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 Opens Immigration Court in Aurora, CO
EOIR announced that it will be establishing a full-time presence and opening an immigration court in the DHS contract detention facility in Aurora, Colorado on 5/31/16. Notice includes contact information.
FOIA Results on Bond Practices
Bond-related documents from ERO and Libre by Nexus (private ankle monitoring/GPS devices) released in response to a FOIA. Special thanks to Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg.
TRAC Report Finds Number of Civil Immigration Lawsuits Filed Has Risen Steadily During Past Year
A TRAC report found that the government reported 235 new civil filings in the immigration category in April 2016, a 37.7 percent increase from one year ago. The data shows that civil immigration filings are up approximately 30 percent from levels reported five years ago, in April 2011.
Practice Alert: Military Parole in Place and Removal Proceedings
AILA’s ICE Liaison Committee provides a practice alert advising members of the procedure for seeking military parole in place if your client is currently in removal proceedings or previously has been ordered removed from the United States.
CA7 Finds Petitioner Is Not Eligible for Velasquez Exception to Lawyer’s Concessions
The court upheld the BIA where the petitioner’s first lawyer had conceded that petitioner’s 1993 California conviction for possessing counterfeit prescription blanks was a CIMT, and his second lawyer did not ask the BIA to relieve him of that concession. (Guzman-Rivadeneira v. Lynch, 5/13/16)
CA9 Remands Where BIA Failed to Address IJ’s Seemingly Inconsistent Credibility Findings
The court held that the BIA erred in failing to address the IJ’s seemingly inconsistent credibility findings where the petitioner was charged as removable under INA §212(a)(6)(E)(i) for allegedly participating in an alien smuggling attempt. (Perez-Arceo v. Lynch, 5/12/16)
CARA: Government Continues to Undermine Access to Counsel and Due Process for Children and Mothers Seeking Protection in the U.S.
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project shared additional evidence that the federal government and private prison companies are failing to provide child care adequate to ensure access to counsel and meaningful representation as a Texas agency considers licensing the Dilley center.
AILA: Shameful Escalation of ICE Raids is Misdirected at Vulnerable Families and Engenders a Culture of Fear
Responding to confirmed reports that immigration authorities are planning another surge of arrests aimed at families and unaccompanied children across the nation, AILA President Victor Nieblas Pradis joined AILA Executive Director Benjamin Johnson in condemning the raids.
BIA Cautions IJs over Finding Relief Applications Abandoned
Unpublished BIA decision states that while immigration judges may deem applications abandoned if not timely submitted, such decisions must be balanced against due process concerns that respondents have a full and fair hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ramirez Ramos, 5/12/16)
BIA Dismisses Fraud-Related Aggravated Felony Charge
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings because the evidence did not demonstrate that a restitution order exceeding $10,000 related to an offense involving fraud or deceit or to a separate conviction for grand theft. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Acevedo Solis, 5/11/16)
CA1 Finds BIA Failed to Explain Why It Found That VAWA Relief Required Good Faith Marriage
The court held that the BIA failed to articulate a sufficient explanation as to why it determined that the petitioner was required to prove that hers was a good faith marriage in order to be eligible for VAWA relief. (Tillery v. Lynch, 5/11/16)
CA9 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Discretionary Denial of NACARA Special Rule Cancellation
The court granted the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the petition for review, holding that it lacked jurisdiction pursuant to INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i) to review the BIA’s discretionary denial of NACARA special rule cancellation of removal. (Monroy v. Lynch, 5/11/16)
CA1 Finds Petitioner’s Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claim Did Not Comply with Lozada Requirements
The court dismissed in part and denied in part the petition for review, holding that there is no “plain on the face of the administrative record” exception in favor of a case-by-case assessment of whether BIA’s application of Matter of Lozada was arbitrary. (García v. Lynch, 5/9/16)
USCIS Comment Period on Form I-191
USCIS 60-day notice of a comment request period on proposed revisions to the Application for Relief Under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (Form I-191). Comments are due by 7/8/16. (81 FR 28097, 5/9/16)
AILA Amicus to BIA on Prostitution as a CIMT
The AILA Amicus Committee filed an amicus brief with the BIA, arguing that simple prostitution is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT).
CA7 Finds INA §242(a)(2)(C) Limits Its Jurisdiction to Review Petitioner’s Claims
The court held that the IJ and BIA properly found that the petitioner, who was convicted of burglary in Illinois, was convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), and thus that INA §242(a)(2)(C) applied and limited the court’s scope of review. (Dominguez-Pulido v. Lynch, 5/5/16)
BIA Says Circumstance-Specific Approach Applies to Limiting Components of INA §101(a)(43)(T)
The BIA held that the circumstance-specific approach is the appropriate inquiry for assessing the limiting components of INA §101(a)(43)(T), which defines aggravated felony “failure to appear” convictions. Matter of Garza-Olivares, 26 I&N Dec. 736 (BIA 2016)
AILA Quicktake #165: Texas Approves Karnes Childcare License
AILA member and head of the immigration clinic at the University of Texas Law School Denise Gilman shares news of the Texas Department of Family Services' decision to approve the Karnes City, Texas, application to be a licensed childcare facility and what AILA members can do.
CA7 Remands Withholding of Removal and CAT Claim of Former Salvadoran Gang Member
The court granted the petition for review, holding that the IJ erred in finding that there was “no credible evidence” that petitioner, a Salvadoran with ties to the Mara Salvatrucha gang, would face a clear probability of persecution if returned to El Salvador. (Arrazabal v. Lynch, 5/4/16)
CA5 Says the “Realistic Probability” Approach Does Not Apply in the CIMT Context
The court reversed and remanded, holding that BIA erred in applying the “realistic probability” approach in analyzing whether petitioner’s convictions for indecent exposure and making terroristic threats under Texas law are crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMTs). (Mercado v. Lynch, 5/4/16)
CA5 Remands for BIA to Analyze Petitioner’s Conviction Under the Minimum Reading Approach
For the reasons explained in Mercado v. Lynch, the court held that the BIA erred in applying the “realistic probability” approach to hold that the petitioner’s Texas conviction for deadly conduct was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Hernandez v. Lynch, 5/4/16)
CA5 Transfers Case Due to Genuine Issue of Material Fact About Petitioner’s Nationality
The court transferred the case to a U.S. district court for a hearing and decision on petitioner’s nationality claim with regard to whether he benefits from INA §309(c), which governs the transmission of citizenship to “person[s] born ... out of wedlock.” (Hernandez Rosales v. Lynch, 5/3/16)
Immigration Law Advisor, April 2016 (Vol. 10, No. 3)
The April 2016 issue of Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, includes an article on the intercountry adoption process, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions from March 2016 and BIA precedent decisions.
CA11 Says Noncitizens Whose Removal Orders Are Reinstated May Not Apply for Asylum
The court denied the petition for review, finding that INA §241(a)(5) renders noncitizens whose removal orders are reinstated ineligible to apply for asylum. (Jimenez-Morales v. Att'y Gen., 5/2/16)
BIA Says Failing to Appear for Service of Sentence Is an Aggravated Felony
The BIA held that an "offense relating to a failure to appear by a defendant for service of sentence" is an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(Q) if the underlying offense was "punishable by" imprisonment for a term of five years or more. Matter of Adeniye, 26 I&N Dec. 726 (BIA 2016)