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
EOIR Resumes Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Charlotte, Denver, and Orlando Immigration Courts
EOIR announced that it resumed non-detained individual (merits) hearings and master calendar dockets involving small number of respondents at the Charlotte, Denver, and Orlando immigration courts on September 14, 2020. The option to file by email at these courts will end on November 13, 2020.
TRAC Says It Will Release New Asylum Data, But Urges Caution with EOIR Data
TRAC announced it will again release data through its asylum tool, but notes that records are still missing from the data it receives from EOIR. TRAC says there is evidence that EOIR is mismanaging or misrepresenting the data it uses to evaluate IJs’ performance, support policy changes, and more.
Organizations Call for Immediate Investigation into Reports of Unnecessary Procedures and Inadequate Care in ICE Facility
In a joint statement, AILA and the American Immigration Council respond to reports of inadequate medical care and unnecessary hysterectomies in ICE detention.
CA1 Upholds Asylum Denial to Honduran Petitioner Who Feared Attacks Motivated by His Father’s Gang Affiliation
The court held that the petitioner did not meet his burden of showing that the government of Honduras was unwilling or unable to protect him, where the evidence in the record indicated that the police had investigated the threats and attacks against him. (Gómez-Medina v. Barr, 9/15/20)
CA3 Finds District Court Lacked Jurisdiction to Review Appellant’s Challenges to the Execution of His Removal Order
Where the appellant had raised two challenges to the execution of his removal order, the court found that he had pursued his claims in the wrong proceeding, and reversed and remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. (Tazu v. Att’y Gen., 9/14/20)
Senators Announce GAO Investigation of the Politicization and Mismanagement of Immigration Courts
On September 14, 2020, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) announced that the GAO will investigate the politicization of the immigration courts under the Trump administration and EOIR’s mismanagement of the immigration courts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CA5 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Chinese Petitioner Who Claimed He Had an Anti-Corruption Political Belief
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum to the Chinese petitioner, finding that the evidence did not compel a reasonable factfinder to conclude that the petitioner had been persecuted for his political opinion rather than for personal reasons. (Du v. Barr, 9/14/20)
CA9 Finds Record Showed That Salvadoran Government Was Unable to Control Gang’s Deadly Violence
The court held that substantial evidence did not support the BIA’s conclusion that the government of El Salvador was willing and able to control the Mara-18 gang that attacked the petitioner and killed his son, and found that the gang continues to be a threat. (J.R. v. Barr, 9/11/20)
CA9 Vacates Injunction Barring ICE from Issuing Detainers Based Solely on Electronic Database Checks
The court reversed and vacated the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s injunction barring ICE from issuing detainers based solely on searches of electronic databases to make probable cause determinations of removability. (Gonzalez, et al. v. ICE, et al., 9/11/20)
DHS Proposed Rule on Use and Collection of Biometrics
DHS proposed rule on the use and collection of biometrics in the enforcement and administration of immigration laws. Comments on the rule are due on 10/13/20, with comments on associated proposed form revisions due 11/10/20. (85 FR 56338, 9/11/20)
CA9 Holds BIA Applied Incorrect Standard When Reviewing IJ’s Factual Findings Related to Mexican Petitioner’s CAT Application
The court held that the BIA erred by not reviewing the IJ’s factual findings for clear error, as required by 8 CFR §1003.1(d)(3)(i), when it reversed the IJ’s grant of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). (Guerra v. Barr, 3/3/20, amended 9/11/20)
TRAC Releases Report on Administrative Closure
TRAC analyzed historical data on EOIR administrative closures, and found that EOIR significantly misrepresented the data it used to justify its August 2020 proposed rule to eliminate administrative closure. Per TRAC, far from contributing to the backlog, administrative closure has helped reduce it.
Resources Relating to Minnesota Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Matter of Castro-Tum
The plaintiffs submitted a memorandum in opposition to the defendants’ motion to dismiss, arguing that the INA does not prohibit the court from exercising jurisdiction over the subject matter of the plaintiffs’ amended complaint. (Lopez, et al. v. Barr, et al., 9/4/20)
CA8 Upholds Denial of CAT Relief to Bangladeshi Petitioner Who Converted to Christianity
Upholding the denial of deferral of removal under the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the court held that the BIA did not err in determining that the petitioner had failed to show he would more likely than not be tortured if removed to Bangladesh. (Ahmed v. Barr, 9/4/20)
MALDEF Files Lawsuit Alleging That Acting DHS Secretary Wolf’s DACA Memo Is Unlawful
The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking to enjoin and vacate Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf’s July 28, 2020, memo imposing changes to the DACA program. (Santa Fe Dreamers Project, et al., v. Wolf, et al., 9/3/20)
DHS OIG Says CBP Should Award a Medical Services Contract Quickly to Ensure No Gap in Service
DHS OIG released a management alert stating that CBP’s current contract for medical services expires on 9/29/20, and that as of 9/3/20, CBP had not issued a solicitation for a new contract. A lapse in the contract, per the alert, “could jeopardize the health and safety of migrants in CBP custody.”
CA7 Rejects Castro-Tum and Holds That IJs Are Not Precluded from Administratively Closing Cases When Appropriate
The court rejected Matter of Castro-Tum’s conclusion that administrative closure is not within an IJ’s authority to take “any action” appropriate and necessary for the disposition of cases pursuant to 8 CFR §1003.10(b). (Meza Morales v. Barr, 6/26/20, amended 9/3/20)
EOIR to Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Salt Lake City Immigration Court
EOIR announced that will resume non-detained individual hearings and master calendar dockets involving relatively small number of respondents at the Salt Lake City Immigration Court on September 8, 2020. The option to file by email at this court will end on November 8, 2020.
CA3 Upholds Asylum Denial After Finding Syrian Militia Is a Tier III Terrorist Organization Under INA §212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III)
The court upheld the denial of asylum to the petitioner, who fled involuntary military service in a government-controlled militia in Syria, finding that the militia was not beyond the scope of the Tier III provision under INA §212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(III). (A.A. v. Att’y Gen., 9/2/20)
CA4 Finds Petitioner Failed to Establish That Salvadoran Government Was Unable or Unwilling to Control MS-13
Finding that the record did not compel the conclusion that the Salvadoran government was unwilling or unable to control the MS-13 gang, the court upheld the IJ and BIA’s conclusion that the petitioner did not qualify as a refugee under INA §101(a)(42)(A). (Portillo-Flores v. Barr, 9/2/20)
CA3 Rejects Due Process Claims of Mexican Petitioner Who Sought Cancellation of Removal
Where BIA had dismissed petitioner’s appeal on the ground that his removal would not cause his daughters “exceptional and extremely unusual hardship,” the court rejected his two due process challenges, finding that neither was a constitutional claim. (Hernandez-Morales v. Att’y Gen., 9/2/20)
House Committee on Oversight and Reform Releases Report on Mistreatment of Detained Immigrants
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a report on for-profit contractors’ detention of immigrants. The committee inspected several detention facilities and found deficient sanitation/mismanagement of infectious diseases and that detainees died after receiving inadequate medical care.
CA9 Finds Domestic Violence Waiver Under Special Rule Cancellation of Removal Did Not Cover Petitioner’s Drug Conviction
The court held that the domestic violence waiver established under INA §237(a)(7), and made applicable to cancellation of removal by INA §240A(b)(5), is limited to crimes of domestic violence and stalking, and thus did not cover petitioner’s drug conviction. (Jaimes-Cardenas v. Barr, 9/1/20)
CA1 Vacates Preliminary Injunction Against ICE Courthouse Arrests in Massachusetts
The court held that the district court abused its discretion in finding plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing that the INA implicitly incorporates a common law privilege against civil arrests for individuals attending court on official business. (Ryan, et al. v. ICE, et al., 9/1/20)
DHS OIG Finds Five Texas CBP Facilities Generally Complied with National TEDS Standards
DHS OIG performed unannounced inspections of five CBP facilities in Laredo and San Antonio areas of Texas in February 2020 and found that the facilities appeared to be generally operating in compliance with the National Standards on Transport, Escort, Detention, and Search (TEDS).