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 Remands After IJ Fails to Advise Respondent of Right to Counsel
Unpublished BIA decision remanding case after finding IJ failed to comply with 8 C.F.R. 1240.11(c)(1)(iii) by not advising respondent of his right to counsel specifically in asylum-related relief nor provide him with a legal services list. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of K-O, 8/27/13)
BIA Grants Joint Motion to Reinstate Voluntary Departure
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board, on remand from the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Akram v. Holder, granted a joint motion to reinstate voluntary departure and terminate proceedings. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Akram, 8/27/13)
BIA Reopens Proceedings Over DHS Objection and Remands for Further Review
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board reopened proceedings sua sponte over DHS objection and remanded the record to the Immigration Court for further proceedings regarding the respondent’s removability and the status of his conviction. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Lall, 8/27/13)
BIA Grants Interlocutory Appeal After DHS Supports Motion to Change Venue
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board granted an interlocutory appeal of a denial of the respondent’s motion to change venue after DHS filed a brief in support of the motion. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Del Cid-Melara, 8/26/13)
BIA Remands After Pro Bono Organization Letter Was Undeliverable
Unpublished BIA decision remanding case after finding that the IJ should have granted a further continuance for respondent to obtain counsel after noting that a letter sent to a pro bono organization was returned as undeliverable. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Perez-Baez, 8/26/13)
ICE Memo with Policies and Procedures Addressing Alien Parents and Legal Guardians of Minor Children
ICE 8/23/13 memo from John Sandweg, Acting Director of ICE, titled “Facilitating Parental Interests in the Course of Civil Immigration Enforcement Activities,” with ICE procedures addressing the placement, monitoring, accommodation, and removal of alien parents or legal guardians of minor children.
CA3 Says DHS Must Show Conviction Involved Federally Controlled Substance
The court granted the petition for review and remanded, concluding that in a removal proceeding under INA §237(a)(2)(B)(i), DHS must show that the foreign national’s conviction involved or was related to a federally controlled substance. (Rojas v. Att’y Gen., 8/23/13)
BIA Remands Because IJ Did Not Question Respondent After He Expressed Fear
Unpublished BIA decision remanding the case "in an abundance of caution" because the IJ did not further question him after he expressed a fear of returning to Mexico. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Guzman-Rodriguez, 8/23/13)
BIA Remands For IJ to Issue Full Decision on TPS Application
Unpublished BIA decision remanding decision because IJ did not prepare a separate oral or written decision on the TPS denial and requesting that the IJ review whether the late-filed TPS application should be adjudicated on its merits. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Hernandez, 8/23/13)
CA9 Grants Asylum Based on Past Persecution of Seventh Day Adventists in Belarus
The court granted asylum, finding that the petitioner established a claim of past persecution based on the abuses endured by her Seventh Day Adventist parents while she was a child in Belarus, and remanded the withholding and CAT claims for further consideration. (Rusak v. Holder, 8/22/13)
BIA Remands for IJ to Determine if Respondent Was Derivative Beneficiary of 245(i) Labor Certification
Unpublished BIA decision sustaining the appeal, finding that the respondent's 245(i) AOS was denied based on erroneous determination that he submitted no evidence that his father was the same person as the labor certification beneficiary. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Pandya, 8/22/13)
CA9 Finds California Conviction of Brandishing a Firearm Is Aggravated Felony
The court dismissed the petition for review, finding the petitioner ineligible for cancelation, because the conviction under California Penal Code §417.3 counted categorically as a “crime of violence,” and therefore as an aggravated felony. (Bolanos v. Holder, 8/21/13)
CA3 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review Denial of Continuance and Denies Cancellation
The court found no jurisdiction to review the BIA’s denial of a continuance and rejected Petitioner's argument that his 2006 criminal conduct did not stop the accrual of continuous residence because §212(h) could have waived inadmissibility. (Rachak v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 8/21/13)
CA1 Denies Cancellation to C-1/D Visa Holder
The court found that the petitioner, who was issued a C-1/D visa and admitted under a C-1 classification, was properly classified as an alien crewman even though he never worked as a crewman, and thus was ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Guerrero v. Holder, 8/21/13)
CA7 Remands Withholding Claim to BIA for HIV Positive Gay Man from Mexico
The court granted the petition for review and remanded to the BIA to determine whether the IJ clearly erred in finding that the petitioner—who is an openly gay HIV positive man— is more likely than not to be persecuted if returned to Mexico. (Rosiles-Camarena v. Holder, 8/21/13)
BIA Remands Due to Evolving Legal Standards Surrounding Aggravated Felony Definition
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board remanded due to the evolving legal standard of whether his conviction constitutes an aggravated felony under 18 U.S.C. section 16(b) and the intervening decision in Descamps v. U.S. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Gonzalez-Leyton, 8/21/13)
CA7 Holds Aggravated Felony Definition Does Not Apply to Pre-1988 Convictions
The court granted the petition for review, holding that the Petitioner’s aggravated felony convictions cannot be used as a ground for removal because they were more than a decade old when the aggravated felony definition in INA §101(a)(43) took effect in 1988. (Zivkovic v. Holder, 7/31/13)
CA7 Holds §212(h) Waiver Available to Petitioner Who Adjusted to LPR Status in the U.S.
The court joined four other circuits in holding that §212(h) precludes a waiver only for those persons who were LPRs at the time they lawfully entered the U.S., but ultimately upheld the BIA’s denial of the waiver as a matter of discretion. (Papazoglou v. Holder, 8/6/13)
CA9 on Modified Categorical Approach
Applying the modified categorical approach, the court denied the petition for review, determining that the petitioner was charged as a principal and not as an accessory after the fact under California Vehicle Code § 10851(a). (Duenas-Alvarez v. Holder, 8/20/13)
BIA Found Respondent Abandoned LPR By Being Continuously Outside the U.S.
Unpublished BIA decision where the Board dismissed the appeal and found that the respondent abandoned his lawful permanent resident (LPR) status and denied his application for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA 211(b). Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Garcia Guzman, 8/20/13)
Amicus Alert: Ninth Circuit Grants Petition for Review of Reinstated Order of Removal
AILA Amicus Committee alert on Villa-Anguiano v. Holder, providing a summary of the case and takeaway points for practitioners.
BIA Finds Jordanian Wishing to Sell Land to Israeli Government Eligible for Asylum
Unpublished BIA decision sustaining the appeal for the asylum denial, finding that the respondent established a fear of future persecution by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas regarding efforts to sell land to the Israeli government. Courtesy of Div Gopal.
CA3 Overrules Nugent; Holds Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud Is an Aggravated Felony
The court affirmed the lower court’s decision denying Appellant's application for naturalization because his conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud was as an aggravated felony. (Al-Sharif v. USCIS, 8/19/13)
BIA Holds Violation Under 18 USC §1001(a)(2) for Knowingly Making a False Statement is CIMT
The Board held that a noncitizen who enters the U.S. by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship is not deemed to have been admitted under §101(a)(13)(A), and making a false statement to obtain a passport in violation of 18 USC §1001(a)(2) is a CIMT. Matter of Pinzon, 26 I&N Dec. 189 (BIA 2013)
AIC Practice Advisory: Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings
The American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center (LAC) issued a practice advisory, Motions to Suppress in Removal Proceedings: Cracking Down on Fourth Amendment Violations by State and Local Law Enforcement Officers, on Fourth Amendment limitations in immigration enforcement efforts.