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
Client Flyers
AILA offers concise educational flyers for members to share with their clients or prospective clients to inform them about a wide range of pertinent immigration law issues. Customizable versions are available.
Deaths at Adult Detention Centers
AILA provides a continually updated list of press releases announcing deaths in adult immigration detention.
Featured Issue: Establishing a Fair and Independent Immigration Court
Immigration courts face a profound structural problem—they operate under DOJ and are therefore extremely vulnerable to political interference. This page collects resources, updates, and opportunities to advocate for establishing an independent immigration court with the Real Courts, Rule of Law Act.
BIA Holds That Assisting a Child to Enter or Try to Enter in Violation of Law Triggers Good Moral Character Bar
The BIA held that the respondent was ineligible for cancellation because paying a smuggler to bring his child to the United States constituted assisting an alien to enter or try to enter unlawfully, triggering the good moral character bar. Matter of L–L–R–, 29 I&N Dec. 799 (BIA 2026)
Think Immigration: From Funding Fights to Accountability - AILA’s Work to Confront ICE and Border Patrol Abuses
AILA Government Relations Coordinator Joshua Rodriguez describes the ways AILA and members have remained dedicated and determined to defend the rights of immigrants amid growing unlawful abuses by ICE and Border Patrol.
EOIR Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Allowing Immigration Judges to Impose Monetary Penalties for Findings of Contempt
EOIR NPRM that would allow immigration judges to impose monetary penalties on individuals who are found in contempt. The proposed rule states that monetary penalties could be imposed on attorneys, defendants, and witnesses present in the courtroom. Comments are due 9/28/26. (91 FR 47979, 7/30/26)
CA1 Holds That Equitable Tolling Has No Role in Adjudicating Sua Sponte Motions to Reopen and BIA Overlooked Critical Evidence
The court held that the BIA misconstrued the petitioner’s sua sponte motion to reopen as a statutory motion, applied equitable tolling where it had no role, and overlooked critical evidence in concluding that he failed to show his conviction was vacated for a defect. (Kim v. Blanche, 7/30/26)
Think Immigration: Teaching in the Storm: Running an Immigration Clinic While Due Process and the Rule of Law Are Under Attack
AILA Rule of Law Task Force Member Kate Melloy Goettel describes how immigration law clinics today must navigate a rapidly changing legal landscape where due process and procedural guarantees are under attack, challenging both students and educators to adapt and maintain commitment to justice.
CA9 Holds That Age-Based PSGs Are Immutable as a Matter of Law and BIA Must Review Nexus Determinations De Novo
The court held that age-based particular social groups are immutable as a matter of law because asylum applicants cannot alter their age to escape persecution, and that the BIA erred in reviewing the IJ’s nexus finding for clear error rather than de novo. (Garcia Demetrio v. Blanche, 7/20/26)
USCIS Interim Final Rule on Affirmative Asylum Referrals Without Interview
USCIS interim final rule allowing asylum officers to refer certain asylum applications to EOIR without conducting an asylum interview. The rule is effective 7/28/26. Comments are due 9/28/26. (91 FR 47101, 7/28/26)
Practice Alert: Reports of Arrests at USCIS Asylum Office Interviews
AILA has received recent reports of DHS enforcement actions at USCIS asylum offices. In some cases, clients had criminal convictions or other past criminal issues, but in others there were no apparent criminal issues or other factors indicating why the person was targeted for arrest.
BIA Holds That Flight Risk Includes Likelihood of Compliance with Future Orders and Speculative Relief Eligibility Does Not Diminish It
The BIA held that flight risk encompasses not only whether the noncitizen will appear at future hearings but also whether they will comply with future orders, and that speculative eligibility for relief does not materially diminish flight risk. Matter of A–L–S–, 29 I&N Dec. 794 (BIA 2026)
The Hill: New Rule Could Speed Deportation of Asylum Seekers
The Hill reports a new USCIS rule will allow asylum officers to refer certain asylum applications to immigration court without conducting an asylum interview. AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson said, “This is one more nail the Administration has hammered into the coffin of the U.S. asylum system.”
New York Times: ICE Arrests Surge at Airports, Opening New Front in Deportation Drive
The New York Times reports on ICE arresting people at airports during domestic travel, including those with pending immigration applications. AILA Chicago Chapter Vice Chair Shannon Shepherd said she and other lawyers are now revising longstanding advice for clients about domestic air travel.
CA6 Holds That NTA Claims-Processing Objection Was Forfeited and Affirms Denial of Motion to Suppress, Withholding, and CAT Claims
The court held that the petitioner forfeited his Notice to Appear (NTA) claims-processing objection, failed to establish a prima facie case of an illegal stop, and did not show a protected-ground nexus for withholding or a likelihood of torture. (Perez-Hernandez v. Blanche, 7/28/26)
USCIS Announces IFR Allowing Officers to Refer Asylum Applicants to EOIR Without Interview
USCIS announced an upcoming interim final rule (IFR), to be published in the Federal Register on 7/28/26, allowing asylum officers to refer applicants to immigration court without first interviewing them. The rule will be in effect as of publication. An advance copy is available.
Practice Alert: Reports of Increased Detention at U.S. Airports for Individuals Traveling Domestically
AILA has received a number of reports over the past few days of individuals without lawful status, including those in a period of authorized stay based on pending applications, being detained at airports across the country while traveling domestically.
BIA Holds That Failure to Pay Annual Asylum Fee Is Fatal to Asylum Application but Does Not Extend to Withholding or CAT Protection
The BIA held that an asylum application should be pretermitted or deemed abandoned for failure to pay the annual asylum fee by the prescribed deadline, but that the fee and consequences for nonpayment do not extend to withholding or CAT protection. Matter of L–F–R–, 29 I&N Dec. 787 (BIA 2026)
CA4 Holds Deferred Enforced Departure Is Not an Immigration Status for LPR Cancellation’s Seven-Year Residence Requirement
The court held that Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) is not an immigration status, so even if petitioner was admitted when she returned under DED, she was not “admitted in any status” under INA §240A(a)(2) and did not meet the seven-year residence requirement. (Cisneros v. Blanche, 7/17/26)
CA1 Finds Record Compelled Finding of Indicia of Incompetency Requiring IJ to Conduct Competency Inquiry
The court held that the record compelled a finding of indicia of incompetency requiring further inquiry under Matter of M–A–M–, where the petitioner had head trauma and a psychologist reported his ability to assist his attorney and the court was compromised. (Rana v. Blanche, 7/23/26)
CA9 Holds That Oregon Felony Fourth-Degree Assault Witnessed by Minor Child Is a Crime of Child Abuse, Neglect, or Abandonment
The court held that the petitioner’s Oregon conviction for felony fourth-degree assault for battering his wife in front of their minor children was a crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i). (Diaz-Boyzo v. Blanche, 7/23/26)
BIA Holds That IJ May Draw Adverse Inferences from Fifth Amendment Invocation and Unlawful Voting Is a Significant Adverse Factor
The BIA held that an IJ may draw reasonable adverse inferences from a respondent's invocation of the Fifth Amendment on questions material to discretionary relief, and that unlawful voting is a significant adverse factor. Matter of Lopez Rico, 29 I&N Dec. 780 (BIA 2026)
CA9 Holds That Child Who Turns 21 During BIA Appeal Is No Longer a Qualifying Relative for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that INA §240A(b)(1)(D) requires assessing qualifying relatives as of the agency’s final adjudication, and found that a child who turned 21 during petitioner’s BIA appeal could no longer support their eligibility for cancellation of removal. (Torres-Casas v. Blanche, 7/22/26)
EOIR Announces Closure of Batavia Immigration Court on 7/24/26
EOIR announced it will close the Batavia Immigration Court at close of business on 7/24/26. Pending cases will transfer to the Buffalo Immigration Court and will be heard via teleconference. Pleadings, motions, and correspondence should be filed with the Buffalo Court beginning 7/27/26.
EOIR Announces Regional Deputy Chief IJ, Administrative IJ, 37 IJs, and 4 Temporary IJs
EOIR announced the swearing in of a regional deputy chief immigration judge within the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, an administrative law judge within the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer, 37 immigration judges, and 4 temporary immigration judges.