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.
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Updates from EOIR
Browse the Featured Issue: U.S. Immigration Courts under Trump 2.0 collection
Why Finding Your Pro Bono Opportunity Can Help YOU
AILA's Practice and Professionalism Center highlights a few recent “Pro Bono High Fives,“ featuring AILA members, to inspire and encourage others to use their legal expertise to change lives, and maybe have some fun too!
DHS Provides a Privacy Impact Assessment for the Alternatives to Detention Program
DHS provides a Privacy Impact Assessment that describes how ICE’s Alternatives to Detention (ATD) programs operate in a manner that includes privacy and civil liberties safeguards in accordance with law, regulation, and policy.
CA9 Says OSC That Fails to Disclose Time and Place of Immigrant’s Deportation Hearing Triggers Stop-Time Rule
The court held that an Order to Show Cause (OSC) that fails to disclose the time and place of an immigrant’s deportation proceedings triggers the stop-time rule in a transitional rules case, and that petitioner was ineligible for suspension of deportation. (Gutierrez-Alm v. Garland, 3/15/23)
CA8 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review Agency’s Discretionary Hardship Determination
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s decision that petitioner failed to establish that his qualifying relatives would suffer exceptional and extreme hardship if he were removed and thus was ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Garcia-Pascual v. Garland, 3/14/23)
Free and Freeing: AILA’s Law Student Membership
AILA member Marisabel Alonso encourages all current law students interested in immigration law to take advantage of the many benefits of AILA's free law student membership and how those benefits can help them during law school and beyond as they become practitioners.
AILA Sends Letter to White House Opposing Family Detention
AILA sent a letter to President Biden expressing concern that his administration is considering reinstating family detention. AILA lays out alternative to solutions to addressing the need to process large numbers of individuals and urging the Administration to not reinstate family detention.
Client Flyer: ICE Directive on Interests of Noncitizen Parents and Guardians
AILA provides a short flyer to share with clients to answer questions about ICE’s directive on the interests of noncitizen parents and guardians of minor children and incapacitated adults. Two versions are available: a generic PDF version and a customizable Word version.
ICE Releases Documents on Matter of Cruz-Valdez
ICE released documents related to Matter of Cruz-Valdez, the SIJS class action re: bona fide determinations, Ms. L litgation, and more. Special thanks to a FOIA filed by Nico Ratkowski.
Practice Alert: Considerations for Responding to ICE Data Leak
AILA’s ICE Committee provides recommendations on advocacy and analysis of negative consequences for clients impacted by the ICE data leak of personal information of over 6,000 people in detention. Special thanks to committee member Leah L. Chavarria for her work on this alert.
District Court Vacates Federal Government’s Parole+ATD Policy Under the APA
A federal judge has found that the Biden Administration is violating U.S. immigration law by authorizing the release of noncitizens using parole and alternatives to detention. The judgment is stayed for seven days. (Florida v. United States, 3/8/23)
AILA Urges the Biden Administration to Reject the Return of Family Detention and Calls for the Adoption of Humane and Effective Alternatives
AILA expressed grave concern at the possibility the Biden Administration may resume family detention; AILA urges President Biden to stand by the previous decision to end family detention and reject policies that have been proven to have devastating consequences on children and families.
CA5 Finds That Petitioner’s Texas Conviction for Aggravated Robbery Was an Aggravated Felony Theft Offense
The court held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner’s conviction for aggravated robbery in Texas constituted an aggravated felony theft offense under INA §101(a)(43) thus rendering him ineligible for asylum. (Rodriguez Gonzalez v. Garland, 3/3/23)
District Court Orders Newark IJs to Consider All Relevant Factors Presented in Adjudicating WebEx Motions
The district court ordered Newark IJs to consider all relevant factors presented while exercising their discretion in deciding attorneys’ motions for WebEx hearings at the Newark Immigration Court, including EOIR’s internal guidance and CDC guidance. (AILA New Jersey Chapter v. EOIR, 3/1/23)
EOIR Announces Unplanned Maintenance to the Automated Case Information System
EOIR announced unplanned maintenance to the Automated Case Information System and the Respondent Access application. EOIR is working to restore them as quickly as possible.
DHS and DOJ Proposed Rule to Establish an Asylum “Transit Ban”
DHS and DOJ proposed rule to establish a rebuttable presumption of asylum ineligibility for certain noncitizens who enter at the southwest border without documentation and traveled through a country that is a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. (88 FR 11704, 2/23/23)
Virtual Attorney Visitation Added to Three Louisiana ICE Jails
ICE has installed new “Virtual Attorney Visitation” capabilities at three immigration jails within the New Orleans Area of Responsibility. The three jails are: River Correctional Center, Richwood Correctional Center, and South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.
CA9 Says Petitioner Was Required to File Separate Cross-Appeal to Challenge IJ’s Alternative Order on Merits of His Claims
The court held that BIA permissibly declined to consider petitioner’s challenges to IJ’s alternative denial of withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) because he did not file a cross-appeal of that determination. (Lopez Hernandez v. Garland, 2/16/23)
CA11 Remands Asylum Claim of Cuban Petitioner Who Claimed He Was in Severe Danger in Cuba Due to His Political Beliefs
Granting the petition for review, the court held that two purported inconsistencies in the record were not supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence, and thus could not form the basis for an adverse credibility determination as to petitioner. (Serra v. Att’y Gen., 2/15/23)
AILA’s EOIR Liaison Committee Meets with EOIR (2/15/23)
The AILA EOIR Liaison Committee shared the minutes from its meeting with EOIR on February 15, 2023.
BIA Says Noncitizens Inadmissible Under INA §212(a)(9)(B)(i) Are Not Required to Live Outside U.S. During Waiting Period
The BIA held that noncitizens who are inadmissible for a specified waiting period pursuant to INA §212(a)(9)(B)(i) due to their previous unlawful presence and departure are not required to reside outside the United States during this time. Matter of Duarte-Gonzalez, 28 I&N Dec. 688 (BIA 2023)
CA4 Vacates BIA’s Denial of Equitable Tolling After Finding Petitioner Demonstrated Due Diligence
Reviewing the BIA’s decision de novo, the court vacated the BIA’s denial of equitable tolling based on the Board’s finding that the petitioner had been insufficiently diligent in discovering his rights. (Williams v. Garland, 2/9/23, amended 2/10/23)
Practice Pointer: Filing Administrative Stays of Removal Post-Enforcement Priorities Vacatur
This practice pointer summarizes developments related to filing stays of removal based on AILA’s ICE Liaison Committee engagements with ICE Headquarters. Special thanks to John Gihon and Sui Chung for their work on this practice pointer.
BIA Holds That Pereira and Niz-Chavez Are Inapplicable to Proceedings Initiated by Form I-122 and Other Pre-IIRAIRA Charging Docume
The BIA held that Pereira v. Sessions and Niz-Chavez v. Garland are inapplicable to proceedings initiated by the Form I-122 and other charging documents issued prior to the effective date of the IIRAIRA. Matter of J-L-L-, 28 I&N Dec. 684 (BIA 2023)
CA8 Rejects Honduran Petitioner’s Claim That Any Actual or Imputed Political Opinion Was a Central Reason for His Mistreatment
The court found that the BIA’s determination that the petitioner had never expressed any political opinion or anti-corruption sentiment and that the MS-13 gang had never imputed such a position to him when it threatened him was supported by the record. (Aguilar Montecinos v. Garland, 2/10/23)
Members of Congress Send Letter to OMB on CMPP Funding
Members of Congress sent a letter to OMB requesting that the President’s FY2024 budget proposal include robust funding of at least $20 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Case Management Pilot Program (CMPP) and DHS to prioritize establishing the program.