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
Without Good Counsel
On April 21, 2015 - a Harvard University graduate student, Rebekah Rodriguez-Lynn, published a column in the Los Angeles Daily News titled: “How U.S. immigration laws helped tear my family apart.“ Ms. Rodriguez-Lynn is a U.S. citizen and a resident of Southern California; she shares her story
CA5 Says Stop-Time Rule Renders LPR Ineligible for Cancellation of Removal
The court held that the stop-time rule applied to offenses that would render LPRs, including those not currently seeking admission to the U.S., inadmissible, and that the petitioner was therefore not eligible for cancellation of removal. (Paz Calix v. Lynch, 4/28/15)
CRCL Newsletter, April 2015 (Vol. 5, No. 6)
The Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) released its April 2015 newsletter, which included articles on the updated solicitation for license plate reader database access, the 2015 Privacy and Civil Liberties Assessment Report, town halls with Syrian American communities, and more.
Senator McCaskill Requests that DHS Investigate the Modified Contract to Manage Dilley
On 4/27/15, Senator Claire McCaskilll (D-MO) requested that the DHS OIG review the process DHS used to modify an existing contract with the City of Eloy, Arizona for management of an ICE facility to extend to management of the Dilley detention facility by a private prison company.
BIA Rescinds in Absentia Order Due to Erroneous Denial of Motion to Change Venue
Unpublished BIA decision rescinds an in absentia removal order, finding that the IJ’s erroneous denial of respondent’s unopposed motion to change venue constituted exceptional circumstances justifying respondent’s failure to appear. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Flores, 4/24/15)
DHS Instruction Card on Prosecutorial Discretion
Copy of a DHS instruction card to be carried by enforcement personnel, providing guidance and brief instruction on the DHS enforcement priorities articulated in a November 20, 2014 prosecutorial discretion memorandum.
CA4 Says It Lacks Jurisdiction to Consider Denial of I-130 Petition
The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to consider the BIA’s denial of petitioner’s Form I-130 and that transfer of the motion to reopen petitioner’s visa denial to district court was not in the interests of justice. (LeBlanc v. Holder, 4/21/15)
CA11 Says Uttering Forged Instrument Is an Aggravated Felony and a CIMT
Applying a categorical approach, the court held that uttering a forged instrument necessarily involves deceit and is thus a categorical aggravated felony under Florida law as well as a crime involving moral turpitude. (Walker v. Att’y Gen., 4/21/15)
CA7 Reverses Due to Flawed Adverse Credibility Determination
The court remanded, holding that if an IJ explicitly premises a demand for corroborating evidence on an adverse credibility determination that is flawed, then there must be a reassessment of credibility, which may turn out to remove the need for corroboration. (Nadmid v. Holder, 4/21/15)
CA8 Affirms Asylum Denial for Mungiki Opposer in Kenya
The court held that “individuals openly opposed to the Mungiki,” the largest criminal organization in Kenya, was not a particular social group, because such a description was too large and diffuse a segment of society to be perceived with particularity by society. (Kanagu v. Holder, 2/9/15)
OIG Report on ICE Detainee Air Transportation Program
DHS OIG report on ICE’s Detainee Air Transportation Program, which is responsible for moving and removing detainees in ICE custody, operated charter flights with empty seats and could have realized savings of up to $41.1 million. The program transported 930,435 detainees over a 3-1/2 year period.
BIA Finds Removal Proceedings May Be Delayed If Criminal Conviction Remains Pending
The BIA says that removal proceedings may be administratively closed, where warranted, pending the adjudication of a direct appeal of a criminal conviction. Matter of Montiel, 26 I&N Dec. 555 (BIA 2015)
BIA Administratively Closes Proceedings Pending DHS Determination on Prosecutorial Discretion
Unpublished BIA decision administratively closes proceedings, pending DHS’s determination of whether the respondent merits a favorable exercise of prosecutorial discretion. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of E-A-P-, 4/17/15)
CA9 Affirms Order Removing Petitioner Due to Domestic Violence Conviction
The court held that the BIA correctly found that a conviction of domestic violence pursuant to California’s Penal Code constitutes a categorical crime of domestic violence under the INA. (Carrillo v. Holder, 3/31/15)
CA3 Remands to Determine if Petitioner Was Convicted of Aggravated Felony
The court held that the government failed to show that petitioner’s Uniform Code of Military Justice general sentence constituted his conviction of a crime of violence for which the term of imprisonment was at least one year. (Chavez-Alvarez v. Holder, 4/16/15)
AILA/USCIS HQ Liaison Q&As (4/16/15)
Official questions and answers from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS HQ. Topics include executive actions, DACA, DAPA, H-4 employment, delays in EAD issuance, FDNS site visits, misrepresentations made by minors, EB-2 I-140s for physical therapists, and the new preparer's declaration.
AG Holder Vacates AG Mukasey's 11/7/08 Opinion in Matter of Silva-Trevino
Attorney General vacated in its entirety the 11/7/08 opinion, finding that as circuits were split and Supreme Court decisions cast doubt on its continued validity, it was no longer useful in determining whether a criminal offense is a CIMT. Matter of Silva-Trevino, 26 I&N Dec. 550 (A.G. 2015)
AILA/USCIS Field Operation Directorate Liaison Q&As (4/16/15)
Official questions and answers from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with USCIS Field Operations Directorate. Topics include stand-alone Forms I-130, interview waiver adjustment of status cases, workload transfers, InfoPass, staffing changes, Forms I-601 and I-601A, and I-485s for VAWA cases.
AILA/CBP Liaison Meeting Minutes (4/16/15)
AILA’s unofficial meeting minutes from a 4/16/15 CBP Liaison Committee meeting with CBP. Topics include FOIA, entry/exit portal, Admissibility Review Office (ARO), port-of-entry applications for TN, O/P, and H-1B nonimmigrants, advance parole for Canadian H/L, and expedited removal.
Q&As from AILA Joint Meeting with USCIS Verification and ICE HSI (4/16/15)
Q&As from AILA’s Verification and Documentation Liaison Committee meeting with USCIS Verification and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on 4/16/15. Topics include: Form I-9, I-9 Central, RIDE, M&C inspections, and E-Verify issues.
IJ Finds That None of Respondent's Convictions Make Him Removable
The IJ granted the motion to terminate, finding that DHS failed to show that respondent had been convicted in NY of two or more CIMT not arising out of a single scheme of misconduct, or of a violation of a law relating to a federally controlled substance. Courtesy of Patricia Cooper.
AILA EOIR/OCAHO Liaison Meeting Minutes (4/16/15)
Minutes from the 4/16/15 AILA liaison meeting with EOIR and OCAHO. Topics include executive action initiatives, Dent v. Holder, regulations update, withdrawing from an administratively closed case, parking dates, IJ hiring, time-sensitive cancellation cases, e-Registry, and OCAHO e-filing.
AILA DOS Liaison Q&As (4/15/15)
DOS responses to AILA/DOS liaison Q&As, which address questions relating to communication with consular posts, visa refusal letters, visa interview wait times, alternative venues for immigrant visa interviews, visa revocations, misrepresentations made by minors, E-3 adjudications, J-1s, and NVC.
National Sign-On Letter to DHS on Implementation of November 2014 PD Policy
A 4/15/15 letter from AILA and more than 100 other organizations to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson expressing concern about the implementation of the November 2014 memorandum on prosecutorial discretion (PD) and enforcement priorities.
BIA Permits Withdrawal of Erroneous and Prejudicial Attorney Concession
Unpublished BIA decision allows withdrawal of erroneous concession that respondent entered without inspection, noting that it was not a tactical decision because it rendered the respondent ineligible to adjust. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Herrera Lopez, 4/15/15)