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
New Mexico Senators Urge the President to Suspend Removals of Central American Families
On 2/10/16, Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico asked President Obama to suspend immigration removal actions against children and families from Central America.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Due to Erroneous Legal Advice
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order where attorney erroneously advised respondent not to attend hearing because he had submitted a motion to change venue. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cun, 2/10/16)
Senate Resolution Regarding Operation Streamline
On 2/10/16, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs voted in favor of the resolution in an 8 to 7 vote.
Eight of Twelve Families Targeted by ICE Have Been Released
After being held in detention for more than a month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), eight families rounded up by ICE at the beginning of January have finally been released from detention while their cases proceed.
CA6 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA Removal Order Where Appeal Was Filed After 30 Days
Where the BIA had remanded the record for the sole purpose of allowing petitioner to apply for voluntary departure, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA's 2013 removal order, because that decision was “final” for the purposes of appellate review. (Hih v. Lynch, 2/9/16)
BIA Says Endangering the Welfare of a Child in New York Is Categorically a Crime of Child Abuse
The BIA held that the crime of endangering the welfare of a child in violation of §260.10(1) of the New York Penal Law is categorically a "crime of child abuse, child neglect, or child abandonment" under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i). Matter of Mendoza Osorio, 26 I&N Dec. 703 (BIA 2016)
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.
BIA Reverses Adverse Credibility Finding in Domestic Violence Asylum Case
Unpublished BIA decision reverses the IJ’s adverse credibility determination and remands to assess whether the respondent, a victim of domestic violence, established past persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of membership in a PSG. Special thanks to Thomas E. Fulghum.
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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)
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)
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)
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)
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)