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
CA3 Directs BIA to Grant Withholding to Uzbek Nationals
The court directed the BIA to grant withholding of removal without remand finding that despite two opportunities, the BIA failed to support its conclusion that Petitioners are a danger to the U.S. with substantial evidence. (Yusupov v. Att’y Gen. of the U.S., 6/16/11)
HRW Report on Transfers of Detained Immigrants
Human Rights Watch report entitled “A Costly Move,” analyzes 12 years of data and finds that transfers separate detained immigrants, including LPRs, refugees, and undocumented people from the attorneys, witnesses, and evidence they need to defend against deportation.
DHS Memo on Secure Communities Complaints Protocol
DHS 6/14/11 memorandum by Margo Schlanger of the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) and Gary Mead of ICE, setting out how CRCL and ICE will address civil rights complaints involving state and local law enforcement and ICE's Secure Communities program.
CA8 on False Claims to U.S. Citizenship by Unaccompanied Minors
Over dissent, the court vacated the removal order and remanded to the BIA to clarify the standard it uses in applying the inadmissibility provision for a false claim to U.S. citizenship, INA §212(a)(6)(C)(ii), to unaccompanied minors. (Sandoval v. Holder, 6/14/11)
CA8 Rejects §245(i) Claim for K-1 Entrant Who Did Not Marry Petitioner
The court held that 8 CFR §245.1(c)(6)(i) is a permissible construction of INA §245 and bars a K-1 visa holder from adjusting status on any basis other than marriage to the U.S. citizen petitioner notwithstanding §245(i). (Birdsong v. Holder, 6/13/11)
TRAC Report Shows Unlawful Re-Entry as Most Common Lead Charge
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report finds that 18,552 new unlawful re-entry prosecutions were reported during the first half of FY2011, based on data from DOJ, making unlawful re-entry under 8 U.S.C. §1326 the most commonly recorded lead charge.
ICE Exercises Prosecutorial Discretion in Case Involving Same-Sex Spouse of USC
In a 6/10/11 joint motion, ICE Chief Counsel exercised its prosecutorial discretion by moving to administratively close proceedings against the same-sex spouse of a U.S. citizen with a pending I-130. The IJ granted the motion on 6/13/11. Courtesy of Lavi S. Soloway.
BIA on Derivative Eligibility for Late Initial TPS Registration
The BIA held that an applicant for late initial TPS registration filing as the child of a TPS-eligible alien need only establish that he or she qualified as a child at the time of the initial registration period. Matter of N-C-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 535 (BIA 2011)
USCIS Asylum Division Memo on Notifying Certain Asylum Applicants How To Seek Release From Detention
USCIS Asylum Division memo dated 6/9/11 regarding updated information notification of ICE's parole guidelines to arriving aliens found to have a credible fear of persecution or torture, including copies of the updated information notification.
BIA Addresses Whistleblowing as a Basis for Asylum
The BIA held that retaliation for opposition to state corruption may form the basis for a claim based on political opinion if, post-REAL ID, the actual or imputed anti-corruption belief was one central reason for the harm. Matter of N-M-, 25 I&N Dec. 526 (BIA 2011)
AILA Amicus Brief Urges BIA to Reconsider Administrative Closure Policy
AILA amicus brief urging the BIA to reconsider and modify its previous decisions requiring no opposition by either party before the immigration judge or BIA can administratively close a case.
AILA Summary of Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2011 (H.R. 1932)
AILA summary of the Keep Our Communities Safe Act of 2011 (H.R. 1932), a bill that would expand the use of immigration detention.
TRAC Report on the Growing Immigration Case Backlog Despite Additional Judge Appointments
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) report finding that the number of cases awaiting resolution before the immigration courts reached a new all-time high of 275,316 by the end of May 2011, despite the addition of 44 new immigration judges to the bench.
CA2 on Burden of Proof and Evidence of Good Faith Marriage
The court held that the burden is on the alien to prove a good faith marriage for waiver of the joint removal of conditions and that the IJ did not err in attaching significance to the couple’s post-marriage actions. (Boluk v. Holder, 6/7/11)
DHS PIA for the Automated Threat Prioritization Web Service
DHS/ICE Privacy Impact Assessment describing the general functionality of the Automated Threat Prioritization (ATP) web service, which receives, processes, and transmits criminal history information about individuals who are the subjects of enforcement actions.
Grand Jury Indicts Couple on Charges Involving Domestic Servitude
Federal grand jury indictment charging a MD couple with forced labor conspiracy and harboring a domestic worker for financial gain. The indictment alleges the defendants procured a fraudulent B-1 visa to bring the victim to the U.S. to work as their domestic servant. (U.S. v. Edwards, 6/6/11)
EOIR Responds to AILA Regarding the Application of DOMA in Proceedings
A 6/6/11 letter from Juan P. Osuna, Director, EOIR, responding to a 4/6/11 letter from AILA and other organizations, stating that until the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is repealed or struck down EOIR will continue to apply DOMA as interpreted in the immigration context.
CA9 Says EAD Grant Does Not Confer Admission Status for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that the grant of work authorization pending the approval of adjustment of status does not confer admission status on an undocumented alien for purposes of calculating seven years continuous residence for cancellation. (Guevara v. Holder, 6/3/11)
CA9 on “Admitted in Any Status” for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that an approved I-130 Petition for Alien Relative does not confer admission status on an undocumented alien for purposes of showing seven years of continuous residence for cancellation of removal. (Vasquez de Alcantar v. Holder, 6/3/11)
BIA Says Arriving Aliens Subject to Expedited Removal May Be Placed in §240 Proceedings
The BIA held that DHS has the discretion to place arriving aliens in removal proceedings under INA §240, even if they may also be subject to expedited removal under INA §235(b)(1)(A)(i). Matter of E-R-M- & L-R-M, 25 I&N Dec. 520 (BIA 2011)
USCIS Additional 30-Day Comment Request on Form I-212 Extension (Updated 6/2/11)
USCIS notice of an additional 30-day comment period on the extension of the validity of Form I-212, Application for Permission to Reapply for Admission into the U.S. after Deportation or Removal. Comments are due 07/05/11. (76 FR 31971, 6/2/11) (76 FR 14419, 3/16/11)
DHS Annual Report on Immigration Enforcement Activities in FY2010
DHS Office of Immigration Statistics Annual Report released June 2011, finding that DHS made 517,000 apprehensions and removed 387,000 foreign nationals from the U.S. in FY2010. ICE detained approximately 363,000 foreign nationals.
PHR Report: Indefinite Detention in the U.S.
A Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) report on the use of indefinite detention in the national security and immigration contexts, finds that the harms endured by indefinite detainees are unconstitutionally punitive and violate domestic and international law.
CA9 Says Reinstatement Does Not Apply to Petitioner Who Sought Relief Pre-IIRIRA
The court held that reinstatement of removal under INA §241(a)(5) is impermissibly retroactive when applied to individuals who applied for discretionary relief prior to IIRIRA’s effective date. (Chay Ixcot v. Holder, 6/1/11)
BIA Dismisses Appeal of Derivative Spouse Who Cannot Independently Qualify for TPS
The BIA held that an alien seeking TPS as a derivative spouse must be from a state designated for TPS eligibility and found that the IJ properly denied the respondent’s application for TPS as a late initial registrant. Matter of Echeverria, 25 I&N Dec. 512 (BIA 2011)