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
CBP Practice Pointer: Overcoming Expedited Removal Orders
AILA’s CBP Liaison Committee provides a practice pointer on overcoming expedited removal orders where there is an arguable abuse of discretion or clear legal error.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because NTA Was Sent to Outdated Address
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA was sent in 2008 to an outdated address contained in 1999 adjustment application. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Sanchez, 7/14/16)
Sign-On Letter to Senators on Opposing Mandatory Notification Legislation
On 7/11/16, AILA joined 215 immigrant, legal, civil rights, faith-based, and labor organizations in urging U.S. senators to oppose any legislation or amendment that would entangle state and local law authorities with immigration enforcement through mandatory notifications.
CA4 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Ethnic Hutu Alleged to Have Participated in Rwanda Genocide
The court denied the petition for review, finding that petitioner, an ethnic Hutu and citizen of Rwanda alleged to have participated in the Rwandan genocide, did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he was not subject to the “persecutor bar.” (Munyakazi v. Lynch, 7/11/16)
CA5 Says Texas Misdemeanor Assault Conviction Is Not a “Crime Involving Moral Turpitude”
The court vacated the BIA’s judgment and remanded, holding that petitioner’s prior Texas misdemeanor assault conviction did not qualify as a “crime involving moral turpitude” that rendered him ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Gomez-Perez v. Lynch, 7/11/16)
Department of the Treasury Notice on Immigration Bond Interest Rates
Department of the Treasury notice that for the period beginning 7/1/16 and ending 9/30/16, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Immigration Bond interest rate is 0.27 per centum per annum. (81 FR 44926, 7/11/16)
CA9 Says Guatemalan Petitioner Failed to Show a Reasonable Fear of Torture
The court upheld the IJ's decision affirming an asylum officer's negative reasonable fear determination, concluding that substantial evidence in the record supported the IJ's conclusion that the petitioner failed to demonstrate a reasonable fear of torture. (Andrade-Garcia v. Lynch, 7/7/16)
CA3 Says Petitioner’s Fraudulent Procurement of TPS Rendered Him Inadmissible
The court upheld the district court, holding that petitioner’s fraudulent procurement of TPS in 1992 made him inadmissible for LPR status, and because he had not been “lawfully admitted” for permanent residence, he could not be naturalized. (Saliba v. Att'y Gen., 7/8/16)
CA2 Finds Petitioner’s 1997 Pennsylvania Conviction Was a Controlled Substance Offense
The court held that petitioner’s 1997 conviction under a Pennsylvania statute was categorically a controlled substance offense, and dismissed the petition for review for lack of jurisdiction to review the removability order. (Collymore v. Lynch, 7/8/16)
CA8 Finds Asylum Applicant Failed to Show a Material Change in Country Conditions in Nigeria
The court held that petitioner’s motion to reopen was untimely due to her inability to show a material change in country conditions in Nigeria, which would have excused her from the 90-day time limitation for filing the motion. (Zeah v. Lynch, 7/8/16)
AILA Quicktake #170: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Flores Settlement
The American Immigration Council's Legal Director Melissa Crow shares details of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ affirmation of the Flores Settlement Agreement stating that the Obama administration's family detention practices violate that agreement.
CA3 Upholds Denial of Naturalization Application Due to Failure to Disclose Prior Removal Order
The court affirmed the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the government, finding that the appellant failed to meet his burden of showing that he was lawfully admitted and was therefore not eligible for naturalization. (Koszelnik v. DHS Secretary, et al., 7/8/16)
Enforcement Off the Rails
There's been a lot of news coverage of the ICE raids, of the aggressive tactics used to arrest vulnerable families at their homes and to arrest children on the way to school. But what hasn't received as much coverage is the damage that raids victims endure after their arrest. Some remain trapped in
CA6 Says INA's Residual Definition of “Crime of Violence” Is Unconstitutionally Vague
Applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Johnson v. United States, the court granted the petition for review, holding that the INA §1101(a)(43)(F)’s residential definition of “crime of violence” is void for vagueness. (Shuti v. Lynch, 7/7/16)
CA7 Says USCIS Erred in Evaluating Widow’s Request to Remove Permanent Residence Conditions
The court held that because USCIS mistakenly evaluated petitioner's request to remove the conditions on her permanent residence as a request for a waiver, it erroneously placed on petitioner the burden of proving that the marriage was bona fide. (Putro v. Lynch, 7/7/16)
CA4 Says “Virginia Forgery” Is an Aggravated Felony
The court denied the petition for review, concluding that “Virginia forgery” is an aggravated felony under the INA, because it is a categorical match with the federal generic definition of forgery. (Alvarez v. Lynch, 7/7/16)
Court Again Rules Against Federal Government’s Efforts to Detain Children
AILA and the American Immigration Council commented on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming that the Flores Settlement Agreement governs the custody and release of all immigrant children, and that the Obama administration’s family detention practices violate that agreement.
CA9 Finds Serious Nonpolitical Crime Bar Rendered Salvadoran Congressman Deputy Ineligible for Asylum
The court denied a petition for review brought by a former Salvadoran professional soccer player and Salvadoran congressman’s deputy, holding that he was statutorily barred from asylum and withholding of removal relief under the serious nonpolitical crime bar. (Silva-Pereira v. Lynch, 7/7/16)
BIA Orders IJ To Consider Whether Respondent Is Admissible as B1/B2 Nonimmigrant
Unpublished BIA decision remands for IJ to consider whether respondent is admissible as B1/B2 nonimmigrant alien, notwithstanding that DHS cancelled his visa upon his arrival in the United States. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Suarez, 7/7/16)
BIA Reverses IJ For Preventing Witnesses From Testifying
Unpublished BIA decision holds that IJ should have permitted witnesses to testify in support of registry application notwithstanding failure to submit declarations or summaries of witness testimony. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Galvan, 7/6/16)
CA9 Affirms That Family Detention Violates Flores Settlement Agreement
The court held that the Flores settlement agreement applies to both minors who are accompanied and unaccompanied by their parents, and that the lower court correctly refused to amend the agreement to accommodate family detention. (Flores v. Lynch, 7/6/16)
Immigration Law Advisor, May-June 2016 (Vol. 10, No. 4)
The May-June 2016 Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, includes an article on developments in civil detention, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions from April and May 2016 and BIA precedent decisions.
Know Your Rights Information for Asylum Seekers
To help families and individuals who recently entered the United States seeking refuge from violence and persecution, AILA offers information in English and Spanish on rights and responsibilities throughout the asylum process. Special thanks to Laura Lichter.
CA1 Finds Petitioner Failed to Satisfy Derivative Citizenship Statute Criteria
The court held that petitioner did not satisfy the applicable statutory criteria for obtaining derivative citizenship in consequence of his mother’s naturalization, which were set forth in the derivative citizenship statute in effect at the time he was still a minor. (Thomas v. Lynch, 7/5/16)
CA11 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Denial of Motion for Sua Sponte Reopening
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s motion for sua sponte reopening, because petitioner had not raised any constitutional claims. (Butka v. Att'y Gen., 7/5/16)