Immigration Courts

Recent Features

Access to Counsel in Immigration Court

Immigrants in immigration court do not have a right to government-appointed counsel. The lack of legal representation has a profound impact on immigrants’ outcomes in removal proceedings.

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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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All Immigration Courts Content

  • Blog

Certain Detained Asylum Seekers Must Receive a Bond Hearing Within 7 Days, Despite Trump Administration’s Efforts

July 3, 2019

Attorney General William Barr announced in April 2019 plans to eliminate bond hearings for immigrants who pass an asylum screening interview after entering the United States. This would have...

  • 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

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

April 3, 2019

Texas—and specifically El Paso—has been ground zero for many of the incredibly harmful policies introduced under the Trump administration, such as family separation, returning asylum seekers to...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Press Release

LAC Urges Fifth Circuit to Permit Removal Cases to Continue from Outside the United States

December 15, 2011

Washington, D.C.—The Legal Action Center, along with the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG), filed an amicus brief yesterday urging the Fifth Cir

  • Press Release

Board of Immigration Appeals Guts Legal Protections for Immigrants Under Arrest

August 15, 2011

Washington, D.C.—The American Immigration Council strongly condemns last week’s ruling from the Board of Immigra

  • Press Release

BIA Provides Important But Incomplete Guidance on Mental Competency Issues

June 24, 2011

Washington, D.C.—The American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center (LAC) cautiously applauds last week’s

  • Press Release

Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Key Hearing on Challenges Facing Immigration Courts

May 18, 2011

Washington, D.C.—The American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center commends Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for con

  • Press Release

Legal Action Center Pursues Campaign to Protect Judicial Review

March 30, 2011

Washington D.C. - In a continuing effort to protect the right to judicial review and promote greater federal court oversight of immigration decisions, the American Immigration Coun

  • Press Release

IJs Should Exercise Authority to Halt Proceedings against Noncitizens with Serious Mental Disabilities

March 17, 2011

Washington D.C.

  • Press Release

Legal Action Center Urges Court to Strike Down Regulation Barring Post-Departure Motions to Reopen

March 11, 2011

Washington D.C. - This week, the American Immigration Council's Legal Action Center, joined by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, submitted an amicus brief to

  • Press Release

Federal Court Upholds Immigrants' Right To Reopen Cases From Outside the U.S.

February 3, 2011

Washington, D.C.

  • Press Release

Legal Action Center Argues for Greater Federal Court Oversight of Immigration Decisions

October 7, 2010

Washington D.C. - In a continuing effort to promote greater federal court oversight of immigration decision-making, the American Immigration Counc

  • Blog

A Federal Defender System for Immigrants Is Long Overdue

February 26, 2021

The stakes in immigration court could not be higher—many people face the possibility of being permanently torn away from their families and communities in the United States. Others seeking...

  • Blog

In a Win for Transparency, Court Orders Board of Immigration Appeals to Make Immigration Court Decisions Public

February 18, 2021

The Second Circuit has found that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) must publish immigration decisions, reversing an earlier federal district court decision. The case challenged the...

  • Letters

Coalition Letter on Continued Issues in Immigration Courts During COVID-19 Pandemic

Publication Date: 
February 1, 2021
The American Immigration Council urged the Biden administration to address the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigration courts that continue to place everyone's health at risk during...
  • Letters

Coalition Letter to President Biden on Justice Department Reform of Immigration Courts and Enforcement Priorities

Publication Date: 
February 1, 2021
The American Immigration Council joined AILA and other organizations in calling for vital reforms to ensure fairness and integrity in the immigration courts and the enforcement system.
  • Blog

Immigrants Appear for Their Court Hearings, New Data Shows

January 28, 2021

Do most immigrants show up for their immigration court hearings? A new report released by the American Immigration Council reveals that the answer to this question is a clear “Yes.” As the Biden...

  • Special Report

Measuring In Absentia Removal in Immigration Court

Publication Date: 
January 28, 2021
This analysis of data provided by the federal government reveals that 83% of all nondetained immigrants with completed or pending removal cases attended all their hearings from 2008 to 2018.
  • Press Release

11 Years of Government Data Reveal That Immigrants Do Show Up for Court

January 28, 2021
A new report released today by the American Immigration Council examines 11 years of government data on the rate at which immigrants appear for hearings in U.S. immigration court. The report, “Measuring In Absentia Removal in Immigration Court,” concludes that an overwhelming 83% of immigrants attend their immigration court hearings, and those who fail to appear in court often did not receive notice or faced hardship in getting to court.
  • Blog

Why Biden’s Immigration Bill Is the Boldest in Decades

January 21, 2021

During his campaign, President Biden promised that immigration reform would be one of his top priorities upon taking office. After unveiling the summary of a sweeping immigration reform bill on...

  • Blog

Trump’s Drastic Immigration Court Fee Hikes Are Blocked in Court

January 19, 2021

The Trump administration has repeatedly tried to stop low-income immigrants from accessing protections and exercising their rights in the United States. Its last attempt—increasing immigration...

  • Press Release

Federal Court Blocks Dramatic Immigration Courts Fee Increases

January 19, 2021
A federal court blocked nearly all of a Trump administration rule that would have drastically increased fees in immigration proceedings in which the government seeks to deport immigrants, many of whom are long-term residents of this country.

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