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
Practice Pointer: Challenges and Strategies Beyond Relief
AILA provides a practice pointer from the 2014-15 edition of Immigration Practice Pointers with guidance for attorneys with clients in removal proceedings including challenging the Notice to Appear and the Form I-213, timing and using motions to suppress, and making due process challenges.
CA11 Remands USCIS Determination of Petitioner’s Inability to Adjust Status Under the CAA
The court held neither INA §242(a)(2)(B)(i) nor 8 CFR §§245.2(a)(5)(iii) and 1245.2(a)(5)(iii) bar an alien from seeking review from a district judge of the USCIS determination that the alien is statutorily ineligible to adjust under the Cuban Adjustment Act (CAA). (Perez v. USCIS, 12/19/14)
BIA Orders Further Consideration of Provisional Waiver Despite Prior DUI Conviction
Unpublished BIA decision remands record for consideration of whether respondent, who was previously convicted of driving under the influence, would qualify for a provisional waiver (Form I-601A). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Albarracin, 12/30/14)
CA5 Holds Public Lewdness Under Texas Penal Code §21.07 Is Not a CIMT
The court held that because public lewdness under Texas Penal Code §21.07 is divisible into discrete subsections of turpitudinous acts and non-turpitudinous acts, the petitioner’s offense under that statute is not categorically a CIMT. (Cisneros-Guerrerro v. Holder, 12/29/14)
Helping to Free Moms and Kids from Artesia, Part 2
In this second segment of a multi-part series, AILA member and Artesia Pro Bono Project volunteer Kim Hunter shares her client's story of winning asylum while in Artesia and discusses what it is like spending the holidays in a family detention center.
Immigration, Civil Rights, and Labor Groups Join Legal Effort to Defend President’s Executive Action on Immigration
AILA joined the American Immigration Council and other immigration, civil rights, and labor groups on an amicus brief in the case, State of Texas vs. United States, opposing the states’ request for a preliminary injunction against the Obama Administration’s new deferred action initiatives.
CA11 Remands for BIA to Consider All Types of Abuse in Religious Persecution Claim
The court remanded for the BIA to clarify whether it considered all the types of abuse unique to religious persecution, including both non-physical and physical harm, in light of Shi v. Att’y Gen., when it denied the claim of past persecution. (Huang v. Holder, 12/24/14)
District Court Dismisses Sheriff Arpaio’s Challenge to Executive Action
Memorandum opinion denying Sheriff Joseph Arpaio’s motion for preliminary injunction and granting the government’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
District Court Allows Identities of Immigration Judges to Remain Redacted in FOIA Litigation
A district court granted EOIR’s summary judgment motion on the redaction of judges’ personal identifying information and also on the release of the complaint resolutions. The court ordered the release of any non-responsive information previously withheld. (AILA v. EOIR, 12/24/14)
CA4 Reverses and Remands, Says Virginia Grand Larceny Conviction Is Not an Aggravated Felony
The court held the use of the word “or” did not render the crime divisible, the modified categorical approach did not apply, and under the categorical approach, the conviction under Va. Code Ann. §18.2-95 was not an aggravated felony theft offense. (Omargharib v. Holder, 12/23/14)
BIA Holds Kentucky Fourth Degree Assault is Not a Crime of Violence
Unpublished BIA decision holds fourth degree assault under Ky. Rev. Stat. 508.030(1)(a) is categorically not a crime of violence because a jury would not have to unanimously agree on whether a defendant acted intentionally or recklessly. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Warmels, 12/23/14)
District Court Holds Petitioner's Detention Is Governed by INA §236(a)
The court granted the petitioner's request for a bond hearing, holding that the reinstated removal order issued against the petitioner was not administratively final, and thus that his detention was governed by INA §236(a), not INA §241. (Guerra v. Shanahan, 12/23/14)
USCIS Idea Community Looking for Feedback on DACA
USCIS requests feedback on the DACA renewal process and the extended DACA validity period through the USCIS Idea Community. Feedback will be accepted from 12/23/14 through 12/29/14.
BIA Reverses Discretionary Denial of Adjustment
Unpublished BIA decision reverses discretionary denial of adjustment application upon finding respondent’s positive equities outweighed his conviction for driving while intoxicated and more than $1,200 in student debt. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Misumi, 12/22/14)
BIA Holds Florida Criminal Mischief Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds criminal mischief under Fla. Stat. 806.13(1)(a) is not a CIMT because the statute has been applied to conduct that is not inherently base, vile, or depraved. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Patrana, 12/22/14)
Helping to Free Moms and Kids from Artesia, Part 1
In this first segment of a multi-part series, AILA member and Artesia Pro Bono Project volunteer Lisa Laurel Weinberg shares her client's story of winning asylum while in the Artesia family detention center.
CA11 Says Beneficiary of Approved I-140 Has Standing to Challenge I-140 Revocation
The court vacated and remanded, holding that an alien who is the beneficiary of an approved I-140, has applied to adjust, and ported under INA §204(j), has standing to challenge the revocation of an I-140 petition. This amends the 9/22/14 decision. (Kurapati v. USCIS, 12/22/14)
CA7 Says Wisconsin Conviction for Fleeing or Eluding a Police Officer Is a CIMT
The court upheld the BIA’s determination that the petitioner’s conviction for fleeing or eluding a police officer in violation of Wisconsin Statute §346.04(3) categorically constituted a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT). (Cano-Oyarzabal v. Holder, 12/22/14)
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Report FY2014
Report summarizing ICE’s FY2014 civil immigration enforcement and removal operations, finding that ICE removed 315,943 individuals in FY2014, down from 368,644 in FY2013, and 85% of ICE’s interior removals and returns were previously convicted of a criminal offense, up from 67% in FY2011.
TRAC Report Finds Removal Orders Rise, But with Wide Variation by Court
TRAC report finding that according to the latest case-by-case records, immigration courts granted 54.8% of removal orders issued during October and November 2014, compared with only 50.7% during FY2014. The rate at which deportation orders were granted varied considerably among individual courts.
DHS Releases End of Year Statistics for FY2014
DHS announcement on release of year end statistics for FY2014, including reports from ICE and CBP, finding that ICE had a total of 315,943 removals or returns, and CBP made 486,651 apprehensions, and both apprehensions and removals of Guatemalan, Honduran, and El Salvadorian nationals increased.
Letter to President Obama Opposing Family Detention Facility in Dilley
A 12/18/14 letter from AILA and over 120 other advocacy organizations to President Obama opposing the opening of the new family detention facility in Dilley, Texas.
USCIS Executive Summary from Teleconference on DACA Renewal Process
USCIS executive summary from the 12/18/14 stakeholder teleconference discussing the DACA renewal process.
AILA: Administration Turns Its Back on American Values with Mammoth New Family Prison
AILA President Leslie A. Holman expressed outrage over the opening of the Dilley family detention center noting that for families, “Moving from a make-shift prison to one run by the private prison industry brings no more humanity to an inhumane situation.”
Supreme Court Order Allows DACA Beneficiaries in Arizona to Obtain Driver’s Licenses (Updated 12/18/14)
The court issued an order denying application for stay requested by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on Ninth Circuit’s decision blocking Arizona driver’s licenses ban for DACA beneficiaries.