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 Holds Witness Intimidation in Massachusetts Is Not a CIMT
Unpublished BIA decision holds intimidation of a witness under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 268, §13B is not a CIMT because it can be committed recklessly. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Mendoza-Lopez, 7/22/20)
CRS Releases Legal Sidebar on U.S. Immigration Laws Regulating the Admission and Exclusion of Noncitizens at the Border
CRS updated its legal sidebar on laws governing the admission and exclusion of noncitizens at the border, including procedures for asylum seekers and circumstances in which arriving noncitizens may be detained; special rules for treatment of UACs; recent policy changes; and legislative proposals.
BIA Orders Further Consideration of Continuance Pending U Visa Adjudication
Unpublished BIA decision orders further consideration of request for continuance pending adjudication of U visa petition where IJ failed to adequately consider factors under Matter of Sanchez Sosa. Special thanks to IRAC. (Matter of Delgado-Sarmiento, 7/21/20)
CA5 Finds Substantial Evidence Supported IJ’s Adverse Credibility Determination as to LGBT Asylum Seeker from El Salvador
The court upheld the BIA’s finding that the IJ’s adverse credibility determination was not clearly erroneous under the totality of the circumstances, and found that the Salvadoran petitioner could not prevail on his due process claim. (Santos-Alvarado v. Barr, 7/21/20)
CA6 Finds BIA Failed to Consider Evidence of Russian Petitioner’s Threatened Prosecution in Assessing His Asylum Claim
Granting the petition for review, the court held that the BIA erred in disregarding evidence that the petitioner, who had engaged in anticorruption whistleblowing activities, would be criminally prosecuted for his political opinion if he was returned to Russia. (Skripkov v. Barr, 7/20/20)
EOIR 60-Day Notice and Request for Comments on New Form EOIR-59
EOIR 60-day notice and request for comments on proposed new Form EOIR-59, Certification and Release of Records, which will be used by parties who are or were in proceedings before EOIR to release their records to an attorney or other third party. Comments are due 9/15/20. (85 FR 43604, 7/17/20)
U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland Orders DHS to Restore DACA
Judge Paul W. Grimm in the Maryland District Court vacated DACA’s rescission and enjoined DHS from implementing or enforcing the rescission and from taking any other action to rescind DACA that is not in compliance with applicable law. (Casa de Maryland, et al., v. DHS, et.al., 7/17/20)
DHS/DOJ Announce Plan to Restart MPP Hearings “As Expeditiously As Possible”
DHS and DOJ provide the criteria they will use to determine when they will resume MPP hearings. Once the criteria is met, they will provide public notification at least 15 calendar days prior to resumption of hearings with location-specific details
EOIR Announces 46 New Immigration Judges
EOIR announced the investiture of 46 new immigration judges, including three assistant chief immigration judges. Per EOIR, this brings the immigration judge corps to 509, which is the highest total ever. Notice includes the judges’ biographical information and courts of appointment.
AILA and Partners Urge DHS and ICE to Release Detained Families Together
AILA and other organizations sent a letter to DHS and ICE urging the immediate release of all families—parents together with their children—held at ICE family detention centers and to not use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to deploy its family separation policy again.
AILA Submits Amicus Brief On What Crimes Should Be Considered a CIMT Assault Offense in Oregon
AILA submitted an amicus brief in Guzman-Pena v. Barr requesting the court to uphold Matter of Wu’s definition of what crimes are a generic CIMT assault offense and hold that ORS 163.185, which does not criminalize any injury to another, is overbroad to the generic crime of assault.
CA2 Finds Petitioners’ New York Firearms Convictions Were Not Removable Offenses
Applying the categorical approach, the court held that the BIA erred in finding the petitioners removable for having been convicted of a firearms offense under the INA, because their New York convictions criminalized conduct that the INA does not. (Jack v. Barr, 7/16/20)
EOIR to Resume Hearings in Non-Detained Cases at the Arlington Immigration Court
EOIR announced that it will resume non-detained individual (merits) hearings and master calendar dockets involving relatively small numbers of respondents at the Arlington Immigration Court on July 20, 2020. The option to file by email at the court will end on September 20, 2020.
DHS Inspector General Testifies on Children in CBP Custody
DHS IG Joseph V. Cuffari testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security on children in CBP custody. The testimony includes a discussion of conditions on the southwest border, investigations of deaths of children while in CBP custody, medical care procedures, and improper spending.
AILA, the Council, and the Justice Campaign Submit Comments Opposing Proposed Asylum Rule
AILA, the Council, and the Justice Campaign submitted joint comments opposing an EOIR/USCIS proposed rule on Procedures for Asylum and Withholding of Removal; Credible Fear and Reasonable Fear Review. The rule will return vulnerable individuals who deserve protection to danger and potential death.
Attorney General Vacates BIA’s Decision in Matter of O-F-A-S-
Clarifying the proper approach for determining “official capacity” for the purpose of deciding CAT protection, the AG vacated the BIA’s decision in Matter of O-F-A-S-, 27 I&N Dec. 709 (BIA 2019), and remanded the case for review. Matter of O-F-A-S-, 28 I&N Dec. 35 (A.G. 2020)
GAO Says CBP Needs to Increase Oversight of Funds, Medical Care, and Reporting of Deaths
GAO found that CBP has consistently overlooked health screening policies for detainees and that it violated the law by using emergency funds to enhance detainees' medical care for other items. GAO also found that CBP lacks reliable data on deaths and did not report this data to Congress as directed.
Senators Urge DHS to Reopen DACA for New Applicants
On July 14, 2020, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) led a letter from 33 senators urging DHS Acting Secretary Chad Wolf to reopen DACA applications for new applicants following the Supreme Court’s rejection of the administration’s rescission of DACA.
BIA Rules On DHS’s Authority to Return Individuals to a Contiguous Foreign Territory Under MPP
BIA ruled that under INA §235(b)2(c), an individual who is arriving on land from a contiguous foreign territory may be returned by DHS to that country pursuant to MPP, regardless of whether the individual arrives at or between a designated POE. Matter of M-D-C-V-, 28 I&N Dec. 18 (BIA 2020)
CA11 Says BIA’s Application of Stop-Time Rule to Petitioner’s 1995 Conviction Was Impermissibly Retroactive
The court held that the BIA erred in retroactively applying the stop-time rule to the petitioner’s pre-Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) conviction, and thus that he was eligible for cancellation of removal. (Rendon v. Att’y Gen., 7/14/20)
AILA and Partners Urge Senate Leaders to Extend Work Authorizations to Dreamers
AILA joined 182 national and local partners in urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to include automatic extensions of employment authorization for DACA, TPS, and other work-authorized immigrants in the fourth COVID-19 legislative package.
CA2 Finds BIA Erred in Denying Petitioner’s Motion to Suppress Evidence of Her Alienage Without an Evidentiary Hearing
Applying the standard set in Cotzojay v. Holder to petitioner’s motion to suppress evidence, the court concluded that the petitioner had submitted sufficient evidence of an egregious Fourth Amendment violation to warrant an evidentiary hearing. (Millan-Hernandez v. Barr, 7/13/20)
The Roundtable of Former Immigration Judges Submits Comment on Proposed Plans to End Asylum
The Roundtable of Former Immigration Judges sent a letter to EOIR and USCIS opposing the proposed rule that would make multiple changes to regulations governing asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection. The Roundtable urge the departments to withdraw all sections of the proposed rule.
Class Action Lawsuit in Minnesota Challenges Matter of Castro-Tum
Plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in federal district court on behalf of certain individuals in Minnesota who are ineligible to apply for a provisional unlawful presence waiver because their removal proceedings are not administratively closed. (Lopez, et al. v. Barr, et al., 7/13/20)
CA7 Upholds Denial of Asylum to Petitioner Who Feared Life as an Openly Gay Woman in Mexico
The court upheld the BIA’s denial of asylum to the Mexican petitioner, who sought relief based on threats of physical violence she had received because of her gay sexual orientation, concluding that substantial evidence supported the agency’s decision. (Escobedo Marquez v. Barr, 7/13/20)