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
BIA Orders Further Consideration of Motion to Suppress
Unpublished BIA decision remands for further consideration of motion to suppress where arresting officer did not testify at hearing and IJ failed to address whether officer had valid basis to hold respondent after initial stop. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Velazco, 3/8/16)
Amicus Brief Filed By 326 Organizations in United States v. Texas Urging Supreme Court to Lift Injunction Against DAPA/DACA
AILA joined the American Immigration Council and 324 other immigration, civil rights, and community groups in an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the preliminary injunction blocking the implementation of DAPA and expanded DACA, President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
AILA Joins Brief Urging Supreme Court to Uphold Executive Branch’s Immigration Powers
AILA joined a multitude of stakeholders urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the executive branch’s authority over immigration issues; oral arguments in the case, United States vs. Texas, are scheduled for April 18, 2016, and a decision is expected later in June 2016.
AILA Comments on Revisions to Form I-131, Application for Travel Document
AILA provides comments in response to the USCIS 60-Day notice and request for comments on proposed revisions to Form I-131 and accompanying instructions.
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.
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)
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.
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)
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.”
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.
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)
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)
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.
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.
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.