Immigration Courts

Recent Features

Empty Benches: Underfunding of Immigration Courts Undermines Justice

Backlogs and delays benefit neither immigrants nor the government—keeping those with valid claims in limbo and often in detention, delaying removal of those without valid claims, and calling into question the integrity of the immigration justice system.

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All Immigration Courts Content

  • Blog

Immigration Courts Have New Rules Governing Legal Representation Processes

September 24, 2015

Last week, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced changes to the regulations governing legal representation in immigration court and at the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA...

  • Blog

Restrictionists Continue to Attack H-4 Work Authorization

September 2, 2015

Save Jobs USA—an organization comprised of IT workers who claim they lost their jobs to H-1B workers—still wants to overturn the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rule that allows certain H-4...

  • Blog

Immigration Courts Desperately Need More Judges

August 27, 2015

Although this year’s presidential primary contests are dominated by the topic of immigration, the focus is on politically charged, hot-button issues like border walls and birthright citizenship....

  • Blog

Government Ordered to Promptly Release Children From Family Detention

August 24, 2015

In a decision issued Friday, a district court in California ruled yet again that the government is violating a long-standing settlement agreement protecting the rights of children in immigration...

  • Blog

Court Issues Decision in Washtech, Case Challenging Training for U.S.-Educated Noncitizens

August 14, 2015

This week, a federal district court issued a decision in Washtech (Washington Alliance of Technology Workers v. DHS), a lawsuit brought, in part, by the Immigration Reform Law Institute, to...

  • Blog

Immigrant Children Without Attorneys are Still Being Ordered Deported

August 13, 2015

It would seem to be a simple matter of conscience that no child should ever stand before a judge without having an attorney as an advocate. Younger children in particular may not even understand...

  • Blog

Court Finds Federal Officers Can be Sued for Mistreatment of Immigrants in Detention

July 29, 2015

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled last month that eight immigrant men who were detained under extremely punitive conditions in maximum security facilities following 9/11, could...

  • Blog

Story of Unaccompanied Child Underscores Importance of Legal Representation Needed for All Refugee Children

July 28, 2015

Elvis Garcia is a migration counselor at the Catholic Charities Community Services of New York. He is also a former unaccompanied child who fled from his native Honduras in 2005 when he was 15...

  • Blog

Judge’s Order in Flores Should Signal the End of Family Detention

July 27, 2015

A federal judge issued an order in the Flores case that should go a long way to ending the government’s practice of detaining children and their mothers in unlicensed, secure facilities in Dilley...

  • Blog

Appellate Court Hears Oral Argument in Texas v. United States

July 13, 2015

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral argument in the most closely watched immigration case in years, Texas v. United States. This is a case brought by Texas and...

  • FOIA

Immigration Judge Performance Quotas FOIA Request

The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—the...

  • Blog

The Justice Department Is Halting Its Legal Advice Program for Detained Immigrants

April 11, 2018

In its latest attack on due process and access to counsel in the immigration court system, the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) has decided to suspend its Legal Orientation Program (...

  • Press Release

DOJ Cuts Immigrants’ Access to Counsel in Latest Attack on Due Process

April 11, 2018
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced its intention to cancel the Legal Orientation Program (LOP) despite its immensely positive impact on judicial efficiency and fundamental fairness, and Congress’ express instruction to continue such programming, along with the provision of funding in the fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill, recently signed by the president.
  • Blog

Immigration Judge Quotas Could Result in Assembly Line Justice

April 4, 2018

In a controversial move, the Department of Justice recently announced new case completion quotas for immigration judges. These new quotas will result in time constraints and pressure for judges to...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Finds No Right to a Bond Hearing Under Immigration Law

February 28, 2018

Indefinitely detained immigrants facing possible deportation lost ground in their fight for the right to a bond hearing following a Supreme Court decision on Tuesday. Their sole remaining weapon...

  • Amicus Briefs

Matter of Castro-Tum

Publication Date: 
February 19, 2018
In the case, Attorney General Jeff Sessions referred to himself questions related to administrative closure. This move by Sessions could signal an attempt to end administrative closure altogether—which could force over 350,000 immigrants back into immigration court, exacerbating the challenges of an already overburdened immigration court system.
  • Blog

Trump’s Budget Proposal Would Increase Harsh Immigration Enforcement

February 13, 2018

President Trump released his formal budget request to Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, which doubles down on his aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. The proposed budget seeks to fund the...

  • Blog

Government Shuts Down While Negotiations Continue on Dream Act, but Most Immigration Functions Continue

January 20, 2018

With the national conversation focused squarely on Dreamers, Congress was unable to find common ground on a budget deal and has shut down the U.S. Government. Congressional leadership decided not...

  • Blog

Lawsuit Filed Against DOJ and Judges in North Carolina Who Refuse to Hold Bond Hearings

January 18, 2018

In a sharp departure from the practice of immigration courts around the country, immigration judges in North Carolina are refusing to conduct bond hearings for detained immigrants who come before...

  • Litigation

Challenging Immigration Judges' Refusal to Conduct Bond Hearings

This lawsuit challenges the actions of immigration judges in Charlotte, North Carolina who have refused to conduct bond hearings for people who properly file bond motions with the Charlotte Immigration Court.

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