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
EOIR To Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Honolulu Immigration Court
EOIR announced that it plans to resume individual (merits) non-detained hearings at the Honolulu Immigration Court on June 15, 2020. EOIR will also resume master calendar dockets involving relatively small number of respondents.
BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Reentry on Advance Parole
Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte for respondent from Haiti to adjust status through U.S. citizen wife following reentry under grant of advance parole. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Pierre, 6/11/20)
CA2 Remands CAT Claim of Petitioner Who Fled El Salvador After Threats from MS-13 Gang
The court held that the IJ erred as a matter of law in penalizing the petitioner for her prompt flight from El Salvador after members of the MS-13 gang threatened her, and thus remanded her Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim to the BIA. (Martinez De Artiga v. Barr, 6/10/20)
BIA Equitably Tolls MTR Deadline Following Vacatur of Convictions Due to Misconduct in State Drug Lab
Unpublished BIA decision equitably tolls MTR deadline and terminates proceedings against respondent whose convictions where vacated due to misconduct by a chemist working in the state drug lab. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Santiago, 6/10/20)
ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Border Closures During COVID-19 on Behalf of Honduran UAC Facing Imminent Removal
The ACLU and other advocates filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of the plaintiff, a 16-year-old Honduran unaccompanied child (UAC) facing imminent removal, challenging the government’s order restricting immigration at the border during COVID-19. (J.B.B.C. v. Wolf, et al., 6/9/20)
Practice Alert: Videos Replace Interpreters at Hearings
EOIR has begun replacing interpreters at master calendar hearings with prerecorded video advisals. AILA has obtained copies of these videos and is tracking the roll out of this program. If you have additional information, please contact AILA.
BIA Remands to Consider Administrative Closure for Provisional Waiver
Unpublished BIA decision remands for consideration of request for administrative closure in light of intervening decision in Zuniga Romero v. Barr (4th Cir. 2019), to seek provisional unlawful presence waiver. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ventura Santizo, 6/9/20)
CA5 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Asylum to Petitioner from Trinidad and Tobago Who Alleged Membership in Three PSGs
The court held that petitioner had failed to demonstrate a legal or constitutional error in BIA’s denial of his application for asylum based on membership in three alleged particular social groups (PSGs), including children unable to leave a family relationship. (Alexis v. Barr, 6/8/20)
CA6 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Salvadoran Who Was Found to Be a UAC at Time of Entry
The court held that the IJ had properly exercised jurisdiction over the case of the petitioner, who had entered the United States when he was 18 years old and had been found by an immigration official to be an unaccompanied child (UAC) at the time of his entry. (Garcia v. Barr, 6/8/20)
CA9 Holds Petitioner’s Conviction for Being Under the Influence of Amphetamines in California Rendered Him Removable
The court held that a conviction for being under the influence of a controlled substance in violation of California Health and Safety Code §11550(a) is divisible with respect to controlled substance and thus the modified categorical approach applied and was satisfied. (Tejeda v. Barr, 6/8/20)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Entered by Court Different Than That Listed on NTA
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order entered by Orlando immigration court where NTA indicated that hearing would be held in Miami. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Marrero Soca, 6/5/20)
CA11 Upholds Denial of Motion to Remand Based on Ineffective Assistance Where Petitioner Did Not Substantially Comply with Lozada
The court held that petitioner had failed to meet the three Lozada requirements for presenting an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, finding that his attorney lacked actual notice of allegations that his assistance had been ineffective. (Point Du Jour v. Att’y Gen., 6/4/20)
CA9 Rejects Petitioner’s Equal Protection Challenge to Former Derivative-Citizenship Statute
The court dismissed the petition for review, rejecting the petitioner’s argument that the second clause of INA §321(a)(3) discriminates by gender and legitimacy and thus violates the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection. (Roy v. Barr, 6/4/20)
AILA Sends Letter to ICE About Check-In Procedures and Filing Stays of Removal
On June 4, 2020, AILA sent a letter urging ICE to continue with rescheduling appointments and implementing other alternative measures, such as telephone check-ins, for persons who are under OSUP and/or the ISAP, as well as to continue accepting mailed stays of removal at field offices.
TRAC Releases Report on the Impact of Immigration Court Hearing Cancellations Due to COVID-19
TRAC estimates that cancelled immigration court hearings due to COVID-19 will “increase hearing delays for months and probably years to come.” TRAC estimates that with scheduling delays in the court’s exiting backlog taken into account, 850,000 immigrants may well be affected by the shutdown.
CA9 Says Government Failed to Afford Petitioners Due Process in Terminating Their Asylum Status
Granting the petition for review, the court held that the government violated the petitioners’ due process rights by failing to provide them a full and fair opportunity to rebut the government’s fraud allegations before terminating their asylum status. (Grigoryan v. Barr, 6/2/20)
CA9 Finds California Conviction for Felony Vehicular Flight from a Pursuing Police Car While Driving Against Traffic Was a CIMT
The court upheld the BIA’s determination that the petitioner’s conviction for felony vehicular flight from a pursuing police car while driving against traffic in California was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) that rendered him removable. (Lepe Moran v. Barr, 6/2/20)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because NTA Was Sent to Outdated Mailbox
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA was sent to UPS mailbox that respondent was no longer renting. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Kiss, 6/2/20)
DOJ OIG Releases Audit of EOIR's FY2019 Financial Management Practices
DOJ OIG released an audit of EOIR's financial management practices, identifying weaknesses in EOIR's budget planning process. The report recommends that EOIR make better use of financial management data available to leadership and that leadership improve its communications with its budget staff.
SCOTUS Held that Courts Can Review Factual Challenges to a CAT Order
The Supreme Court found that 8 U. S. C. § 1252(a)(2)(C) and (D) do not preclude judicial review of factual challenges to an order denying relief under CAT, which protects noncitizens from removal to a country where they would likely face torture. (Nasrallah v. Barr, 6/1/20)
House Bill: Coronavirus Containment Act of 2020
On June 1, 2020, Representative Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Coronavirus Containment Act of 2020 to require ICE to ensure that foreign nationals test negative for SARS-CoV-2 before repatriation or removal, and for other purposes. AILA endorses this bill.
BIA Reverses Denial of Joint Motion to Reopen in Light of Respondent’s Eligibility to Adjust
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of joint motion to reopen where respondent presented evidence indicating that she was admitted with a visa and was thus eligible to adjust status. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Acosta Carmona, 6/1/20)
EOIR Notice of Modification of System of Records on Attorney Discipline
EOIR notice of the modification of the “EOIR-003 Practitioner Complaint-Disciplinary Files” system of records, which will be renamed “Attorney Discipline System.” The notice is effective upon publication, subject to a 30-day period to comment on the routine uses. (85 FR 32423, 5/29/20)
EOIR Announces New BIA Chairman
EOIR announced the appointment of David H. Wetmore as the chairman of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Wetmore was appointed by Attorney General William Barr as the Chief Appellate Immigration Judge of the BIA in May 2020. Notice includes Wetmore’s biographical information.
CA7 Finds Petitioner’s Eight-Year Delay in Contesting Adequacy of NTA Was Not Excusable
The court held that the petitioner did not make a timely objection to the adequacy of her initial Notice to Appear (NTA), which was received in 2010 and had omitted the time and place of her hearing, and that she could not show excusable delay and prejudice. (Chen v. Barr, 5/29/20)