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
CA1 Seeks Clarification on Credibility and Corroboration Issues
The court found that the BIA failed to address two central issues in the Ethiopian asylum case and remanded to the BIA to clarify questions relating to credibility and corroborating evidence. (Guta-Tolossa v. Holder, 3/16/12)
CA8 on Corroboration and Transcript Deficiencies
The court found that the IJ did not err in requiring further corroborative evidence to support the asylum application, but remanded to determine whether transcript deficiencies masked testimony that corroborative testimony was unavailable. (Omondi v. Holder, 3/15/12)
CA7 on Jurisdiction to Review a Cancellation of Removal Decision
The court discussed when it has jurisdiction to review a ruling in a cancellation of removal case, ultimately finding it could not reverse the BIA’s weighing of hardships against considerations favoring removal of this petitioner. (Munoz-Pacheco v. Holder, 3/14/12)
CA1 Finds Petitioner Ineligible for NACARA Relief
The court found that the Guatemalan petitioner was statutorily ineligible for special rule cancellation under NACARA because he last entered the U.S. as a crewman. (Gonzalez v. Holder, 3/14/12)
Practice Alert: ICE Reviews BIA and Federal Court Cases for Grants of Prosecutorial Discretion
Information on ICE’s review of certain cases pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals and federal courts for grants of prosecutorial discretion.
USCIS FY2011 Highlights Report
USCIS report highlighting key successes from FY2011 including strengthening our immigrations system’s national security safeguards, combatting fraud, the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPIL) initiative and many other departmental accomplishments.
ICE Opens First Designed-and-Built Civil Detention Center in Texas
ICE press release on the opening of the Karnes County Civil Detention Center, the first-ever ICE designed-and-built civil detention center which is a 608-bed civil immigration detention facility, designed to house adult male, low-risk, minimum security detainees in Texas.
CA1 Finds No Jurisdiction to Review Cancellation Denial
The court held that it did not have jurisdiction to review the denial of the Bangladeshi petitioner’s cancellation of removal application, and found that the decision to deny asylum and withholding was supported by substantial evidence. (Hasan v. Holder, 3/12/12)
CA9 on Derivative Citizenship and Legitimation in Arizona
The court found that petitioner’s paternity was established by legitimation under Arizona law, which provides that every child is the legitimate child of its natural parents, holding that legitimation does not require an affirmative act. (Anderson v. Holder, 3/12/12)
Musings on the Visa Waiver Program, No-Right Waivers and the Age of Youth
AILA Amicus Committee alert on Vera v. Attorney General, where a 12-year old entered through the Visa Waiver Program and was ordered removed after overstaying even though she was a minor when she signed the waiver.
BIA on the Divisibility of Criminal Statutes
The BIA held that a statute is divisible, regardless of its structure, if, based on the elements of the offense, some but not all violations of the statute give rise to grounds for removal or ineligibility for relief. Matter of Lanferman, 25 I&N Dec. 721 (BIA 2012)
BIA on Requirements for 245(i) Derivative Case
The BIA held that, for an individual to qualify for adjustment of status under §245(i) as a grandfathered derivative, the principal beneficiary must satisfy the requirements for grandfathering. Matter of Ilic, 25 I&N Dec. 717 (BIA 2012)
House Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing on ICE FY2013 Appropriations
Testimony from the 3/8/12 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security’s ICE 2013 Budget Hearing.
ICE Director’s Congressional Testimony on ICE FY2013 Budget
Press release on full written testimony of ICE Director John Morton for a House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security hearing on the President’s budget request for ICE for Fiscal Year 2013.
ICE Detainee Dies at Southern California Hospital
ICE press release on the death of a Mexican national in ICE custody at a Los Angeles-area hospital in Southern California where he had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia and who is now the sixth detainee to die in ICE custody in FY2012.
AILA Testimony on H.R. 3808 Submitted to House Immigration Subcommittee
AILA testimony submitted to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement for the 3/7/12 hearing on H.R. 3808-the Scott Gardner Act.
House Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee Hearing on H.R. 3808
Testimony from the 3/7/12 House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement Hearing on H.R. 3808, the Scott Gardner Act.
ICE Detention Policy for Individuals Granted Protection Relief
A 3/6/12 email from ICE ERO Executive Associate Director Gary Mead to ICE field offices, reminding them of ICE’s policy to favor the release of detained individuals who have been granted protection relief by an immigration judge, barring exceptional concerns.
DOJ OIL February 2012 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) February 2012 Litigation Bulletin with major asylum cases including First Circuit ruling that generalized political motive underlying a persecutor’s mistreatment does not establish persecution on account of political opinion.
DOJ OIL March 2012 Litigation Bulletin
The DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) March 2012 Litigation Bulletin where 9th Circuit held that solicitation of prostitution is categorically a CIMT under California law, 3rd Circuit ruled that 4-year detention during pendency of appeals is unreasonable and more.
Immigration Law Advisor, February 2012 (Vol. 6, No. 2)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with an article on who benefits from the ambiguity in an inconclusive record of conviction, as well as circuit court decisions for January 2012, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.
CA3 on Waiver of Rights Under the Visa Waiver Program
The court held that the petitioner had not rebutted the presumption that she executed a waiver when she entered the U.S. as a minor pursuant to the Visa Waiver Program. (Vera v. Att’y Gen., 3/1/12)
CA9 to Rehear Grafias-Rodriguez En Banc
The court ordered that Garfias-Rodriguez v. Holder, in which the Ninth Circuit held that aliens who are inadmissible under INA §212(a)(9)(C)(i)(I) may not seek adjustment of status under INA §245(i), be reheard en banc. (Garfias-Rodriguez v. Holder, 3/1/12)
CA8 Upholds Social Visibility/Particularity Inquiries in Asylum Claim
The court denied the petitioner’s gang-based asylum claim, and upheld “social visibility” and “particularity” as requirements for establishing membership in a particular social group. (Gaitan v. Holder, 3/1/12)
VOICE: March/April 2012
Spring into the March/April edition of VOICE! This issue contains great information and helpful tips on hiring the right employees for your firm, I-129 forms, prosecutorial discretion, and more! Plus, watch AILA’s first animated video, “The Impossible Dream.”