Immigration Courts
Immigration courts play a crucial role in ensuring that immigration laws are applied fairly and consistently, providing due process to those facing removal. Learn more about issues facing the courts today and explore the actions we're taking to ensure the rights of immigrants are upheld and legal integrity is maintained.
A Shortage of Immigration Lawyers Is Another Barrier to Integration for Immigrants
Immigrants are now far more likely to face the complexities of the immigration court system alone, without an attorney. As of December 2023, only 30% of immigrants with pending cases have secured representation, down from 65% just four years ago. This new data comes from… Read More
New EOIR Memo Updates Protections for Children in Immigration Court
A new memo issued last month by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) lays out improved guidelines for immigration court cases involving children. The memo is a welcome acknowledgment that children in removal proceedings are navigating a system created for adults and therefore need special protection. The guidelines… Read More
Comment on Executive Office for Immigration Review Proposed Rule Regarding Restoring Appeal Procedures and Administrative Closure
The American Immigration Council and the American Immigration Lawyers Association submitted this comment in support of the proposed rule, "Appellate Procedures and Decisional Finality in Immigration Proceedings; Administrative Closure." Read More
Court Hears Challenge to Asylum Turnback
On October 13, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California will hear arguments in Al Otro Lado and Haitian Bridge Alliance v. Mayorkas, a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s unlawful policy of turning back people seeking asylum without a CBP One appointment. Read More
What Does the Looming Government Shutdown Mean for Our Immigration System?
After weeks of failed negotiations on spending, Congress has less than a week left to avert a potential government shutdown. Members of the House Republicans’ Freedom Caucus have refused to pass any spending bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unless it contains HR2, their massive… Read More
New Immigration Court Rule Would Protect Critical Docket Management Tools and Rescind Trump-Era Changes
The Department of Justice has proposed a new rule to protect immigration judges’ ability to administratively close removal proceedings and control their ever-expanding dockets. The proposed rule, published on September 8, would also rescind most of the changes introduced by a 2020 Trump-era regulation, including shortened Board of Immigration… Read More
Newly Proposed Appellate Rule Would Overturn Trump-era Restrictions for Immigration Judges and Codify Judicial Discretion
On Thursday, the Biden administration proposed to rescind a Trump administration rule that stripped authority from immigration judges to manage their own dockets; here is our response. Read More
Practice Alert: Overview of the Supreme Court’s Decision in Pugin v. Garland
This practice advisory looks into the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court issued in Pugin v. Garland, 143 S. Ct. 1833 (2023). This immigration decision addressed the generic definition of the obstruction of justice aggravated felony ground at 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(S). Read More
Council Sued EOIR To Find Out Why Immigrants’ Court Hearings in 2022 Were Moved Up on Short Notice
This FOIA suit seeks to compel EOIR to provide information about the immigration courts’ practice of advancing the date of immigrants’ hearings without much notice to them or their attorneys. Read More
Council Files Amicus Brief with Supreme Court on Fair, Consistent Way to Interpret Aggravated Felony Deportation Ground
In this amicus brief the Council urges the Supreme Court to correct the BIA's mistake in not applying that criminal "rule of lenity" when interpreting the aggravated felony deportation ground. Read More
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