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
BIA Terminates Proceedings Under Matter of Stockwell
Unpublished BIA decision grants interlocutory appeal and terminates proceedings against respondent whose conditional LPR status was terminated but who later adjusted status under Matter of Stockwell, 20 I&N Dec. 309 (BIA 1991). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Loayza, 9/16/19)
FAQs on Military Parole in Place and Deferred Action
Military Parole in Place (PIP) provides parole on a case-by-case basis to certain undocumented family members of active duty members of the armed forces and veterans. Learn more about PIP and deferred action, the warnings that the programs will end, and the potential impact of ending these benefits.
ICE Issues Purported Fact Sheet on Things to Know about Immigration Enforcement
ICE issued a news release on six things to know about immigration enforcement, including the consequences of interfering with an ICE officer’s duties, raids, sanctuary policies, immigration detainers, and the Privacy Act.
Fact Sheet on Seeking Release from Immigration Detention
The American Immigration Council released a fact sheet providing a brief overview of the process individuals must undergo to seek release from immigration detention.
CA5 Finds Petitioner’s Texas Drug Delivery Conviction Rendered Him Removable
The court held that the petitioner’s Texas conviction for possession of meth with intent to deliver was an offense “relating to a controlled substance” as defined in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), thus rendering him removable under INA §212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). (Padilla v. Barr, 9/12/19)
DHS Acting Secretary Issues Letter on Protecting DHS Law Enforcement Partners
In a letter, DHS Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan noted that individuals who pursue violent resistance against ICE will be arrested and referred to DOJ for prosecution. McAleenan noted that he has asked the Federal Protective Service to present a detailed plan for securing ICE facilities nationwide.
Sign-On Letter to Members of Congress on FY2020 DHS Spending Bill
On 9/12/19, AILA and other organizations signed on to a letter urging cuts to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s budget for detention, enforcement, and border militarization and to terminate DHS’s authority to transfer and reprogram funds.
BIA Remands to Consider Whether Permanent Bar Applies to Respondent Who Was Removed Unlawfully
Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of whether respondent is inadmissible under INA 212(a)(9)(C)(i) in light of testimony that he was removed without a hearing before an IJ before he illegally reentered. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Valdivia-Muro, 9/12/19)
BIA Holds New Jersey Burglary Statutes Are Not CIMTs
Unpublished BIA decision holds that second and third degree burglary under N.J. Stat. Ann. 2C:18-2 are not CIMTs because statute does not require entry into a dwelling and intent to commit a CIMT offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Dargbeh, 9/11/19)
EOIR Provides AILA with Information on New Port Courts
EOIR provided AILA with responses to some of AILA’s questions on the operations at the new port courts in Laredo and Brownsville, Texas.
AILA Statement for House Hearing on Medical Deferred Action for Critically Ill Children
AILA submitted a statement to the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties for the September 11, 2019, hearing on the administration’s apparent revocation of medical deferred action for critically ill children.
CA2 Says INA’s “Changed Circumstances” Exception Allows Applicant to Raise Multiple Claims in Asylum Application
The court held that the plain language of INA §208(a)(2)(D) compels the conclusion that the “changed circumstances” exception to the one‐year deadline for filing an asylum application refers to the entire application, rather than the individual claim. (Yang v. Barr, 7/2/19, amended 9/11/19)
CA7 Says INA §242(a)(2)(A)’s Jurisdictional Bar Applied Where Petitioner Had Withdrawn Application for Admission
The court affirmed dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction under INA §242(a)(2)(A), finding that the jurisdictional bar still applied because an “order of removal” refers to both an order to remove and an order that a noncitizen is removable. (Odei, et al. v. DHS, et al., 9/10/19)
CA5 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Honduran Woman Who Claimed She Was Unable to Leave Her Relationship
The court held that substantial evidence supported BIA’s finding that petitioner had failed to show that she was harmed by her ex-boyfriend on account of her membership in the particular social group of Honduran women unable to leave their relationships. (Gonzales-Veliz v. Barr, 9/10/19)
IJ Finds Respondent’s Conviction for Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree in New York Is Not a CIMT
The IJ found that the respondent’s conviction for grand larceny in the fourth degree in violation of New York law was not a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) pursuant to the Second Circuit’s decision in Obeya v. Sessions. Courtesy of Alexander Segal. (Matter of K-R-, 9/10/19)
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Due To Faulty NTA and Service Thereof
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because NTA did not contain warnings about addresses changes and the hearing notice was served on an attorney who previously withdrew from the case. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Flores-Martinez, 9/10/19)
CA1 Finds NTA’s Failure to Include Time and Date of Removal Hearing Was Not a Jurisdictional Flaw
The court held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions did not invalidate the petitioner’s Notice to Appear (NTA), even though the NTA failed to include the date and time of the petitioner’s removal hearing. (Goncalves Pontes v. Barr, 9/6/19)
EOIR Releases ECAS Handbooks and Manuals
Hoppock Law Firm obtained via FOIA the handbooks and manuals that identify how the EOIR Courts & Appeals System (ECAS) initiative and database work.
Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Legitimacy of Acting USCIS Director to Issue Several Asylum Directives
Several groups filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Trump administration to challenge a set of asylum directives issued by Acting USCIS Director Ken Cuccinelli, alleging that the directives violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law. (L.M.-M., et al. v. Cuccinelli, et al., 9/6/19)
Immigration Legal Services Provider Files Lawsuit Challenging Government’s Termination of Deferred Action Program
The Irish International Immigrant Center filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Trump administration’s 8/19 termination of USCIS field offices’ authority to grant deferred action in non-military cases. (Irish International Immigrant Center, Inc. v. Cuccinelli, et al., 9/5/19)
CA3 Finds IJ and BIA Misapplied Framework for Making Particularly Serious Crime Determinations
The court granted the petition for review, holding that the IJ and BIA erred in finding that the petitioner’s conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud was a conviction for a particularly serious crime rendering him ineligible for withholding of removal. (Luziga v. Att’y Gen., 9/5/19)
District Court Grants Preliminary Injunction Requiring ICE to Consider Asylum Seekers for Parole
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, requiring DHS and the ICE New Orleans Field Office to immediately restore the procedures of parole and access to parole. (Heredia Mons, et al. v. McAleenan, et al., 9/5/19)
CA3 Finds Petitioner Became a U.S. Citizen Through His Father’s Naturalization Under Former INA §321(a)(2)
Granting the petition for review, the court held that, under the now repealed INA §321(a)(2), a child born outside of the United States to noncitizen parents became a citizen upon the naturalization of his or her surviving parent if one parent was deceased. (Tineo v. Att’y Gen., 9/4/19)
CA9 Holds BIA Erred in Finding Derivative Beneficiary Lacked Standing to Challenge Her Father’s I-829 Denial
The court granted in part the petition for review, finding that the BIA erred in finding that the petitioner lacked standing, as a derivative beneficiary of a noncitizen entrepreneur in the EB-5 program, to challenge her father’s I-829 denial. (Mu v. Barr, 9/4/19)
ICE ERO Removes 120 Cuban Nationals to Havana, Cuba
ICE ERO removed 120 Cuban nationals on an ICE Air Operations (IAO) charter mission to Havana, Cuba, on August 30, 2019. The removal was conducted in accordance with the Joint Statement signed by the U.S. and Cuban governments in January, 2017.