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
BIA Orders Further Consideration of Whether Money Laundering Conviction is Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision orders further consideration of whether money laundering conviction is aggravated felony because IJ improperly equated amount of forfeiture with amount of funds involved in laundering. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lemus, 3/9/17)
H.R. 1468: Recognizing America’s Children Act
On 3/9/17, Representative Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) introduced the Recognizing America’s Children Act (H.R. 1468), which would allow young people who were brought to this country as children and grew up in the U.S. to adjust their status. The bill has 18 Republican cosponsors.
CA3 Finds Petitioner’s Conviction for Sodomy Is Not a CIMT
The court reversed the BIA’s decision that the petitioner’s crime was the “functional equivalent” of a conviction for forcible sodomy, and held that the petitioner’s conviction for sodomy was not a crime involving moral turpitude. (Chavez-Alvarez v. Attorney General, 3/9/17)
CA9 Finds Homosexual Asylum Seeker from Mexico Established Past Persecution
The en banc court granted the petition for review of the BIA’s denial of asylum to a homosexual citizen of Mexico who asserted that Mexican officials were unable or unwilling to protect him from harm by private individuals due to his sexual orientation. (Bringas-Rodriguez v. Sessions, 3/8/17)
DOJ Memo to Federal Prosecutors on Commitment to Targeting Violent Crimes
DOJ issued a memorandum directing a focused effort to investigate, prosecute, and deter crime, including directing the 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices to partner with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement to specifically identify individuals who committed significant violent crimes.
BIA Finds LPR Did Not Abandon Residence Despite Absence of Nearly Three Years
Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent did not intend to abandon LPR status despite being abroad for 33 months because DHS failed to demonstrate the lack of a continuous intent to return. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lei, 3/8/17)
CA2 Defers to BIA’s Decision in Matter of F-P-R- to Calculate Asylum Applicant’s “Last Arrival” into the United States
The court held that petitioner’s rebuffed effort to enter Canada from the United States after being illegally present in the United States counted as his “last arrival,” thus giving him an additional one year from that date to file an asylum application. (Linares-Urrutia v. Sessions, 3/7/17)
CA10 Says Petitioner’s Conviction for Providing False Information to a City Official During an Investigation Is Not a CIMT
The court held that the petitioner’s conviction for violating Denver Municipal Code §38-40, which prohibits giving false information to a city official during an investigation, did not constitute a crime involving moral turpitude. (Flores-Molina v. Sessions, 3/7/17)
CA8 Finds Violation of Kansas Municipal Theft Ordinance Is a Conviction and a CIMT
The court denied the petition for review, holding that the municipal judgments entered against the petitioners in Kansas for theft qualified as criminal convictions as well as crimes involving moral turpitude. (Dominguez-Herrera v. Sessions, 3/7/17)
DHS OIG: Management Alert on Serious Issues at Detention Facility in Orange, California
The DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report with an alert on issues requiring immediate action at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange, California including serious concerns of health risks and violations of ICE’s detention standards, following an unannounced inspection in November 2016.
List of ICE Facilities Authorized to Hold Detainees for Under 72 Hours
List of ICE detention facilities authorized to hold detainees under 72 hours as of 3/6/17. Data was requested by AILA Liaison on 12/1/16.
BIA Finds Attorney Provided Ineffective Assistance by Failing to Submit Timely Cancellation Application
Unpublished BIA decision holds that the attorney provided ineffective assistance by failing to file a cancellation application before the court-imposed deadline and that respondent substantially complied with Matter of Lozada. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Sazo-Hernandez, 3/6/17)
Florida Judge Rules That Miami-Dade’s ICE Detainer Policy Violates the Constitution
A judge in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida found that Miami-Dade County violated the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution when it agreed to allow county jails to hold undocumented immigrants slated for deportation by federal agents. (Lacroix v. Junior, 3/3/17)
BIA Says Transporting a Loaded Firearm Under Oklahoma Law Is Categorically a Firearms Offense
The BIA held that the crime of transporting a loaded firearm under Oklahoma law is categorically a firearms offense under INA §237(a)(2)(C), in light of the “expansive text and history” of §237(a)(2)(C). Matter of Flores-Abarca, 26 I&N Dec. 922 (BIA 2017)
Letter to EOIR: Atlanta Immigration Court Judges Fail to Uphold Ethical Standards
A 3/2/17 letter from the Southern Poverty Law Center and Emory University School of Law with findings of observations of the Atlanta Immigration Court, stating that Atlanta Immigration Court judges are failing to uphold ethical standards that ensure immigrants receive fair and impartial treatment.
DHS Provides Q&As Regarding DHS Implementation of the Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
DHS issued Q&As, last updated on 3/2/17, to answer Frequently Asked Questions about how the Department will operationally implement the guidance provided by the president’s Executive Order on Border Security and Immigration Enforcement.
BIA Holds Removal Does Not Moot Appeal of Denial of Motion to Rescind In Absentia Order
Unpublished BIA decision denies DHS motion to reconsider decision rescinding in absentia order due to lack of notice and holds that appeal was not rendered moot by respondent’s removal. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Aparicio, 3/2/17)
EOIR Releases FY2016 Statistics Yearbook
EOIR released its FY2016 statistics yearbook with data on cases before immigration courts, BIA, and OCAHO, as well as appeals of IJ decisions to the BIA. The data includes information on respondents’ cases by naturalization, language, and disposition, and provides asylum case information.
Reactions to the President’s Joint Address to Congress
Several members of AILA's Executive Committee share their reactions to President Trump's Joint Address to Congress on February 28, 2017: “We agree that we have to restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders, and especially to the agencies responsible for enforcing that law. The record of di
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Attorney Provided Wrong Hearing Date
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order of removal sua sponte due to attorney misadvising respondent as to the date of the hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Alcaraz, 2/27/17)
BIA Holds Arizona Possession of Drug Parapheralia Not a Controlled Substance Offense
Unpublished BIA decision holds that possession of drug paraphernalia under Ariz. Rev. Stat. 13-3415 is not an offense relating to a controlled substance under Mellouli v. Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 1980 (2015). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Pimber-Cirerol, 2/15/17)
CA5 Overturns Preliminary Injunction Blocking Enforcement of Texas’s Immigrant-Harboring Law
The court found that there was no reasonable interpretation of a TX law criminalizing the “harboring of illegal aliens” by which merely renting housing or providing social services to undocumented persons constitutes “harboring” them “from detection.” (Cruz et al. v. Abbott et al., 2/23/17)
CA4 Says Determining Whether Petitioner’s Evidence Meets Good Faith Marriage Standard Is Subject to De Novo Review
The court granted the petition for review and remanded, holding that the BIA should have reviewed de novo the IJ’s ultimate legal judgment that the petitioner’s evidence did not meet the good faith marriage standard of INA §216(c)(4)(B). (Upatcha v. Sessions, 2/22/17)
CA4 Finds BIA’s Interpretation of INA §209(b) Was Reasonable
The court denied the petition for review, holding that the BIA’s reliance on its precedential decision in Matter of C-J-H-, which held that noncitizens who adjust to LPR status under INA §209(b) do not retain their asylum status, was reasonable. (Mahmood v. Sessions, 2/22/17)
CBP Issues Memo on Implementation of EOs 13767 and 13768 and the Secretary’s Implementation Directions of February 17, 2017
CBP issued a redacted memo with the steps that the Office of Field Operations will begin executing immediately in relation to Executive Orders 13767 and 13768 and DHS Secretary’s implementation directions of February 17, 2017.