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
CA4 Finds Asylum Applicant’s Proposed Social Group Was Impermissibly Circular Under Matter of A-B-
The court found that the petitioner’s proposed social group of “married El Salvadoran women in a controlling and abusive domestic relationship” violated the anti-circularity requirement reaffirmed in the Attorney General’s ruling in Matter of A-B-. (Amaya-De Sicaran v. Barr, 10/30/20)
DHS Releases Privacy Impact Assessment for CBP Web Emergency Operations Center (WebEOC)
DHS released a PIA for the Web Emergency Operations Center (WebEOC), CBP’s emergency notification, event tracking, and incident management system. The PIA provides information about the uses of WebEOC, including as the point of collection for electronic medical records of individuals in CBP custody.
Resources on ICE Detention During COVID-19
AILA has created resources related to ICE’s handling of detention during COVID-19, including a free recording eligible for CLE on parole and a just-added webinar on seeking release for detained clients.
TRAC Releases Report on Deportation Relief During the Trump Administration
TRAC says IJs have completed 1,075,578 deportation cases during the Trump administration and that 395,244 immigrants have submitted applications for relief. The report provides numerical breakdowns for each relief type and describes the legal grounds under which each type of relief can be granted.
AILA Colorado Chapter Leaders and Partners Discuss Suspected COVID-19 Outbreak in the Aurora Contract Detention Facility
On a press call, AILA Colorado Chapter leaders joined on-the-ground partners and a public health expert to discuss the suspected COVID-19 outbreak in the Aurora Contract Detention Facility.
DHS OIG Says ICE Needs to Address Concerns About Detainee Care at the Howard County Detention Center
DHS OIG released a report saying that, during an inspection of the Howard County Detention Center, it identified violations of ICE detention standards that threatened the health, safety, and rights of detainees, including excessive strip searches and failure to provide two hot meals a day.
TRAC Says Asylum Denial Rates Continue to Climb
TRAC released a report noting that despite the partial court shutdown due to the pandemic, in FY2020, immigration judges made the second highest number of asylum decisions in the past two decades. The rate of denial also climbed to a record high of 71.6 percent, compared to 54.6 percent in FY2016.
Practice Alert: Implementation of Expedited Removal Expansion
AILA provides a practice alert with information on DHS's announcement that it is significantly expanding expedited removal. On 10/27/20, CBS News reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez released the notice that ICE will be providing to individuals subjected to the expanded ER policy.
ICE Releases Detainees from the Adelanto ICE Processing Center
ICE announced that in response to a court order, ICE has complied with mandated reduction to the overall detainee population at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in Adelanto, CA. Pursuant to the court order, 250 detainees were released; the current population at the facility is approximately 465.
CA5 Finds Petitioner’s Diligence Should Be Measured from Issuance of Carranza-De Salinas
The court held that the petitioner had failed to show the requisite due diligence to warrant equitable tolling, where he had waited more than three years after the court’s decision in Carranza-De Salinas v. Holder to file his motion to reopen. (Londono-Gonzalez v. Barr, 10/26/20)
AILA and Partners Submit Amicus Brief on Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) Tear Sheets
AILA and partners submitted an amicus brief urging the BIA to conclude that DHS’s service practices for MPP notice and advisal sheets deny respondents their statutory right to notice of the time and place of their removal proceedings and their statutory right to a full and fair hearing.
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on Nonstate Actor Determinations in Asylum Claims
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Portillo-Flores v. Barr requesting that the Fourth Circuit to grant en banc review and clarify the standard of review courts apply when making nonstate actor determinations in asylum claims.
CA3 Says Petitioner’s New Jersey Conviction for Criminal Sexual Contact Is an Aggravated Felony
Denying the petition for review, the court held that the petitioner’s conviction in New Jersey for criminal sexual contact constituted an aggravated felony under INA §237(a)(2)(A)(iii) that rendered him removable. (Grijalva Martinez v. Att’y Gen., 10/21/20)
USCIS and EOIR Final Rule on Bars to Asylum Eligibility
USCIS and EOIR final rule that adds seven additional mandatory bars to eligibility for asylum, among other changes. The final rule is effective 11/20/20. (85 FR 67202, 10/21/20)
AILA and the Council Submit Comments Opposing EOIR’s Proposed Rule, Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal
AILA and the Council submitted comments opposing EOIR’s proposed rule, Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal. If implemented, this rule would drastically limit the ability of individuals to obtain asylum and withholding of removal in the United States.
ICE Implements July 23, 2019, Expedited Removal Designation
ICE announced that due to an order issued by the DC Circuit Court, ICE can now expedite the removal of certain individuals pursuant to the 7/23/19 Designation of Aliens for Expedited Removal. The announcement provides information on which individuals, except for UACs, can now be subjected to ER.
EOIR Extension of Comment Period on Proposed Revisions to Form EOIR-31A
EOIR extension of a comment period previously announced at 85 FR 42009 on proposed revisions to Form EOIR-31A. Comments are now due 11/19/20. (85 FR 66578, 10/20/20)
CA9 Says Knowingly Sponsoring or Exhibiting an Animal in Animal Fighting Venture Is a CIMT
The court held that the petitioner’s conviction under 7 USC §2156(a)(1) for knowingly sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture was a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT), and found that he was ineligible for cancellation of removal. (Ortega-Lopez v. Barr, 10/20/20)
DHS Releases Fact Sheet on Measures on the Border to Limit the Further Spread of Coronavirus
On October 19, 2020, DHS updated its fact sheet on measures to limit non-essential travel across the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders and to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The measures have been extended until November 21, 2020.
AILA Submits Amicus Brief on Immigration Judges’ Authority to Administratively Close Removal Proceedings
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Gonzalez-Penaloza v. Barr arguing that the AG’s decision in Matter of Castro-Tum stripping IJs and the BIA of their authority to administratively close removal proceedings is unreasonable and creates unjust, inefficient, and unworkable results.
TRAC Issues Report on the Pandemic and ICE Use of Detainers in FY2020
TRAC reported that the pandemic appears to have caused only a temporary and modest drop in detainer usage by ICE. Average weekday detainer usage, overall trending downward, fell in mid-March below 400 per weekday, but started climbing back up mid-April, and by mid-May had recovered completely.
South Florida EOIR Miami Court Rotation (Phase 1)
EOIR Miami Immigration Judge Court Rotation for Phase 1, beginning on October 19 and October 26, 2020.
USCIS 30-Day Extension of Comment Period on Proposed Revisions to Form I-191
USCIS 30-day extension of a comment period previously announced at 85 FR 41061 on proposed revisions to Form I-191, Application for Relief under Former Section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Comments are now due 11/16/20. (85 FR 65858, 10/16/20)
DOJ and DHS Release Report on Incarceration and Immigration Status
DHS and DOJ released the FY2019 Alien Incarceration Report, providing data on the immigration status of known or suspected immigrants incarcerated under the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service, and in state prisons and local detention centers throughout the U.S.
CA9 Says Oregon’s Former Marijuana Delivery Statute Is Not an “Illicit Trafficking of a Controlled Substance” Offense
The court held that Oregon’s former marijuana delivery statute, Or. Rev. Stat. §475.860, was not an “illicit trafficking of a controlled substance” offense, and thus found that the petitioner’s conviction did not make him removable as an aggravated felon. (Cortes-Maldonado v. Barr, 10/15/20)