Immigration Courts

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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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  • Blog

Justice Department Will Not Halt Legal Orientation Program for Detained Immigrants, Reversing Course for Now

April 25, 2018

Just two weeks after the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a suspension of the Legal Orientation Program (LOP), Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified today that DOJ will reverse course and...

  • Blog

Department of Justice Ignores Its Own Evaluators’ Recommendations on Immigration Courts

April 23, 2018

A newly-released document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) shows that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is making radical changes to the immigration court system that...

  • 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 (...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Blog

Already Facing a Backlog, Sessions Aims to Add 350,000 Cases to Immigration Courts

January 16, 2018

In a rare move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently referred an immigration case to himself, invoking a federal statute that allows attorneys general to reconsider cases decided by the Board...

  • Blog

Court Rules Detained Iraqis Are Entitled to Bond Hearings

January 5, 2018

In another victory for over 300 Iraqis whose deportation was halted last July, a Michigan district court ruled that they must be permitted to seek bond while their immigration cases are pending....

  • Blog

‘Zero Tolerance’ Overwhelmed Courts and Diverted Resources From Criminal Investigations

December 5, 2019

Attorney General Sessions’ orders to prioritize prosecuting people for immigration-related offenses in 2017 and 2018 put a significant strain on law enforcement across the border, diverting...

  • Blog

Immigration Courts Further Limit Legal Help Available to People Facing Deportation

December 3, 2019

Every year, thousands of people are forced to face the complex deportation system without an attorney representing them. Now, the immigration courts are seeking to limit the assistance that these...

  • Blog

What’s Happened to the People Returned to Mexico Under the Migrant Protection Protocols?

November 6, 2019

It’s been nearly a year since the Trump administration announced the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), or the “Remain in Mexico” program. This program forces vulnerable asylum seekers to return...

  • Blog

A Federal Agency Is Deleting Court Records That Implicate Trump’s Immigration Policies  

November 5, 2019

Understanding how the immigration agencies operate has never been more important. Equally important is being able to rely on the information that those agencies release to the public. For this...

  • Blog

The Perils of the Migrant Protection Protocols

October 23, 2019

Rape, violence, kidnapping, and lack of basic health care is, unfortunately, a reality for hundreds of asylum seekers subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) or “Remain in Mexico”...

  • Blog

How the Immigration Court Reached a Record One Million Case Backlog

September 24, 2019

When Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the immigration courts faced a record backlog of over 542,000 cases. This month, the immigration court backlog hit a new historic high with over 1,...

  • Blog

Chaos and Dysfunction at the Border: The Remain in Mexico Program Firsthand

September 9, 2019

The first thing many people forcibly returned to Mexico tell you is that they’re afraid. Afraid of the cartels, afraid of Mexican immigration officials, and afraid of the months of uncertainty....

  • Blog

Tent Immigration Courthouses Are Being Built at the Texas Border

August 29, 2019

Immigration judges from across the country will soon be reassigned from their normal caseload to  preside over thousands of immigration cases along the U.S.-Mexico border, reportedly in an effort...

  • Blog

DOJ Moves to Further Politicize Immigration Court System

August 27, 2019

The Trump administration implemented more drastic changes to the U.S. immigration court system on Monday. A new rule gives the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)—a...

  • Blog

Trump Administration Moves to ‘Disband and Destroy’ Immigration Judges Union

August 12, 2019

Immigration judges around the country are denouncing the Trump administration’s latest move to “disband and destroy” their union. The judges’ union has been openly critical of the administration’s...

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