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

Sessions Reveals Plan to Ramp up Prosecutions of Low Level Immigration Offenses

April 11, 2017

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a shift in policy for the Department of Justice on Tuesday, directing U.S. Attorneys to prioritize criminal immigration enforcement and drastically expand...

  • Blog

The Sad State of Atlanta’s Immigration Court

March 10, 2017

The Atlanta immigration court is known as one of the worst places to be in deportation proceedings. For years, the judges have been accused of abusive and unprofessional practices and the denial...

  • Blog

Attorney General Sessions’ First Orders of Business on Immigration

February 9, 2017

Jeff Sessions was confirmed as Attorney General this week by a vote of 52-47, following a very contentious confirmation process. As Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice (DOJ),...

  • Blog

New Immigration Court Directive Could Weaken Due Process

February 3, 2017

The Trump administration released a memorandum this week–effective immediately–which orders the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review (which manages the immigration courts...

  • Blog

Meet the Plaintiffs Challenging the Discriminatory Nature of President Trump’s Muslim Ban

January 31, 2017

The fallout continues from last week’s immigration executive order, which has been coined the “Muslim Ban.” Several lawsuits have been filed to challenge the executive order, including Ali v....

  • Blog

Jeff Sessions Affirms Anti-Immigrant Views at Confirmation Hearing

January 12, 2017

Senator Jeff Sessions, who has been nominated to be Attorney General by President-elect Donald Trump, endured a 10-and-a-half-hour confirmation hearing this week where he answered questions on a...

  • Blog

Asylum Free Zones in the U.S. Examined by Inter-American Commission

December 20, 2016

Entire jurisdictions in the United States have become so hostile to asylum seekers and their representatives that the U.S. government, and its immigration court system, is failing to deliver on...

  • Blog

Jeff Sessions Nomination for Attorney General is Highly Concerning to Future of Immigration Policy

November 18, 2016
Senator Sessions has led the fight against immigration reform at every turn during his 20 years in the Senate.
  • Blog

How the Immigration Court Backlog Would Skyrocket Under Donald Trump’s Plan

November 16, 2016

For more than a decade, the immigration court system has struggled with an enormous backlog. The latest figures from  (TRAC) record the backlog at an all-time high of 521,676 as of the end of...

  • Blog

Ninth Circuit Finds Court Has No Authority to Hear Lawsuit Seeking Access to Counsel for Children

September 29, 2016

In 2014, a legal challenge was mounted against the federal government for its failure to provide legal representation to indigent children in deportation proceedings. The case, F.L.B.. v. Lynch...

  • Blog

Immigration Judges and Advocates Criticize Immigration Court System for ‘Propaganda’

May 16, 2019
  • Blog

Trump Wants to Make These 4 Disastrous Changes to the Asylum System

May 1, 2019

President Trump is calling for new regulations that will target asylum seekers arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. These new rules would accelerate court hearings, limit options for relief, create...

  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Judge Orders

April 9, 2019

Asylum seekers are often imprisoned in immigration detention for weeks or months before they can ask a judge to release them, even though they’re entitled to bond hearings. But this injustice may...

  • Blog

Appeals Court Says Asylum Seekers May Now Challenge Their Deportation in Federal Court

March 11, 2019

Many asylum seekers who travel to the United States seeking protection often receive something much less—they are arrested by immigration officials and provided no meaningful way to challenge...

  • Blog

The Government Is Hiding Information About How It Deports People – This Lawsuit Seeks to Expose That

February 28, 2019

The Trump administration’s aggressive enforcement tactics have made immigrants with final removal orders more vulnerable. That’s why it is more important than ever to have basic due process...

  • Litigation

Standards for Avoiding Deportation Cannot Be Shrouded in Secrecy

We filed a FOIA request seeking statistical information, as well as policies and guidance, regarding Board of Immigration Appeals standards for issuing stays of removal. Because the government failed to respond, we're filing a lawsuit.
  • Practice Advisories

Notices to Appear

Publication Date: 
February 27, 2019
This Practice Advisory provides legal and procedural arguments and strategies for attorneys representing noncitizens.
  • Blog

Immigration Courts’ Growing Reliance on Videoconference Hearings Is Being Challenged

February 25, 2019

In some parts of the country, it has long been the practice for detained immigrants to appear for their immigration court hearings via video teleconference (“VTC”), rather than in-person. This is...

  • Blog

Blueprint for Overhauling Immigration Courts Released Through FOIA

February 21, 2019

A FOIA request has forced the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to produce its comprehensive plan for reducing the immigration court backlog. Though partially redacted, the aim of the...

  • Blog

Setting the Record Straight: Asylum Seekers Show Up for Court

January 30, 2019

Immigration restrictionists have often repeated a bold and erroneous claim: that there is a serious problem of asylum seekers who come to the U.S. border and disappear once released from detention...

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