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 on Burden of Proof and Returning LPRs
The BIA held that to establish that a returning LPR is to be treated as an applicant for admission, the government has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that a §101(a)(13)(C) exceptions applies. Matter of Rivens, 25 I&N Dec. 623 (BIA 2011)
AILA Files Amicus Brief in Domestic Violence/Social Group Asylum Case
AILA amicus brief arguing that domestic violence may be persecution perpetrated because of a woman's gender, an immutable characteristic that can define a particular social group. Amicus urges the Board to issue a decision recognizing a PSG defined based on gender per se.
AAO Sustains I-601 Appeal for Chinese Spouse of USC
AAO concluded that the cumulative effect of the emotional, psychological, medical, and financial hardships that the applicant’s USC husband would suffer without his wife in the U.S. rose to the level of extreme. Courtesy of Alan Lee.
ICE Deportations Show Need to Better Implement Priorities
The announcement from ICE indicating FY2011 deportation statistics underscores the need for prosecutorial discretion to be utilized on a wider scale. AILA President Eleanor Pelta issues her comments.
ICE Releases Year-End FY2011 Removal Numbers
ICE news release announcing that in FY2011, the agency removed 396,906 individuals. Of the total, nearly 55 percent of those removed were convicted of felonies or misdemeanors. According to the announcement, 90 percent of all ICE’s removals fell into a priority category.
CA10 on “Illegal Re-entry” for Purposes of Reinstatement of Removal
The court held that where Petitioner was waived through at the border one month after her removal from the U.S., she “re-enter[ed] the United States illegally” for purposes of reinstatement of removal under INA §241(a)(5). (Cordova-Soto v. Holder, 10/17/11)
Frontline Presents Lost in Detention on PBS
Frontline’s presentation of Lost in Detention, an investigative report that examines controversial aspects of the Obama administration’s enforcement policies, and explores the world of immigration detention, which aired on 10/18/11, on PBS.
BIA Remands Mali FGM Asylum Claim
The BIA found exceptional circumstances to permit respondent’s late-filed asylum application, reversed the IJ’s finding that DHS rebutted the well-founded fear presumption, and found that the IJ failed to follow Matter of A-T-. Courtesy of Geoffrey A. Hoffman.
District Court Says USCIS Must Act on FOIA Requests in 20 Days, Absent Unusual Circumstances
The court granted partial summary judgment, ordering USCIS to respond to A file requests in 20 days absent unusual circumstances, and that Track 3 violates a 1992 settlement agreement and was promulgated in violation of the APA and FOIA. (Hajro v. USCIS, 10/13/11)
CA8 Finds BIA Disregarded St. Cyr, Directs AG to Exercise §212(c) Discretion
The court held that the BIA erred in declaring it was free to apply the statutory counterpart rule as it evolved post-212(c) repeal, rather than analyzing retroactive effect in light of the legal landscape at the time of 212(c)’s repeal. (Lovan v. Holder, 10/13/11)
BIA Deems NY Third-Degree Attempted Arson an Aggravated Felony
The BIA held that third degree attempted arson in violation of NY Pen. Law §§110 and 150.10 is an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(E)(i), even though it lacks the jurisdictional element in the federal offense. Matter of Bautista, 25 I&N Dec. 616 (BIA 2011)
CA11 Rejects Silva-Trevino Analysis for Determining CIMTs
The court held that the BIA and the IJ erred in considering evidence beyond the record of conviction to determine that Petitioner’s conviction for false imprisonment under Florida law was a crime involving moral turpitude. (Fajardo v. U.S. Att’y Gen., 10/12/11)
BIA Remands After Finding Respondent May Be Eligible to Pursue Adjustment of Status
The BIA vacated earlier decisions and remanded after finding that if the respondent is able to establish that the abuser is the citizen who petitioned for his K-1 visa, he may be eligible to pursue adjustment of status. Courtesy of Barry Frager. (Matter of Redacted, 10/12/11)
CA9 on Impact of Weekends and Holidays on Voluntary Departure (Updated 1/23/2012)
The court held that where voluntary departure expires on a weekend or holiday, and a motion that would affect voluntary departure is filed the next business day, voluntary departure expires on the next business day. (Meza-Vallejos v. Holder, 10/11/11; amended 1/20/12)
ICE Announces the Passing of a Detained El Salvadoran National
ICE news release announcing that Mauro Antonio Rivera-Romero, an El Salvadoran man who was being held at the El Paso Processing Center pending removal proceedings, passed away after going into cardiac arrest. He is the second individual to pass away in ICE custody in FY2012.
CA8 Finds No Due Diligence or Prejudice in Ineffective Assistance Claim
The court upheld the denial of Petitioner’s MTR for adjustment where she filed the motion 3 years after discovering counsel’s ineffectiveness, and noted that there was no prejudice because she was not previously eligible for adjustment. (Valencia v. Holder, 10/7/11)
AILA/AIC Prosecutorial Discretion Survey: Preliminary Results
Preliminary results, as of 9/28/11, of the AILA/AIC survey on ICE implementation of the recently announced prosecutorial discretion initiatives. As of the date of the report, 192 people completed the survey, providing information on 26 out of 28 ICE field offices.
CA8 Upholds Denial of Nigerian Christian Asylum Claim
The court found that Petitioner suffered little physical harm at the hands of Muslim gangs, that his family continued to practice their religion without incident, and that there was no evidence that the government condoned the harassment. (Osuji v. Holder, 10/5/11)
CA6 Elaborates on Jurisdiction to Review Hardship for Cancellation of Removal
Though noting the sympathetic nature of the case, the court found no jurisdiction to review Petitioner’s claim that the IJ failed to consider hardship facts for cancellation of removal and dismissed the petition for review. (Ettienne v. Holder, 10/5/11)
DHS Fact Sheet on Smart, Effective Border Security and Immigration Enforcement
DHS fact sheet on efforts to focus the Department’s limited resources on protecting the nation’s borders and implementing an effective immigration enforcement strategy, which includes prioritizing the identification and removal of public safety and national security threats.
CA3 Says Rescission Bar Does Not Apply to LPR Status Obtained Through Consulate
The court held that the five-year statute of limitations on rescission of LPR status under INA §246(a) does not apply where Petitioner obtained status through consular processing, not adjustment of status. (Malik v. Att’y Gen. of the U.S., 10/4/11; amended 10/7/11)
El Salvadoran Man in ICE Custody Passes Away at UVA Medical Center
ICE press release announcing that an El Salvadoran national who was in custody at the Farmville Detention Center while going through removal proceedings passed away as an apparent result of liver failure. This is the first individual to pass away in ICE custody in FY 2012.
House Homeland Security Committee Hearing on Prosecutorial Discretion
Testimony from the 10/4/11 House Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on entitled "Does Administrative Amnesty Harm our Efforts to Gain and Maintain Operational Control of the Border?"
DOJ OIL September 2011 Litigation Bulletin
DOJ Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL) September 2011 Litigation Bulletin addresses the Supreme Court’s review of whether “admission” applies retroactively, CSPA and derivative beneficiaries, summaries of recent federal court decisions, issue updates, and more.
Immigration Law Advisor, September 2011 (Vol. 5, No. 8)
Immigration Law Advisor, a legal publication from EOIR, with an article on imputation and retroactivity at the Supreme Court, circuit court decisions for August 2011, recent BIA precedent decisions, and a regulatory update.