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
CA8 Upholds BIA’s Conclusion That There Was “Reason to Believe” Petitioner Was Involved in Illicit Drug Trafficking
Applying the “reason to believe” standard under INA §212(a)(2)(C), the court held that substantial evidence supported the BIA’s conclusion that there was probable cause to believe that petitioner was involved in illicit drug trafficking and was thus inadmissible. (Rojas v. Garland, 5/27/21)
ICE Issues Interim Guidance Regarding Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities
ICE issued interim guidance to all OPLA attorneys to guide them in appropriately executing interim civil immigration enforcement and removal priorities and exercising prosecutorial discretion. Note, on 8/19/21, OPLA suspended reliance on this guidance due to litigation.
AILA and Partners Submit Amicus Brief on Expansion of Demore’s Holdings
AILA and partners submitted an amicus brief in Ayom v. Garland to the Eighth Circuit, urging the court to decline the government’s invitation to expand Demore’s holding beyond the dubious facts of that case. Amici curiae ask the court to affirm the judgment of the district court.
AILA DOS Liaison Q&As (5/27/21)
Official AILA/DOS liaison Q&As from the 5/27/21 meeting. Topics include: visa bulletin questions, consular post operations and reopening, NIEs, IV processing, voluntary return, SB-1s, Waiver Review Division inquiries, the Blanket L standard of review, NVC processing and procedures, EB-5s and more.
EOIR Announces Dedicated Docket Process for More Expeditious Immigration Hearings
EOIR issued a memo establishing a dedicated docket to certain individuals in removal proceedings with a focus on the adjudication of family cases as designated by DHS.
CA4 Holds That IJs Have a Duty to Develop the Record in Immigration Court Proceedings
The court held that IJs have a legal duty to fully develop the record—a duty which becomes particularly important in pro se cases, and which extends to proceedings in which noncitizens articulate a proposed particular social group (PSG). (Arevalo Quintero v. Garland, 5/26/21)
CA9 Affirms Denial of Deferral of Removal to Jamaican Petitioner Who Claimed She Suffered Physical Abuse by Former Domestic Partner
Upholding the BIA’s denial of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the court held that the record did not compel a finding that it was more likely than not that the petitioner would suffer future torture if she returned to Jamaica. (Dawson v. Garland, 5/26/21)
AILA and Partners Urge DHS to Stop Detentions and Transfers as COVID-19 Cases Spread in ICE Custody
AILA joined Immigration Justice Campaign Local Partner, the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN), in urging DHS to suspend the practice of detaining and transferring immigrants as COVID-19 cases in ICE custody trend upward.
Former Immigration Judges Ask AG Garland to Review and Rescind Prior AG Certifications
The Roundtable of Former Immigration Judges sent a letter to AG Garland urging him to review and rescind AG decisions issued under the Trump administration, noting that "the vast majority of those decisions overturned decades of substantive and procedural immigration law and policy."
CA1 Upholds Denial of Cancellation of Removal to Ecuadorian Petitioner with Two Young Children
The court held that the BIA did not err when it found that the petitioner, who had a 12-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter, had not met his burden to show that his removal would result in exceptional and extremely unusual hardship to his family. (Tacuri-Tacuri v. Garland, 5/24/21)
Supreme Court Rules That Each of INA §276(d)’s Statutory Requirements Is Mandatory
The U.S. Supreme Court held that each of INA §276(d)’s statutory requirements for bringing a collateral attack on a prior removal order is mandatory, and that the respondent was not excused from making the first two showings set forth in §276(d). (United States v. Palomar-Santiago, 5/24/21)
AILA and Partners Send Letter Requesting DOJ and EOIR to Repeal the EOIR Fee Rule
AILA and partners sent a letter requesting DOJ and EOIR to repeal the EOIR fee rule that imposes draconian fee increases for critical immigration filings, and to ensure that any further rulemaking involving fees in EOIR proceedings does not deny due process or access to asylum to any person.
Presidential Memorandum on Restoring DOJ’s Access-to-Justice Function and Reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable
On 5/18/21, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the Attorney General to “consider expanding DOJ’s planning, development, and coordination of access-to-justice policy initiatives,” and reinvigorating the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable (LAIR). (86 FR 27793, 5/21/21)
ICE to Close Two Detention Centers in Massachusetts and Georgia
DHS Secretary Mayorkas directed ICE to discontinue use of the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The secretary also instructed the ICE acting director to prepare to discontinue use of the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia.
AILA Urges Further Shift Away from Detention as DHS Announces End to Contracts with Two Facilities
AILA welcomes news that ICE will end contracts with two detention facilities in Irwin County and Bristol County, but urges the Biden administration to take further action by conducting a full review of all people currently held in ICE custody and expanding community-based case management programs.
CA5 Says Conviction for Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering Is an Aggravated Felony Under INA §101(a)(43)(D)
The court held that the petitioner’s conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering plainly constituted an aggravated felony under INA §101(a)(43)(D), and that the remainder of the petitioner’s claims were either meritless or unexhausted. (Maniar v. Garland, 5/20/21)
AILA Welcomes Biden Administration Expansion of Access to Justice and Legal Representation
AILA welcomed news that President Biden will renew DOJ's efforts to expand access to justice and legal representation, noting that, “Having legal representation is the most important factor in ensuring fair and just proceedings.”
AILA and Partners Urge DOJ to Review EOIR Personnel and Install New Leadership
AILA and partners sent a letter urging DOJ to conduct a review of all EOIR personnel decisions made by the previous administration, immediately install new leadership in all key posts, and to diversify the immigration judge corps.
CA3 Rejects Government’s Attempt to Invoke Fugitive Disentitlement Doctrine, But Upholds Denial of Withholding of Removal
The court held that the government’s evidence of petitioner’s fugitive status was insufficiently probative to justify discretionary dismissal of his petition, but found that BIA did not err in denying petitioner’s withholding of removal application. (Galeas Figueroa v. Att’y Gen., 5/19/21)
EOIR Releases Workload and Adjudication Statistics
EOIR released workload adjudication statistics, including statistics on caseload, credible fear, reasonable fear, and asylum rates, detention time frames, in absentia orders, IJ corps, motions, representation rates, UAC, VTC hearings, hearing language, FOIA receipts, OCAHO receipts, and BIA appeals.
DHS OIG Finds ICE Did Not Consistently Provide Separated Migrant Parents the Opportunity to Bring Their Children Upon Removal
DHS OIG found that before 7/12/18, migrant parents were not consistently able to reunify with their children before removal, and that, in contradiction to claims by DHS and ICE, there was no policy or process requiring ICE officers to ascertain or honor parents’ decisions regarding their children.
Attorney General Issues Memo on Access to Justice
Attorney General Garland issued a memo reinvigorating DOJ's Office for Access to Justice and announcing a process to develop a plan for expanding DOJ's role in leading access-to-justice policy initiatives, including on how DOJ and partners can address barriers to access in the immigration systems.
CA9 Finds Nunc Pro Tunc Order Did Not Retroactively Establish Naturalized Parent’s Sole Legal Custody Under Former INA §321(a)
The court held that where it has not been proven that a custody order was entered in error, a nunc pro tunc order cannot retroactively establish a naturalized parent’s sole legal custody for purposes of derivative citizenship under former INA §321(a). (Padilla Carino v. Garland, 5/18/21)
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on “Totality of the Circumstances”
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Birhanu v. Garland arguing a totality of the circumstances approach and the Board’s prior PSC caselaw and urging the court to grant petitioner’s request for rehearing en banc.
OPLA Miami Scheduling - Attorney /Client Assignments (May 17 - June 11, 2021)
OPLA Miami scheduling for all non-detained from May 17 to June 11, 2021. These assignments were based upon dockets published by EOIR.