical Association (AMA) issued a letter to DHS, DOJ, and HHS, strongly urging the federal government to withdraw its “zero tolerance” policy that requires the separation of migrating children from their parents and caregivers.
CA10 Finds BIA Erred in Finding That Colorado Criminal Trespass Statute Is Divisible
The court ruled that BIA should not have applied modified categorical approach to analyze law proscribing unlawful entry into a dwelling or into a vehicle, vacating removal order based on finding that trespass of auto was CIMT. (Lujan Jimenez v. Sessions, 6/19/18)
S. 3091: Protect Kids and Parents Act
On 6/19/18, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the Protect Kids and Parents Act (S. 3091) to limit the separation of families seeking asylum in the United States and expedite the asylum process for individuals arriving in the United States with children.