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
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Unpublished BIA decision finds respondent threatened for helping daughter pursue criminal case against gang member established nexus to persecution on account of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Unpublished BIA decision holds respondent not deportable under INA 237(a)(2)(A)(i) based on CIMT conviction because he himself faced maximum sentence of only seven months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)
Five Incarcerated Refugee Families Finally Released After Being Held for Months on End
The CARA Family Detention Pro Bono Project responded to Friday’s release of five families who had been subjected to many months of incarceration despite repeated efforts to advocate for their release pending the adjudication of their claims for protection in the United States.
Representative Bennie Thompson Expresses Concern on ICE Actions in Family Detention Centers
Letter from Ranking Member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie Thompson (D-MS) to ICE Director Sarah Saldaña expressing concern regarding recent ICE actions restricting access to counsel and providing misinformation to detainees at the family detention centers in Dilley and Karnes, TX.
AILA Quicktake #137: Access to Counsel in Dilley
AILA member and CARA volunteer Kim Hunter shares the latest access to counsel issues in Dilley and how it affects detainees' cases in this Quicktake.
BIA Says Inter-Proceeding Similarities Can Be Considered in Credibility Determinations
The BIA held that, in making an adverse credibility determination, an IJ can consider significant similarities between statements submitted by applicants in different proceedings, if certain procedural steps are undertaken to preserve fairness. Matter of R-K-K-, 26 I&N Dec. 658 (BIA 2015)
AILA Files Amicus Brief with Fifth Circuit on the Modified Categorical Approach
AILA filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit in Mata v. Lynch, arguing courts should use the modified categorical approach under Descamps only when the statute of conviction contains alternative elements that must be found unanimously by a jury before a conviction.
BIA Rescinds In Absentia Order Because Hearing Notice Did Not Contain Complete Address
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds in absentia order because address on hearing notice did not include lot number and respondent acted with diligence after learning of removal order. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Reyes-Rojo, 9/8/15)
DHS Concedes Florida Statute Is Not An Aggravated Felony Fraud Offense
Unpublished BIA decision notes DHS withdrawal of appeal after conceding that exploitation of an elderly person in excess of $100,000 under Fla. Stat. 825.103 is not an aggravated felony fraud offense. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Cortina, 9/4/15)
Compilation of Family Detention Case Examples
Compilation of case examples of mothers and children from the Artesia family detention center who have been granted asylum.
BIA Holds Georgia Theft Statute Not an Aggravated Felony
Unpublished BIA decision holds that Ga. Code 16-8-2 is not an aggravated felony theft offense because it encompasses theft by conversion, fraud, or deception, and because the statute is overbroad rather than divisible. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Ajaelu, 9/3/15)
CA9 Reverses BIA’s Denial of CAT Deferral for Transgender Woman from Mexico
The court granted in part the petition for review, holding that the BIA erred in denying CAT relief for the petitioner, a Mexican transgender woman, because it failed to recognize the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation. (Avendano-Hernandez v. Lynch, 9/3/15)
EOIR Announces New General Counsel
EOIR announced the appointment of Jean King to serve as the agency’s next general counsel, effective September 6, 2015. In addition to serving as the acting general counsel for eight months earlier this year, she served as the deputy general counsel since December 2012.