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 Rescinds In Absentia Order Against Respondent Who Regularly Reported to ICE
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order against respondent who displayed diligence in seeking reopening and regularly reported to ICE after being released on recognizance. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Bustillo-Marquez, 6/19/19)
The Real Alternatives to Detention
AILA, Women's Refugee Commission, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, National Immigrant Justice Center, and Migration and Refugee Services provide a backgrounder about cost-efficient alternatives to detention (ATD).
CA2 Finds New York Conviction for Child Endangerment Is a Crime of Child Abuse Under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i)
Deferring to its precedent, the court found that the BIA’s definition of a crime of child abuse includes child endangerment offenses, and held that the New York law under which petitioner had been convicted was categorically a crime of child abuse under the INA. (Matthews v. Barr, 6/18/19)
AILA and Partners Submit Amicus Brief on Detention During Withholding-Only Proceedings
AILA and other groups submit an amicus brief to the Eleventh Circuit in Radzhabov v. Barr urging the court to affirm the district court’s decision and find that 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) governs detention during withholding-only proceedings and thus these individuals have a right to a bond hearing.
TRAC Report Finds That Most Released Families Attend Immigration Court Hearings
Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) found that, as of 5/19, of the 47,000 families seeking asylum, almost six out of seven families released from custody showed up for their initial court hearing. For families with legal representation, appearance rates were as high as 99.9 percent.
EOIR Announces New Chief Administrative Law Judge
EOIR announced the investiture of Jean King as the chief administrative law judge in EOIR’s Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer. Ms. King served as general counsel of EOIR prior to assuming her current duties.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial to Salvadoran Woman Who Stated She Was Unable to Leave Domestic Relationship
The court upheld BIA’s vacatur of the IJ’s decision granting petitioner and her children asylum, holding that the record was insufficient as a matter of law to support the IJ’s factual finding that the petitioner fit within her proposed social group. (Rivas-Durán, et al. v. Barr, 6/17/19)
D.C. Circuit Court Affirms Preliminary Injunction Against Blanket Denial of Abortion Access for UACs
The court affirmed the preliminary injunction against the government’s blanket denial of access to abortion for unaccompanied minors (UACs), but vacated the injunction’s prohibition against disclosing a UAC’s pregnancy and abortion decision. (J.D., et al. v. Alex Azar, II, et al., 6/14/19)
District Court Grants Writ of Habeas Corpus Where Petitioner’s Initial Detention Lacked Written Notice and Service
The district court granted a writ of habeas corpus to petitioner, finding that his detention was unconstitutional because he was not served with any Notice of Reinstatement and never received written notice prior to or immediately after his detention. (Martinez v. McAleenan, et al., 6/14/19)
CA4 Reverses BIA’s Determination on Nexus Requirement for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
The court vacated the denial of petitioner’s asylum and withholding of removal claims, reversed the BIA’s determination that the petitioner had failed to establish the required nexus between her persecution and her proposed protected statuses, and remanded. (Alvarez Lagos v. Barr, 6/14/19)
CA9 Says ICE Cannot Carry Out Preplanned Mass Detentions, Interrogations, and Arrests Without Individualized Reasonable Suspicion
The court granted the petition for review, holding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were not permitted to carry out preplanned mass detentions, interrogations, and arrests at a factory without individualized reasonable suspicion. (Perez Cruz v. Barr, 6/13/19)
BIA Finds IJ Should Have Granted Continuance for Attorney Preparation
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of continuance where counsel was hired less than a month before merits hearing and IJ’s assistant did not return messages asking to review record of proceedings. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Vargas Salgado, 6/13/19)
BIA Holds Oregon Aggravated Identity Theft Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds that Oregon aggravated identity theft is not a CIMT because it applies to individuals who merely provide false identification to law enforcement with the intent to evade arrest. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Naranjo-Pairol, 6/13/19)
CA9 Finds Resident of CNMI Is Removable Because of Binding Precedent
The court concluded that, because it must follow the court’s binding precedent involving immigrants residing in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the petitioner was removable and ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Torres v. Barr, 6/12/19)
CA1 Upholds Asylum and CAT Denials to Mexican Petitioner Who Filed Untimely Asylum Application
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s ruling on the petitioner’s asylum claim, and found that the petitioner had provided the court with no basis for overturning the BIA’s ruling on his Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim. (Rodriguez-Palacios v. Barr, 6/12/19)
CA1 Finds Petitioner Failed to Make Colorable Claim That BIA Erred in Adopting IJ’s Findings
The court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction, finding that the petitioner had failed to raise a colorable claim of constitutional or legal error when he challenged the denial of his application for cancellation of removal under INA §240A(b). (Perez v. Barr, 6/12/19)
DOJ OIG Releases Audit Report on DOJ’s Use of Immigration Sponsorship Programs
The DOJ OIG released a report on DOJ's use of immigration sponsorship programs including significant public benefit parole, deferred action, the S Visa, and PL-110. The report examined DOJ components’ oversight of sponsorship activities and information management and coordination.
The Attorney General's Judges: How the U.S. Immigration Courts Became a Deportation Tool
Innovation Law Lab and the Southern Poverty Law Center released a report on the current state of the U.S. immigration courts and examines the system's collapse and explains why "it cannot be salvaged in its current form."
Supplement Complaint Demands Government Action on Inadequate Medical Care in Colorado Detention Center
On June 11, 2019, the American Immigration Council and AILA supplemented a complaint originally filed in June 2018 highlighting numerous examples of inadequate medical care in the Denver Contract Detention Facility, an immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado.
BIA Dismisses Appeal and Issues Decision on “Realistic Probability”
The BIA discussed the interplay between state and federal drug laws, finding respondent did not establish a realistic probability that the state would apply the statute to an offense involving a substance that was not federally controlled. Matter of Guadarrama, 27 I&N Dec. 560 (BIA 2019)
New Resource: Removal Defense Skills “Conference-In-A-Box"
The Immigration Justice Campaign has put together a "conference-in-a-box": everything an AILA chapter would need to host an intensive one or one-and-a-half-day-long removal defense skills workshop. The Campaign is making these materials available for free to AILA chapters!
BIA Vacates Removal Order Entered Against Pro Se Respondent at First Master Calendar Hearing
Unpublished BIA decision vacates removal order against pro se respondent who was ordered removed at first hearing and received no opportunity to testify about his reasons for not wanting to leave the United States. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cota-Morris, 6/11/19)
BIA Reopens Proceedings Sua Sponte Following Ninth Circuit Decision on Stop-Time Rule
Unpublished BIA decision reopens proceedings sua sponte to seek LPR cancellation of removal following Lopez v. Barr, 925 F.3d 396 (9th Cir. 2019), holding that hearing notice itself cannot trigger stop-time rule. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rodriguez-Echeverria, 6/11/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Because Respondent Was Naturalized Citizen at Time of Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings under Okpala v. Whitaker, 908 F.3d 965 (5th Cir. 2018), because respondent was a naturalized citizen at the time of the conviction giving rise to the charge of removability. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ogoti, 6/10/19)
BIA Terminates Proceedings Since Respondent Was a Naturalized Citizen at Time of Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision holds termination of proceedings is warranted because respondent was not removable due to the fact that he was a naturalized citizen at the time of his conviction and that Okpala is controlling. Courtesy of Imran Mirza. (Matter of Ogoti, 6/10/19)