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
Public Law 114-119, Megan's Law
Public Law 114-119, International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders, signed on 2/8/16 by President Obama, expanded the definition of specified offense against a minor under the Adam Walsh Act.
Case Stories Needed for SCOTUS Amicus on Categorical Approach
Immigration advocacy organizations seek stories to include in an amicus brief in Mathis v. United States, a categorical approach case likely to decide what renders a statute of conviction divisible and subject to modified categorical approach for determining immigration consequences.
AILA Statement to House Judiciary on Protecting Children, Families, and Other Border Arrivals
AILA submitted a statement to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security for the 2/4/16 hearing “Another Surge of Illegal Immigrants Along the Southwest Border: Is This the Obama Administration's New Normal?”
Immigration Law Advisor, January 2016 (Vol. 10, No. 1)
The January 2016 Immigration Law Advisor includes with an article on competency issues in removal proceedings, as well as summaries of circuit court and BIA precedent decisions from December 2015 and statistics on decisions from 2015 including reversals and remands over the last 10 years.
EOIR Immigration Court Closings for 2016
EOIR alert that due to the inclement weather, the Omaha and Bloomington Immigration Courts will open at 10:00 am.
CA7 Upholds Discretionary Decision to Deny Extreme Hardship Waiver to Bosnian Refugee
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's discretionary decision to deny a waiver to the petitioner, a Bosnian refugee who obtained refugee status by fraud, on the ground that his removal would cause extreme hardship for his U.S. citizen wife. (Jankovic v. Lynch, 2/3/16)
EOIR Revises Docketing Practices Related to Certain Priority Cases
EOIR released a memorandum, titled Revised Docketing Practices Relating to Certain EOIR Priority Cases, to provide guidance to immigration judges regarding changes to the agency docketing priorities since the 7/18/14 announcement regarding new priority case groups.
BIA Recognizes DHS Discretion Not to Reinstate Prior Order
Unpublished BIA decision says DHS has “unreviewable prosecutorial discretion” to place respondents who would otherwise be subject to reinstatement of a prior order in proceedings before an IJ. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Estrada, 2/3/16)
CA8 Finds IJ Did Not Commit Fundamental Error by Failing to Inform Petitioner About Asylum
The court found that, under the circumstances presented, the IJ did not commit a fundamental procedural error by failing to inform the petitioner about asylum or other possible avenues of relief, and thus that there was no due process violation. (Alva-Arellano v. Lynch, 2/2/16)
CA11 Says House Arrest Constitutes Confinement Under the INA
The court held that petitioner's sentence for a burglary offense to one year of house arrest, imposed as a special condition of a five-year sentence of probation, constituted confinement that qualified as a term of imprisonment of at least one year. (Herrera v. Att'y Gen., 2/2/16)
CA9 Finds Two Drug Possession Counts Qualified as Single Offense Under FFOA
The court held that IJ erred in concluding that petitioner’s two drug possession counts barred him from first offender treatment under the Federal First Offender Act (FFOA), finding that the two convictions amounted to a single “offense” under the FFOA. (Villavicencio-Rojas v. Lynch, 2/2/16)
CA9 Finds AG's Regulation on Substitute Beneficiaries Under INA §245(i) Is Reasonable
The court held that INA §245(i) is ambiguous as to substitute beneficiaries, and that an AG regulation restricting grandfathered status for labor certification beneficiaries substituted after the statute's sunset date is a reasonable interpretation of the statute. (Valencia v. Lynch, 2/2/16)
Recent Decisions from 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and District Court Decisions (February 2016)
Summary of recent case law out of the Eleventh Circuit, courtesy of the AILA Georgia-Alabama and Central Florida Chapters. The information was compiled in February 2016 and should be used as a starting point in research.
EOIR Swears in Nine Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of nine immigration judges. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch appointed Xiomara DavisGumbs, Jennifer M. Gorland, Denise C. Hochul, Mark J. Jebson, Margaret M. Kolbe, Ramin Rastegar, Shifra Rubin, Meredith B. Tyrakoski, and Daniel H. Weiss to their new positions.
DOJ OIL February 2016 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for February 2016, with articles on Oxygene v. Lynch and Herrera v. Attorney General, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for February 2016.
BIA Grants Interlocutory Appeal to Allow Law Students to Appear at Hearing
Unpublished BIA decision grants interlocutory appeal of decisions denying motion to be represented by students at Cornell Law School during respondent’s individual hearing. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rafael-Paz, 1/29/16)
BIA Reverses Denial of Joint Motion to Terminate to Adjust Before USCIS
Unpublished BIA decision reverses denial of joint motion to terminate to allow respondent to adjust status before USCIS, stating that lack of an approved visa petition was trumped by evidence of bona fides of the marriage. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lopez, 1/29/16)
CA8 Finds Solicitation of Prostitution in Minnesota Is a CIMT
The court held that petitioner's conviction for soliciting prostitution in violation of Minnesota law was categorically a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), and found that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner's motion to reopen. (Gomez-Gutierrez v. Lynch, 1/29/16)
CA1 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review Revocations of Visa Petition Approvals
The court joined seven other circuits in concluding that INA §242A(2)(B)(ii), which precludes judicial review of the Attorney General's and DHS Secretary's discretionary decisions, applies to the revocation of visa petition approvals under INA §205. (Bernardo v. Johnson, 1/29/16)
CA8 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review Denial of VAWA Petitioner's Adjustment and Waiver Applications
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's discretionary denial of the VAWA self-petitioner's adjustment of status and waiver of removal (fraud waiver) applications. (Mutie-Timothy v. Lynch, 1/28/16)
CARA: Central American Mothers Targeted in Immigration Raids and Still Detained Pen Letter to President Obama
Seven women picked up and detained by ICE in early January in widely publicized raids have made a direct and personal plea to President Obama to allow their release while they pursue ongoing appeals of their deportation orders.
CA6 Defers to BIA's Interpretation of “Sexual Abuse of a Minor”
The court upheld the BIA, finding that the Board permissibly interpreted “sexual abuse of a minor” as encompassing convictions for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor under California Penal Code §261.5(c). (Esquivel-Quintana v. Lynch, 1/15/16)
BIA Grants New Hearing After Attorney’s Computer Malfunctioned
Unpublished BIA decision orders new hearing to consider respondent’s adjustment application that the IJ deemed abandoned where a computer malfunction contributed to his attorney missing the filing deadline. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Castillo, 1/28/16)
Letter Revoking Berks County Residential Center’s Operating License
In this 1/27/16 letter, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Service informed DHS that it would not renew and would revoke the operating license for the Berks County Residential Facility, the immigration detention center that jails mothers and children in Leesport, PA.
ICE Information Collection on Electronic Bonds Online (eBonds) Access
ICE 60-day notice on an information collection for review on Form No. I-352SA/I-352RA; Electronic Bonds Online (eBonds) Access. Comments are due on 3/28/16. (81 FR 4332, 1/26/16)