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
Michigan Chapter: ICE ERO Contact List (1/9/24)
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Detroit contact list as of 1/9/24 – detained and non-detained.
Practice Alert: ICE Online Portal Stakeholder Engagement Notes
AILA’s National ICE Liaison Committee provides notes from a stakeholder engagement on ICE’s new Online Portal held on December 7, 2023.
2023 ICE Annual Report: Key Takeaways
ICE released the agency’s FY2023 annual report. The lengthy report summarized the agency’s primary focus areas and provided an appendix containing a summary of ICE removals by country of citizenship. AILA provides a summary of key takeaways for OPLA, ERO, and HSI.
Department of the Treasury Notice on Interest Rate for Immigration Bonds
Department of the Treasury notice that for the period beginning 1/1/24 and ending 3/31/24, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Immigration Bond interest rate is 3 per centum per annum. (89 FR 986, 1/8/24)
Resources Related to Case Challenging Credible Fear Interview and Bond Hearing Delays (Padilla v. ICE)
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington issued an order granting the parties’ stipulated motion to dismiss Count IV of the complaint and granting final approval of the class action settlement for the Credible Fear Class. (Padilla v. ICE, 1/5/24)
CA5 Upholds Asylum Denial as to Salvadoran Petitioner Who Feared Threats from Her Alleged Rapist and MS-13 Gang Members (Withdrawn)
The court held that the petitioner had failed to show that the Salvadoran government would be unable or unwilling to control her persecutors, finding that the BIA adequately considered evidence of gang involvement in her claims. (Mejia-Alvarenga v. Garland, 1/3/24, withdrawn 3/8/24)
CA7 Upholds Adverse Credibility Finding Based on Inconsistencies Regarding Severity of Attack Against Petitioner in India
The court held that the BIA permissibly inferred that information missing from a physician’s report regarding petitioner’s attack by members of one of India’s political parties showed that the petitioner exaggerated the seriousness of his injuries at the hearing. (Singh v. Garland, 1/2/24)
Practice Alert: Nationwide Expansion of Family Expedited Removal Management
AILA summarizes policies and procedures currently implemented under the Family Expedited Removal Management (FERM) program, in which family units are processed for non-detained credible fear interviews at local USCIS offices.
ICE Provides its National Detainee Handbook
The ICE National Detainee Handbook is provided to individuals being housed in ICE-operated or contracted detention facilities. It is currently available in 15 languages.
Practice Alert: ICE Engagement Opportunity on Juvenile Docket
AILA shares information from ICE’s Office of Partnership & Engagement (OPE) on OPLA’s policies related to EOIR’s new juvenile dockets and how to rsvp for a forthcoming engagement opportunity.
CA8 Upholds BIA’s Denial of Equitable Tolling After Finding Petitioner Failed to Exhaust All Administrative Remedies
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s refusal to grant sua sponte relief and denied the petitioner’s request for equitable tolling, finding that the petitioner attempted to raise new arguments for the first time in his petition for review. (Essel v. Garland, 12/28/23)
CA9 Holds That Good-Cause Standard Governs BIA’s Denial of Petitioner’s Motion to Remand to Apply for Asylum
Granting the petition for review, the court found that the BIA abused its discretion in failing to properly evaluate whether the petitioner had established good cause for missing the filing deadline imposed by the IJ. (Alcarez-Rodriguez v. Garland, 12/28/23)
CA1 Finds BIA Erred by Concluding That Guatemalan Petitioner’s PSG Was Circular
The court held that the BIA erred by concluding that the Guatemalan petitioner’s particular social group (PSG) was circular, and also erred by failing to consider whether being a landowning farmer was one central reason for the persecution he experienced. (Espinoza-Ochoa v. Garland, 12/27/23)
CA9 Finds Petitioner’s Harassment Conviction in Washington Was Categorically for a Crime of Violence
The court held that petitioner’s harassment conviction in violation of Revised Code of Washington (RCW) §9A.46.020 was categorically for a crime of violence, thus rendering him ineligible for cancellation of removal, asylum, and voluntary departure. (Rodriguez-Hernandez v. Garland, 12/27/23
CA8 Upholds Denial of Motion to Reopen Based on Ineffective Assistance Where Petitioner Failed to Show Evidence of Persecutory Motive
The court found that the petitioner was not prejudiced by his counsel’s deficient performance, reasoning that the petitioner’s lack of knowledge as to who burned down his house in Guatemala foreclosed any reasonable likelihood of a persecutory motive. (Pascual-Miguel v. Garland, 12/27/23)
EOIR Issues Guidance for Children’s Cases
EOIR offers guidance for cases in which children are the lead or sole respondent in proceedings. This memo expands "special consideration" for children's cases beyond those solely designated as unaccompanied children and on specialized juvenile dockets. This DM supersedes and rescinds OPPM 17-03.
BIA Finds IJ Should Review USCIS’s Denial of Form I-751 upon Respondent’s Request
The BIA held that, given the respondent’s interest in securing review of a denial of a petition to remove the conditions on permanent residence, an IJ should ordinarily review the denial of a Form I-751 upon the request of the respondent. Matter of H. N. Ferreira, 28 I&N Dec. 765 (BIA 2023)
By the Numbers: Nationwide Expansion of Expedited Removal Will Endanger Millions of Mixed-Status Families Across the United States
AILA joined organizations who represent undocumented community members and their families in assessing the impact of proposals to expand expedited removal to the interior as part of congressional border supplemental package negotiations.
CA5 Says That Aggravated Sexual Assault with a Deadly Weapon under Texas Law Is a Crime of Violence
The court held that aggravated sexual assault with a deadly weapon under Texas law was a crime of violence and thus an aggravated felony for purposes of federal immigration law, and accordingly denied the petition for review. (Delgado-Victorio v. Garland, 12/18/23)
What Would Be the Impact of Expanding Expedited Removal Nationwide?
AILA provides a policy brief about why we oppose a nationwide expansion of expedited removal. It would undermine due process, not improve border security or border processing of migrants, and could be used for mass deportations that would be disastrous for American communities and the economy.
EOIR Issues Policy Memo on Enforcement Actions in or Near OCIJ Space
Chief Immigration Judge Sheila McNulty issued a policy memo entitled “Operating Policies and Procedures Memorandum 23-01: Enforcement Actions in or Near OCIJ Space,” providing updated guidance regarding enforcement actions by DHS in or near Office of the Chief Immigration Judge (OCIJ) space.
AILA Urges Focus on Actual Solutions for Border Security and Management
As negotiators reportedly consider significant changes to America’s asylum system as well as a nationwide expansion of expedited removal, AILA urges the Biden Administration to turn away from destructive proposals and stand by its original funding request.
CA6 Vacates Asylum Denial as to Guatemalan Petitioner Who Was Abused by Her Husband
The court held that the BIA had failed to consider possible mixed motives relating to the petitioner’s first two proposed social groups, and thus failed to fully consider whether she could prove that her persecution had a nexus to a protected ground. (Sebastian-Sebastian v. Garland, 12/8/23)
CA7 Finds Petitioner’s Kentucky Conviction for Complicity to Robbery in First Degree Was Aggravated Felony Crime of Violence
The court held that the BIA did not err in categorizing complicity to robbery in the first degree under Kentucky law as a crime of violence, and thus found that the petitioner was removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony crime of violence. (Mwendapeke v. Garland, 12/7/23)
AILA Law Journal: An Article I Immigration Court
AILA shares an article by Mimi Tsankov from the fall 2023 edition of the AILA Law Journal, which discusses how an Article I court would help fix the broken and ineffective immigration court system.