Due Process and the Courts

The immigration laws and regulations provide some avenues to apply for lawful status from within the U.S. or to seek relief from deportation.  The eligibility requirements for these benefits and relief can be stringent, and the immigration agencies often adopt overly restrictive interpretations of the requirements.  Learn about advocacy and litigation that has been and can be undertaken to ensure that noncitizens have a fair chance to apply for the benefits and relief for which they are eligible.  

Recent Features

  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

We're demanding information to uncover the hiring process for Assistant Chief Immigration Judge and their influence over the immigration courts.

  • Blog

‘Your Client Is Going Bye-Bye.’ Investigation Details Immigration Judges’ Cruel Behavior in El Paso Court

The complaint outlines systemic due process concerns around unprofessional behavior by immigration judges and troubling court practices in El Paso.

Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice

This special report lays out the the incongruency between America's criminal justice system and its immigration justice system, and provides recommendations for how these problems could be fixed.

READ MORE

All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • 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...

  • Blog

U.S. Settles With 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen They Wrongfully Deported

July 2, 2015

Some say the wheels of justice turn slowly; however, when justice is finally delivered it is sweet. After more than two years of litigation, the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit...

  • Blog

U.S. Settles With 4-Year-Old U.S. Citizen They Wrongfully Deported

July 2, 2015

Some say the wheels of justice turn slowly; however, when justice is finally delivered it is sweet. After more than two years of litigation, the U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit...

  • Blog

Border Patrol Criminally Prosecuting Asylum Seekers, Government Report Finds

June 11, 2015

For years, the Border Patrol program “Operation Streamline” has criminally prosecuted asylum seekers in a terribly misguided effort to discourage them from reentering illegally again. A recent U.S...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Finds Conviction for Possession of a Sock Was Not a Deportable Offense

June 4, 2015

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court determined that the mere possession of a sock did not constitute a deportable offense in Mellouli v. Lynch. This unsurprising pronouncement serves as a first...

  • Blog

The Trump Administration Loses Fight to Add Citizenship Question to the 2020 Census

January 16, 2019

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s plan to add a question on U.S. citizenship to the 2020 Census on Tuesday, ruling that the controversial move “violated the public trust” and...

  • Blog

As Shutdown Moves Into Fourth Week, Most Immigration Courts Remain Shuttered

January 14, 2019

With the government shutdown dragging into its fourth week—marking the longest shutdown in U.S. history—most of the nation’s immigration courts remain closed. The Trump administration decries...

  • Blog

The Judicial Black Sites the Government Created to Speed Up Deportations

January 7, 2019

As the Trump administration continues to strip away due process in immigration courts, the recent creation of two “Immigration Adjudication Centers” is cause for concern. The two new facilities...

  • Practice Advisories

Strategies and Considerations in the Wake of Pereira v. Sessions

Publication Date: 
December 21, 2018
The rationale underlying the Court’s decision, however, more broadly affects both ongoing and closed cases initiated by defective Notices to Appear. This practice advisory provides an overview of the Pereira v. Sessions decision and its impact on eligibility for cancellation of removal and post conclusion voluntary departure.
  • Blog

As 2018 Draws to a Close, Immigration Court Backlogs Reach Record Levels

December 19, 2018

  In the first two years of the Trump administration, immigration hardliners made repeated attempts to reduce immigration court backlogs, from hiring nearly100 new immigration judges to limiting...

  • Blog

Lawsuit Challenging Delays in Asylum Screening Interviews and Bond Hearings Continues

December 14, 2018

A federal court in Seattle on Tuesday permitted a case challenging unlawful delays in asylum screening interviews and bond hearings for asylum seekers to move forward over the government’s...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Orders that Asylum Seekers Can Move Forward Challenging Delays

December 13, 2018
A federal district court in Seattle, Washington issued an order rejecting the government’s arguments that recent asylum seekers who enter the United States without immigration status are not entitled to constitutional protections.
  • Blog

Federal Court to Consider Again Whether Children Can Be Deported Without Attorneys

December 10, 2018

On Monday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in C.J.L.G. v. Whitaker, a case that addresses whether children facing deportation have the right to a court-appointed attorney....

  • Blog

What Matthew Whitaker’s Designation as Acting Attorney General Means for Immigration

December 3, 2018

Following Jeff Sessions’ resignation as Attorney General, President Trump named Matthew Whitaker to replace him—a move that has already inspired multiple lawsuits that contend the designation was...

  • Press Release

Acting AG Matthew G. Whitaker Lacks Authority to Decide Immigration Case, Say Immigration Groups

December 3, 2018
The American Immigration Council and other immigrant rights organizations filed a legal brief on Friday that explains why President Donald Trump’s designation of Matthew G. Whitaker as acting attorney general is unlawful. As a result, the brief asserts, Whitaker lacks the authority to decide a critical immigration case.

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