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
CA6 Holds That Petitioner’s Arkansas Conviction for Third-Degree Assault on Family Member Was a Crime of Violence
The court upheld the BIA’s and IJ’s conclusion that the petitioner’s conviction in Arkansas for third-degree assault on a family member was a crime of violence under 18 USC §16(a), and that he was thus statutorily ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Banuelos-Jimenez v. Garland, 5/10/23)
AILA’s Asylum & Refugee Committee Sends Follow-Up Letter to USCIS Requesting Guidance on the Doyle Memo
The AILA Asylum & Refugee Committee submitted a follow-up letter to USCIS regarding the Doyle Memo-related guidance initially requested in May 2022.
BIA Holds That It May Accept Late-Filed Appeals in Certain Situations Through Equitable Tolling
The BIA held that it will accept a late-filed appeal where a party can establish that equitable tolling applies by showing both diligence in the filing of the notice of appeal and that an extraordinary circumstance prevented timely filing. Matter of Morales-Morales, 28 I&N Dec 714 (BIA 2023)
CA6 Remands Asylum Claim of Honduran Petitioner After Finding BIA’s Analysis of Two of Her Proposed Social Groups Was Flawed
The court held that the BIA’s decision with respect to two of the petitioner’s proposed social groups—namely, “rural landowners or farmers” and “single mothers living without male protection”—was not supported by substantial evidence. (Turcios-Flores v. Garland, 5/5/23)
CA5 Remands Where BIA Failed to Perform Proper CIMT Analysis
The court held that the BIA should have analyzed whether the minimum conduct that would reasonably lead to a conviction under the petitioner’s statute of conviction was a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), not whether her actual conduct was a CIMT. (Zamaro-Silverio v. Garland, 5/4/23)
USCIS Will Provide Documents After Notice of Immigration Judge and BIA Decisions about Immigration Status
USCIS announced that it will affirmatively create and provide documented evidence of status to certain new asylees and lawful permanent residents upon receiving notification that an immigration judge or the BIA has granted status.
Practice Pointer: Fixing Erroneous Addresses
A practice pointer on what to do when your organization’s address is erroneously used on immigration documents, or when you suspect this happened to your client.
CA8 Finds Guatemalan Petitioner’s Proposed Social Group of “Witnesses Who Cooperate with Law Enforcement” Lacked Social Distinction
The court held that the BIA did not err in concluding that the petitioner’s proposed social group—“witnesses who cooperate with law enforcement”—was not socially distinct, and that the petitioner was thus ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal. (Oxlaj v. Garland, 5/3/23)
CA5 Finds It Lacks Jurisdiction to Review BIA’s Hardship Determination as to Mexican Petitioner
Where the Mexican petitioner sought cancellation of removal based on the hardship his removal would cause his family, the court found that binding circuit precedent compelled it to conclude that it lacked jurisdiction to review the BIA’s hardship determination. (Perez v. Garland, 5/2/23)
DOJ Guidance for Federal, State, Tribal, Local, and Territorial Law Enforcement Agencies on Best Practices for Providing Official Notification of Deat
DOJ issued guidance for federal, state, tribal, local, and territorial law enforcement agencies on best practices for providing official notification of deaths in custody.
BIA Rules on Transcript of a Plea Colloquy
The BIA dismissed the appeal and held that under the modified categorical approach, an Immigration Judge may consider the transcript of a plea colloquy in determining the factual basis of a plea. Matter of Cancinos-Mancio, 28 I&N Dec. 708 (BIA 2023)
AILA Key Takeaways from the Spring Conference Open Forum with EOIR
AILA’s EOIR National Liaison Committee provides key takeaways from the open forum with EOIR at AILA’s Spring Conference.
CA1 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Guatemalan Petitioner Who Supported the FCN Political Party
The court held that substantial evidence supported BIA’s conclusion that the Guatemalan petitioner, a member of the FCN political party, had not shown that he suffered past persecution due to his political opinion or that he would suffer future persecution. (Santos Garcia v. Garland, 4/28/23)
CA1 Finds Indian Petitioner Did Not Derive U.S. Citizenship as a Child Under Former INA §321(a)
Applying the petitioner’s proposed reading of former INA §321(a)(5) to the facts, the court concluded that the petitioner’s permanent residence application did not show the intent to reside permanently, and thus upheld DHS’s final administrative removal order. (Sharma v. Garland, 4/28/23)
CA7 Upholds Cancellation Denial to Petitioner Who Had Been Convicted of Battery Against the Mother of His Daughter in Wisconsin
The court found that petitioner’s conviction in Wisconsin for battery arising from an attack on the mother of his daughter was a crime of violence, and that he had not shown the absence of a disqualifying conviction under INA §237(a)(2)(E)(i). (De Jesus Caldera-Torres v. Garland, 4/27/23)
AILA Key Takeaways from Spring Conference Open Forum with BIA
AILA’s EOIR National Liaison Committee provides key takeaways from the open forum with the BIA at AILA’s Spring Conference.
EOIR Announces Appointment of Sheila McNulty as Chief Immigration Judge
EOIR announced the appointment of Sheila McNulty as the Chief Immigration Judge. Judge McNulty has served EOIR since 2010, including as part of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge leadership for the past 6.5 years.
AILA ICE Liaison Committee Meeting with ICE
AILA’s ICE Liaison Committee provides meeting minutes with ICE responses from the committee’s 4/26/23 liaison engagement with the agency. Topics include OPLA non-appearance, ERO check-in procedures, and related problems with Notices to Appear.
Practice Alert: Choice of Law in Removal Proceedings after Matter of Garcia
The ICE Committee provides a practice alert on Matter of Garcia, which addresses the increased use of video teleconference hearing and different geographic locations of the IJs, courts, and non-citizens as it relates to venue and what circuit court law to apply.
CA3 Finds Guatemalan Petitioner with SIJ Status Was Not Paroled for Purposes of Removal
The court found that the petitioner’s Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) status did not exempt him from removal, reasoning that the plain language of INA §245(h)(2) shows that SIJ parole applies only for adjustment of status, not for purposes of removal. (Cortez-Amador v. Att’y Gen., 4/25/23)
CA4 Upholds CAT Denial to Bisexual Man and Former Gang Member Petitioner from Jamaica
The court found that petitioner, a bisexual man and former gang member, had not shown the requisite likelihood that he would be tortured if returned to his home country of Jamaica, and thus upheld the agency’s denial of his Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim. (Kerr v. Garland, 4/24/23)
CA5 Upholds BIA’s Determination That Visa Fraud Waiver Could Not Overcome Grounds for Petitioners’ Removal
The court held that the visa fraud waiver did not reach the petitioners’ grounds for removal, that it lacked jurisdiction over the claims the BIA did not reach, and that the petitioners failed to show a violation of their due process rights. (Reese v. Garland, 4/24/23)
CA2 Rejects Petitioner’s Argument That BIA Impermissibly Engaged in Factfinding in Characterizing His Criminal History
The court found that the BIA did not second-guess the IJ’s factual findings, but instead conducted a de novo reweighing of the equities based on the facts found by the IJ, and thus properly exercised its discretion to deny cancellation of removal. (Hernandez v. Garland, 4/21/23)
ICE Launches Online CeBONDS Capability to Automate Bond Payments
ICE announced the implementation of Cash Electronic Bonds Online (CeBonds), a web-based system aimed to provide a fully automated online platform for requesting verification of bond eligibility, making cash immigration bond payments, and sending electronic notifications to cash bond obligors.
CA5 Finds That Habeas Corpus Petitions Are Hybrid Actions for Purposes of the EAJA
Denying the appellants’ motion for attorney’s fees, the court held that habeas corpus petitions are not purely civil in nature but rather are hybrid actions, and therefore do not unequivocally fall under the text of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). (Gomez Barco v. Garland, 4/20/23)