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
CA5 Finds Petitioner with Multiple Convictions Ineligible for Cancellation of Removal
The court upheld BIA's decision in Matter of Pina-Galindo, holding that the plain language of INA §240A(b)(1)(C) includes an “offense under INA §212(a)(2)” and does not limit ineligibility for cancellation of removal to offenses under INA §212(a)(2)(A). (Pina-Galindo v. Lynch, 9/24/15)
TRAC Report Finds Increasing Wait Times for Hearing Dates in Immigration Courts
A TRAC report found that 456,644 individual deportation cases were pending before the judges in U.S. immigration courts at the end of August 2015. The data shows that the backlog of pending cases and the average individual wait times have both reached new all-time highs.
CA9 Says Credibility Determination May Be Based Solely on Background Evidence in Record
The court held that the REAL ID Act permits the BIA and IJ to base their adverse credibility determinations exclusively on background evidence in the record upon considering the totality of the circumstances and all relevant factors. (Singh v. Lynch, 9/21/15)
CA1 Upholds Denial of Good Faith Marriage Waiver
The court found that the petitioner was afforded a fundamentally fair proceeding during which substantial evidence was presented for the IJ and the BIA to conclude that his marriage was not entered into in good faith. (Davis v. Lynch, 9/21/15)
Obama Administration Again Hands Families Over to Private Prison Company
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project responded to the news that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had awarded a private prison company the grant to establish a new case management alternative to detention initiative for families.
Statement by DHS Secretary on Reforms to Family Residential Centers
DHS statement by Secretary Jeh Johnson on reforms to family residential centers, stating DHS is “…taking steps to ensure compliance with the July 24 and August 21 orders… we remain committed to reforming our family residential center policies, as we have been doing for the past several months.”
CA1 Says Conviction Can Be Aggravated Felony Even If No Sentence Was Served
The court held that a predicate conviction under federal or state law can constitute an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43) even when it is not accompanied by a term of imprisonment. (Levesque v. Lynch, 9/18/15)
BIA Sustains Appeal of Respondent with DUI Convictions
Unpublished BIA decision held that respondent warrants a grant of cancellation of removal, finding that his 2002 DUI conviction fell outside the period for which he must show good moral character, and thus was not a relevant factor. Courtesy of Div Gopal. (Matter of Martinez Jimenez, 9/18/15)
VSC Meeting Notes and Practice Pointers on VAWA, U, and T Filings
Meeting notes and practice pointers compiled by AILA’s VAWA, Us, and Ts Committee, ASISTA, and ICWC from the Vermont Service Center (VSC) stakeholder event held at VSC on September 18, 2015. Includes information on processing issues, RFEs, the hotline, the U visa waitlist, I-765s, and VAWA cases.
CA6 Says Personal Service upon Counsel May Constitute Service to Noncitizen
The court held that INA §240 requires that personal service of an order of removal in absentia be made upon a noncitizen whenever practicable, and found that personal service upon counsel may, in certain cases, constitute personal service to a noncitizen. (Cruz-Gomez v. Lynch, 9/17/15)
TRAC Finds Criminal Activity Alleged in 10.8% of Immigration Court Deportation Filings
A Transactional Records Access Clearing House (TRAC) report finds that as of August 2015, alleged criminal activity has been the basis of only about one of every ten deportation filings in U.S. immigration court so far this fiscal year.
Statutory Enforcement Report: The State of Civil Rights at Immigration Detention Facilities
On 9/17/15, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released its annual report examining the treatment of detained immigrants in immigration holding, processing, and detention centers throughout the U.S.
EOIR Publishes Rules Regarding Legal Representation
EOIR notice that the Deputy Attorney General has signed for publication in the Federal Register one proposed rule and two final rules, each addressing various aspects of legal representation. EOIR plans to host stakeholder meetings this fall to discuss implementation of these rules.
BIA Grants Family-Based Asylum Claim Based on Gang Threats
Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent threatened for helping daughter pursue criminal case against gang member established nexus to persecution on account of membership in particular social group (family). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of M-R-G-, 9/16/15)
BIA Dismisses CIMT Charge Based on Length of Possible Sentence
Unpublished BIA decision holds respondent not deportable under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i) based on CIMT conviction because he himself faced maximum sentence of only seven months under state sentencing guidelines. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Giron, 9/14/15)
IJ Grants Asylum to Mexican Journalist
The IJ granted the asylum application of a Mexican journalist who fled Mexico amid threats and the murder of family members as a result of his reporting on and criticism of police misconduct. Courtesy of Carlos Spector.
CA1 Upholds Finding That Petitioner Failed to Establish Changed Country Conditions
The court held that the BIA and IJ acted within their discretion in finding that the petitioner had failed to establish changed country conditions for Christians in China since the issuance of his in absentia removal order. (Liu v. Lynch, 9/11/15)
AILA: America Must Respond More Generously to Refugee Crisis
AILA urges President Obama to go beyond the commitment he made to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees and to extend more meaningful protection to all refugees and asylum seekers whether they are resettled from abroad or have crossed U.S. borders fleeing violence, persecution, and other horrors.
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Urge the Administration to Comply with the Flores Settlement Agreement
On 9/11/15, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights urged the President, Attorney General Lynch, and Homeland Security Secretary Johnson to comply and not appeal the U.S. District Court order in Flores v. Johnson concerning the detention of children and families
The Council and AILA File Amicus Brief on Detention Under INA §236(a)
The American Immigration Council and AILA filed an amicus brief in Guerra v. Shanahan urging the Second Circuit to affirm that a person with a reinstated order of removal who has yet to receive a final administrative decision on a withholding application is detained under INA §236(a).
BIA Holds Failure To Disclose DUI Does Not Preclude Adjustment of Status
Unpublished BIA decision orders further consideration of adjustment application, noting that failure to disclose arrest for DUI was an adverse discretionary factor but did not render respondent ineligible to adjust status. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Asamoah, 9/11/15)
BIA Upholds Termination of Proceedings Against Returning LPR
Unpublished BIA decision terminates proceedings upon finding failure to disclose conviction is not basis to regard returning LPR as an applicant for admission and record did not clearly establish existence of foreign conviction. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Liu, 9/11/15)
BIA Finds IJ Violated Respondent’s Right to Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision finds IJ failed to advise respondent of pro bono representation option, ascertain whether she was provided list of free legal service providers, or obtain a knowing and voluntary waiver of right to counsel. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of A-M-R-D-, 9/10/15)
BIA Grants Untimely Motion to Reconsider Under Mellouli for Removed Respondent
Unpublished BIA decision grants motion to reconsider sua sponte for respondent who had already departed the country because he was no longer removable under Mellouli v. Lynch, 135 S. Ct. 1980 (2015). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Asamoah, 9/10/15)
BIA Finds Iraqi’s Past Experience of Working with Americans to Be Immutable Characteristic
Unpublished BIA decision remands petitioner’s asylum claims, finding that the Iraqi citizen-respondent's past experience of having cooperated or worked with Americans or American entities in Iraq was, by its very nature, immutable. Courtesy of Geoffrey A. Hoffman. (Matter of X-, 9/10/15)