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
TRAC Report Finds Texas Immigration Court Leads U.S. in Issuing Removal Orders
A TRAC report found that Immigration Court judges issued 44,204 removal orders as of April 2016. Texas leads the nation with 10,102 removal orders issued, followed by California and Georgia. During April 2016, 1,186 of the 6,347 individuals ordered removed were women with children.
BIA Says Arizona Felony Conviction for Solicitation to Possess Marijuana for Sale Is a CIMT
The BIA held that, within the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit, a returning LPR who has a felony conviction for solicitation to possess marijuana for sale is an arriving alien who is inadmissible under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i)(I). Matter of Gonzalez Romo, 26 I&N Dec. 743 (BIA 2016)
ICE FAQs on Agreement Between USCIS and ICE on Fingerprint Check Refresh Requests
ICE FAQs on the USCIS/ICE agreement establishing a process to refresh fingerprint checks on non-detained respondents with cases pending before EOIR whose fingerprints have been taken, but the fingerprint checks will expire prior to a final decision by EOIR. Agreement is effective as of 3/31/16.
BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte for UAC Who Failed to Appear at His Removal Hearing
Unpublished BIA decision grants a motion to rescind an in absentia removal order and reopen removal proceedings for a UAC who failed to attend his removal proceedings, finding that the respondent had presented an exceptional situation to warrant sua sponte reopening. Courtesy of Douglas Thie.
CA4 Finds IJs Are Not Required to Warn of Consequences of Filing a Frivolous Asylum Application
The court held that the warning set forth in the I-589 asylum application regarding the consequences of filing a frivolous asylum application satisfies INA §208(d)(4)(A)’s requirement that the applicant must be notified of such consequences. (Ndibu v. Lynch, 5/19/16)
CA9 Issues Superseding Opinion in Yang v. Lynch
In a superseding opinion, the court made several amendments to its original decision, clarifying that, on a motion to reopen, the BIA cannot make the kind of credibility determination inherent in a decision to apply the falsus maxim. (Yang v. Lynch, 5/19/16)
AILA Member Talking Points on the ICE Raids Targeting Central American Families
AILA members can use these Talking Points with media when asked about ICE raids targeting Central American families.
Letter to ICE from 69 Mothers Detained in Dilley Pleading for Freedom
Pleading for an end to their imprisonment, 69 mothers who have been detained with their children at the South Texas Family Residential Center, an immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas, wrote a public letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement; letter is available in Spanish and English.
CA9 Upholds CAT Denial to Former Gang Member Who Had Been Removed to El Salvador
The court upheld BIA’s denial of CAT protection, holding that substantial evidence supported its determination that it is not more likely than not that the petitioner, a former gang member with gang-related tattoos, will be tortured in El Salvador. (Del Cid Marroquin v. Lynch, 5/18/16)
AILA Quicktake #166: ICE Announces New Surge of Arrests
AILA's Director of Advocacy Greg Chen shares information regarding ICE's announcement that it would be conducting another surge of arrests aimed at families and unaccompanied minors across the nation and what AILA is doing.
AIM: How Cities and Immigration Collaboratives Can Work Together
In May's AILA Interview of the Month, Ana Camila Herrera, Managing Attorney, Dolores Street Community Services, shares how renewed funding for the San Francisco Immigration Legal Defense Collaborative will help provide representation to unaccompanied minors and families in immigration court.
FOIA Results on Bond Practices
Bond-related documents from ERO and Libre by Nexus (private ankle monitoring/GPS devices) released in response to a FOIA. Special thanks to Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.
TRAC Report Finds Number of Civil Immigration Lawsuits Filed Has Risen Steadily During Past Year
A TRAC report found that the government reported 235 new civil filings in the immigration category in April 2016, a 37.7 percent increase from one year ago. The data shows that civil immigration filings are up approximately 30 percent from levels reported five years ago, in April 2011.
Children in Immigration Court: Over 95 Percent Represented by an Attorney Appear in Court
An American Immigration Council factsheet demonstrating that children appear in immigration court and that when children are represented by counsel, appearance rates are even higher. This data suggests that children who do fail to appear are victims of the system’s deficits.
Detained, Deceived, and Deported: Experiences of Recently Deported Central American Families
The American Immigration Council interviewed individuals who were deported (or whose partners were deported) and their accounts reveal the dangerous circumstances these women and their children faced upon return to their home countries, as well as serious problems in the deportation process.
EOIR Opens Immigration Court in Aurora, CO
EOIR announced that it will be establishing a full-time presence and opening an immigration court in the DHS contract detention facility in Aurora, Colorado on 5/31/16. Notice includes contact information.
Practice Alert: Military Parole in Place and Removal Proceedings
AILA’s ICE Liaison Committee provides a practice alert advising members of the procedure for seeking military parole in place if your client is currently in removal proceedings or previously has been ordered removed from the United States.
CA7 Finds Petitioner Is Not Eligible for Velasquez Exception to Lawyer’s Concessions
The court upheld the BIA where the petitioner’s first lawyer had conceded that petitioner’s 1993 California conviction for possessing counterfeit prescription blanks was a CIMT, and his second lawyer did not ask the BIA to relieve him of that concession. (Guzman-Rivadeneira v. Lynch, 5/13/16)
CA9 Remands Where BIA Failed to Address IJ’s Seemingly Inconsistent Credibility Findings
The court held that the BIA erred in failing to address the IJ’s seemingly inconsistent credibility findings where the petitioner was charged as removable under INA §212(a)(6)(E)(i) for allegedly participating in an alien smuggling attempt. (Perez-Arceo v. Lynch, 5/12/16)
CARA: Government Continues to Undermine Access to Counsel and Due Process for Children and Mothers Seeking Protection in the U.S.
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project shared additional evidence that the federal government and private prison companies are failing to provide child care adequate to ensure access to counsel and meaningful representation as a Texas agency considers licensing the Dilley center.
AILA: Shameful Escalation of ICE Raids is Misdirected at Vulnerable Families and Engenders a Culture of Fear
Responding to confirmed reports that immigration authorities are planning another surge of arrests aimed at families and unaccompanied children across the nation, AILA President Victor Nieblas Pradis joined AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson in condemning the raids.
BIA Cautions IJs over Finding Relief Applications Abandoned
Unpublished BIA decision states that while immigration judges may deem applications abandoned if not timely submitted, such decisions must be balanced against due process concerns that respondents have a full and fair hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ramirez Ramos, 5/12/16)
BIA Dismisses Fraud-Related Aggravated Felony Charge
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings because the evidence did not demonstrate that a restitution order exceeding $10,000 related to an offense involving fraud or deceit or to a separate conviction for grand theft. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Acevedo Solis, 5/11/16)
CA9 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Discretionary Denial of NACARA Special Rule Cancellation
The court granted the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the petition for review, holding that it lacked jurisdiction pursuant to INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i) to review the BIA’s discretionary denial of NACARA special rule cancellation of removal. (Monroy v. Lynch, 5/11/16)
CA1 Finds BIA Failed to Explain Why It Found That VAWA Relief Required Good Faith Marriage
The court held that the BIA failed to articulate a sufficient explanation as to why it determined that the petitioner was required to prove that hers was a good faith marriage in order to be eligible for VAWA relief. (Tillery v. Lynch, 5/11/16)