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
CA1 Says Stop-Time Rule Applies to All Orders to Show Cause
The court concluded that the stop-time rule applies to all Orders to Show Cause (OSCs), regardless of the date of issue, and irrespective of whether deportation proceedings were pending or final on April 1, 1997. (Santos-Quiroa v. Lynch, 3/5/16)
Letter from Atlanta Area Educator to Secretary Jeh Johnson to Support Kimberly
Letter dated 3/4/16 from educator with 24 years of experience supporting Kimberly Pineda Chavez and describing how afraid her students now are because of the recent ICE raids.
AILA Quicktake #158: DACA at Year Three
American Immigration Council's Director of Policy Beth Werlin shares details of a report released by the Council, DACA at Year Three, which looks at the challenges and opportunities in accessing higher education and employment for DACA recipients.
CA10 Says Petitioner's Utah Conviction for Unlawful Sexual Activity with a Minor Is Not an Aggravated Felony
The court held that a conviction under Utah’s “unlawful sexual activity with a minor” statute does not fall categorically within the INA’s generic “sexual abuse of a minor” offense, and thus does not qualify as an aggravated felony under the INA. (Rangel-Perez v. Lynch, 3/1/16)
DOJ OIL March/April 2016 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ OIL Immigration Litigation Bulletin for March/April 2016, with articles on Ledezma-Cosino v. Lynch and Gonzalez v. Attorney General, as well as summaries of circuit court decisions for March/April 2016.
GAO Report Finding Additional Actions are Needed to Strengthen Management and Oversight of Detainee Medical Care
GAO reviewed ICE data and information on costs, detention population, standards, and oversight for 165 facilities that held detainees for more than 72 hours in FY2015 and made recommendations on how to strengthen management and oversight of detainee medical care.
ICE Notice of Federal Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers Meeting
ICE notice of a federal Advisory Committee on Family Residential Centers meeting on 3/16/16 in San Antonio, TX, to brief committee members on ICE’s family residential centers and to review and assess the committee tasking. (81 FR 10267, 2/29/16)
AILA Applauds House Access to Counsel Legislation
In response to the introduction of the “Fair Day in Court for Kids Act” in the House of Representatives, AILA President Victor Nieblas Pradis noted that the bill would, “stop the injustice of forcing vulnerable individuals to face deportation without counsel.”
Attorney General Appoints Three New Board Members to the BIA
EOIR announces that Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch has appointed Molly Kendall Clark, Ellen Liebowitz, and Blair T. O’Connor as board members to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Notice includes biographical information on the new board members.
H.R. 4646: Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2016
On 2/26/16, Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) introduced the House version of the Fair Day in Court for Kids Act 2016, which mandates that unaccompanied children and vulnerable immigrants receive legal representation.
CA8 Says Petitioner Failed to Show That His Conviction Was Not Vacated for Immigration Purposes
The court upheld BIA's finding that petitioner failed to prove that his state court conviction for theft in the fourth degree, a crime involving moral turpitude, was vacated for a substantive or procedural reason and not for immigration purposes. (Andrade-Zamora v. Lynch, 2/26/16)
CBP Issues Memo on Admissibility Processing and Family Units
CBP issued a memo to admissibility processing and family units, noting that when family units are encountered, the designation must be noted for the purposes of statistics and ICE detention actions. Memo includes the definition of a family unit.
District Court Awards $82,500 to Plaintiff Wrongfully Detained for More Than Three Years
The district court found that the plaintiff, a U.S. citizen who was wrongfully arrested and detained for more than three years and subjected to removal proceedings, had met his burden of proof with respect to his false arrest and imprisonment claims. (Watson v. United States, 2/25/16)
Immigrant Rights Organizations Argue Against Government’s Inhumane Family Detention Policies
The four CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project partners joined with other immigrant rights organizations in an amicus brief explaining how the government has misinterpreted the Flores settlement and failed to comply with Judge Dolly Gee's August 2015 ruling in the case.
CA1 Upholds Denial of Motion to Reconsider Despite Change in Law Favorable to Petitioner
The court held that the BIA did not abuse its discretion in concluding that a change in the law favorable to petitioner, which occurred long after the expiration of his filing deadline, did not constitute extraordinary circumstances justifying equitable tolling. (Omar v. Lynch, 2/25/16)
BIA Holds Pennsylvania Possession with Intent to Deliver Marijuana Conviction Is Not an Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision holds 35 Pa. Cons. Stat. 780-113(a)(30) is not an aggravated felony, even though a separate statute specifically criminalizes the distribution of a small amount of marijuana for no remuneration. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Rodriguez-Trinidad, 2/24/16)
BIA Says State Offense Must Require Violent Physical Force to Be "Crime of Violence"
The BIA held that, for a state offense to qualify as a crime of violence under 18 USC §16(a), the state statute must require as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of violent physical force. Matter of Guzman-Polanco, 26 I&N Dec. 713 (BIA 2016)
CA1 Finds Petitioner's Nine-Day Detention and Beatings Did Not Qualify as Past Persecution
The court held that a single detention, even one accompanied by beatings, does not necessarily rise to the level of past persecution, and upheld BIA's finding that petitioner's treatment by family planning authorities in China did not qualify as past persecution. (Chen v. Lynch, 2/24/16)
CA1 Says Women with Children Whose Husbands Live and Work in the U.S. Is Not a PSG
The court held that the BIA supportably found that petitioner had not presented evidence that her proposed particular social group (PSG)—women with children whose husbands live and work in the U.S.—was socially distinct. (Granada-Rubio v. Lynch, 2/24/16)
AIM: Training for Immigration Court
In February's AILA Interview of the Month, AILA member Ellen Messali shares how she worked with the Hartford Immigration Court to provide training and mock trials for immigration lawyers who may not have courtroom experience and how other chapters can replicate the success.
AILA and the NJIC File Amicus Brief with CA11 on Issue Exhaustion
AILA joined the National Immigrant Justice Center (NJIC) in filing an amicus brief with the 11th Circuit in Jeune v. Lynch urging the court to treat issue exhaustion as a claims-processing rule rather than a jurisdictional matter.
Amicus Brief in Flores Supporting Plaintiffs-Appellees and Urging Affirmance
Immigration rights organizations filed an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs-appellees and in support of affirmation of the district court judgment in the Flores settlement agreement lawsuit.
Updated United States-Mexico Local Repatriation Agreements
DHS and the Mexican government signed nine local repatriation agreements to establish local procedures for the orderly and safe repatriation of Mexican nationals from the United States to Mexico.
DHS Announces that the United States and Mexico Signed Updated Repatriation Arrangements
DHS signed nine local repatriation arrangements, covering all locations along the U.S.-Mexico border, with information on general repatriation procedures, location-specific information, and specific measures for vulnerable populations, such as unaccompanied minors and those with medical conditions.
AILA Statement to Senate Judiciary on Protecting Children, Families, and Other Border Arrivals
AILA submitted a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 2/23/16 hearing “The Unaccompanied Children Crisis: Does the Administration Have a Plan to Stop the Border Surge and Adequately Monitor the Children?”