GAO – immigrationcourtside.com

🤯 JUSTICE ON THE ROCKS! ☠️ THE GOP HAS CORRUPTED THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY, WHILE THE DEMS CAN’T BRING DUE PROCESS AND QUALITY TO THE LARGE JUDICIARY THEY “OWN!” — Latest Rebuke By 5th Shows EOIR’s Sloppiness, Misrepresentations, Misconstructions, DOJ’s “Defense Of the Indefensible” In Quest To Deny Asylum To Refugees! — Recent Reports On “Management” & “Leadership” Deficiencies Show “The Wheels Are Coming Off The EOIR Circus Wagon!” 🤡

injustice — Injustice
Public Realm
Dems spend lots of time whining about the destruction of the Federal Judiciary by GOP right-wing extremists. However, after two years in charge, they have done little to bring due process, fundamental fairness, and judicial expertise to America’s worst courts — the Immigration Courts — which they totally control!

The 5th Circuit didn’t mince any words in its latest (inexplicably) unpublished, 24-page takedown of EOIR’s ridiculous “judicial” failure with lives at stake!

https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/opinions/unpub/20/20-60133.0.pdf

. . . .

Based on all of the evidence as a whole, and in light of the applicable caselaw, Reyes-Hoyes has made a compelling case of persecution. Nevertheless, we find a remand is necessary because the BIA did not make a determination as to Reyes-Hoyes’s credibility. The BIA did not mention credibility in its decision or express any doubts about the truth of Reyes- Hoyes’s testimony. The IJ did express some doubts about Reyes-Hoyes’s credibility, although he did not explicitly find her uncredible and ultimately stated he was not denying relief “based on a lack of sufficiency of proof.” However, the BIA did not adopt the IJ’s decision and thus did not incorporate any of the doubts the IJ had. “Generally speaking, a court of appeals should remand a case to an agency for decision of a matter that statutes place primarily in agency hands.” I.N.S. v. Orlando Ventura, 537 U.S. 12, 16 (2002). If Reyes-Hoyes is credible, she has shown persecution, but the credibility determination must be made by the factfinder, not by this court on appeal. See 8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(B)(iii); Avelar-Olivia v. Barr, 954 F.3d 757, 767 (5th Cir. 2020). Accordingly, the decision of the BIA is vacated in part, and we remand to the BIA for a determination on credibility.

. . . .

In sum, we conclude that, if Reyes-Hoyes is credible, the record compels the conclusion that Reyes-Hoyes suffered harm rising to the level of past persecution, but we remand for the BIA to consider her credibility in the first instance. We also conclude that the record compels the conclusion that safe internal relocation to parts of Guatemala—Mesata and Raul—was not possible. Additionally, we hold that the BIA procedurally erred in the remainder of its analysis concerning whether internal location was reasonable and whether Reyes-Hoyes had shown state action by not meaningfully considering the relevant substantial evidence.

. . . .

**************************

Here is my immediate reaction when Dan Kowalski at LexisNexis sent me the decison:

Wow! This is an EOIR/OIL error fest — replete with misrepresentations and mischaracterizations! Totally sloppy work! Why won’t they publish this? It’s a perfect example of how Garland has failed to get the job done!

And, here’s the reaction from my friend and Round Table Colleague “Sir Jeffrey Eagle Eyes” Chase:

24 pages; very detailed analysis of recurring asylum issues. Should certainly have been published.

BTW, please note footnote 9, an example of the ongoing problem with the government’s online regs continuing to list the enjoined “death to asylum” regs that the previous administration tried to push through. The Fifth Circuit continues to believe that the internal relocation reg was amended effective January 19, 2021. Have cases been decided based on this erroneous belief?

Lest you doubt the “complete FUBARness” of EOIR, check these out:

EOIR ranked 420 out of 432 in list of USG “Best Places to Work” (97th percentile) https://naij-usa.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=fb6095c093c4ba52c1a1f5cec&id=e8849a6c94&e=a00508cc44;
Second worst component of DOJ;
Worst of all the small and mid-sized agencies ranked;
While the “curve” for “subagencies” has gone up since 2007, EOIR’s score has cratered, plunging dramatically during the Trump years;
EOIR ranked at or near the bottom on key metrics, including, significantly, “leadership style” (some of the “credit” for this abysmal score should go to DOJ, which has failed to provide dynamic, due-process-oriented leadership over the last six years);
GAO study just cited EOIR for a number of management deficiencies including “blowing off” “our [GAO’s] 2017 recommendation to develop a strategic workforce plan to address current and future staffing needs, EOIR hasn’t done so—even though it had a significant and growing backlog of 1.8 million pending cases at the start of FY 2023, more than triple the number that it had in FY 2017.”
The NAIJ continues to raise technology and health and safety defects with EOIR “management;”
Notably, during this period of abject failure, EOIR has found time and resources to waste (and potential “goodwill” to squander) on unneeded nonsense like “IJ Dashboards,” “production quotas,” “expedited dockets,” more layers of bloated headquarters bureaucracy, and, perhaps the biggest boondoggle of all, a totally absurd and duplicative “Office of Policy” for an agency that has demonstrated a disturbing inability to carry out its “core function:” Providing Due Process for all through fair, timely, expert, correct adjudications!

EYORE — “Eyore In Distress”
Once A Symbol of Fairness, Due Process, & Best Practices, Now Gone “Belly Up” — As Dems founder in their commitment to restore justice, could new Immigration Judges from the NDPA — unswervingly committed to due process, fundamental fairness, and best practices — get this poor little fella back on his feet and improve the culture and atmosphere at the “retail level” of EOIR, even in the face of indifference and incompetence from those in charge? Lives and futures — perhaps the future of our democracy — are at stake!

What we really need is a “lean, not mean, due process machine” @ EOIR. Why can’t the Dems deliver? That’s the age-old question among human rights experts!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

PWS

04-30-23

⚠️ REMEMBERING THE LATE, GREAT SEN. BILL PROXMIRE’S (D-WI) “GOLDEN FLEECE AWARDS!” — USCIS CLAIMS THE EAD, “A GLORIFIED 10-MINUTE CLERICAL FUNCTION” COSTS $3,000/HR TO PROCESS! 🤯 — Save Money! — Hire Former AG Eric Holder @ “Merely” $2,295/Hr To Crank Out Forms I-765!

Sen. William Proxmire — Senator William Proxmire (D-WI)
1915-2005
Years served: 1957-89
PHOTO: Milwaukee Journal

The late Senator Bill Proxmire (D-WI) was a ”good government activist,” famous for his monthly “Golden Fleece Awards!” 🏆🐑 The latter were presented to recognize, or more accurately expose, “the biggest, most ridiculous or most ironic example of government spending.”

Proxmire was Wisconsin’s longest-serving U.S. Senator (1957-89), having been elected in a 1957 special election to replace the infamous Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI) who died in office. (1957 was the year the then Milwaukee Braves beat the mighty NY Yanks to bring Milwaukee what remains its only World Series Championship. We were allowed to listen on the PA system at Washington Grade School, in Wauwatosa, where I was a student!)

According to his Congressional bio, “Proxmire also set an attendance record not likely to be beaten. Over a period of more than 20 years, he did not miss a single roll-call vote, casting 10,252 consecutive votes before leaving the Senate in 1989.” https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_ProxmireWilliam.htm. (Actually, the record was recently broken by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), sort of, as Grassley eclipsed Proxmire’s years of service, but cast thousands fewer votes, thanks to Congress’s lackadaisical approach to governing in recent years.)

He also famously won contested re-election in 1976 spending under an inflation adjusted $1,000! “He relied upon retail politics — selling himself to Wisconsinites by shaking hands and listening to their stories — to fuel his reelection bid.” https://captimes.com/content/tncms/live/. Proxmire was a rare pol who “walked the walk!”

Sen. Proxmire left the Senate well before the creation of DHS. But, he would have had a field day with entrenched bureaucracy, lack of creativity, and spendthrift ways that have become ingrained in DHS’s poor to pathetic delivery of public services. USCIS lost its way under the malicious incompetence of the Trump Administration and such stunningly unqualified “leaders” as Ken “Cooch Cooch” Cuccinelli. But, it has continued to “wander in the wilderness” under Biden.

David J.Bier of the Cato Institute takes the measure of the outrageous proposed fee increases from USCIS in this analysis. https://www.cato.org/blog/uscis-will-charge-3000/hour-process-work-authorization-under-new-rule.

David “hits the nail on the head”: with these two paragraphs:

USCIS is charging more money for less efficient work. It is not surprising that it is taking adjudicators much longer to process forms because the length of the forms keeps growing. The average form length has increased from about 3 pages in 2003—when the agency started—to about 10 pages in 2022.

USCIS should be eliminating the number of required applications and streamlining the process through electronic filing. The “discounts” for online filing that it plans on introducing hardly compensate applicants who must spend much more time using USCIS’s difficult online application portals, and regardless, online filing will remain unavailable for many types of forms. USCIS is moving too slowly to create a modern immigration system.

***************

I’ll bet that with his brilliant mind and work ethic, Eric Holder could actually substantially improve on the alleged 13.2 minute average “adjudication” time for Form I-765.

Eric Holder, Jr.
Former U.S. Attorney General, now Partner @ Covington & Burling. He could actually save Biden’s USCIS a few bucks on hourly cost of adjudicating EADs!

The EAD is probably the most egregious example of an out of control bureaucracy that charges more for less service and complicates, rather than simplifies, a routine “no-brainer/low risk” function. Even the current $410 fee for an EAD is a ripoff that should be generating tons of excess cash for USCIS. Given the incomprehensible EAD backlog, in fact, the public has paid for lots of “service” that has never been “delivered.”

In private industry, that would be a “red flag” for potential fraud, waste, and abuse. If there were a “Better Business Bureau” for the bureaucracy, USCIS be in hot — no boiling — water!

Actually, the DHS IG and the GAO are supposed to perform this function for the Government, but have been largely “MIA” on the rapid downward spiral of the immigration bureaucracy over the past decade! In any event, nobody appears to pay much attention to their reports. They are issued, covered initially by the media, the subject of a few “political sound bites,” and then buried and forgotten (except, perhaps, by historians and scholars).

DHS needs new creative management, an emphasis on public service, and some close oversight (something Dems conveniently ignored while they had “unified control” of Congress). Most of us “get” that Trump and his flunkies intentionally destroyed what passed for “service” at USCIS. But, that was a well-known fact going into the 2020 election.

After two years in office, whining about what the Trump kakistocracy did or didn’t do, and pointing to Congress’s undoubted dereliction of duty, is getting old. Very old!

The Biden Administration needs to get new leadership into the dysfunctional immigration bureaucracy at DHS, DOJ, DOL, DOS, & other agencies. That must be leadership with a vision, courage, expertise, and a determination to deliver great public services in a competent, timely manner without “breaking the bank” or further blaming, shaming, punishing, or burdening the public “victims” of failed government.

Additionally, the out of touch “Miller Lite Brew Crew” that passes for immigration, human rights, and security advisors at and to the Biden White House needs to be replaced with practical experts who can get the job done without breaking laws and resorting to “built to fail” gimmicks.

Perhaps Senate Dems need much more of “Sen. Bill Proxmire’s Ghost” 👻 and far less tolerance for “Miller Lite thinking” among Congressional Dems and the Biden Administration!

Undoubtedly, once they get rolling, the “GOP Clown Show” 🤡 in the House will provide lots of unwanted “oversight” to Mayorkas and Garland. But, given the GOP’s toxic record on immigration, it’s highly unlikely to focus on solving any of the REAL problems in the immigration bureaucracy, nor will it promote better public service — something simply not in the GOP lexicon these days.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-19-23

THE GIBSON REPORT — 08-30-21 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group

ALERTS

Final week of email filing: Email filing with EOIR ends at the remaining courts on September 4, 2021.

CDC Requirements for Immigrant Medical Examinations: COVID vaccine to be required for medical exams starting October 1, 2021.

NEWS

Court won’t block order requiring reinstatement of “remain in Mexico” policy

SCOTUSblog: The Supreme Court on Tuesday night rejected the Biden administration’s plea for a reprieve from a district-court order requiring it to reinstate a Trump-era program known as the “remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they wait for a hearing in U.S. immigration court. The court was divided on the decision to deny relief, with the court’s three liberal justices – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – indicating that they would have granted the government’s request and put the district court’s order on hold. See also The Supreme Court’s stunning, radical immigration decision, explained; Biden administration will continue challenging ‘Remain in Mexico’.

U.S. officials provided Taliban with names of Americans, Afghan allies to evacuate

Politico: U.S. officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders and Afghan allies to grant entry into the militant-controlled outer perimeter of the city’s airport, a choice that’s prompted outrage behind the scenes from lawmakers and military officials. See also In evacuation mission’s 11th hour, hope dims for Afghans seeking escape.

Federal judge orders ICE to test detainees for COVID-19

AP: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must test detainees for COVID-19 before they are transferred to the immigrant detention center in Tacoma, a federal judge ordered Monday.

Little-Known Federal Software Can Trigger Revocation of Citizenship

The Intercept: ATLAS helps DHS investigate immigrants’ personal relationships and backgrounds, examining biometric information like fingerprints and, in certain circumstances, considering an immigrant’s race, ethnicity, and national origin. It draws information from a variety of unknown sources, plus two that have been criticized as being poorly managed: the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, also known as the terrorist watchlist, and the National Crime Information Center. Powered by servers at tech giant Amazon, the system in 2019 alone conducted 16.5 million screenings and flagged more than 120,000 cases of potential fraud or threats to national security and public safety.

Migrant children spend weeks at US shelters as more arrive

AP: Five months after the Biden administration declared an emergency and raced to set up shelters to house a record number of children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone, kids continue to languish at the sites, while more keep coming, child welfare advocates say.

A Squalid Border Camp Finally Closed. Now Another One Has Opened.

NYT: a new camp sprang up about 55 miles farther west, in the Mexican city of Reynosa, and this one, aid workers say, is far worse than the one at Matamoros ever was. Overcrowded already, with more than 2,000 people, it is filthy and foul-smelling, lacking the health and sanitation infrastructure that nonprofit groups had spent months installing at Matamoros. Assaults and kidnappings for ransom are commonplace.

A Texas Sheriff’s Grim Task: Finding Bodies as Migrant Deaths Surge

NYT: . Through July, Border Patrol officials found 383 dead migrants, the highest toll in nearly a decade, and one already far surpassing the 253 recovered in the previous fiscal year.

Gov. DeSantis Demands Info On Migrants Moving To Fla.

Law360: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis demanded the Biden administration provide personal information on undocumented migrants being relocated to Florida, including names, addresses and the number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 or refused the coronavirus vaccine.

Feds OK’d Work Authorization For 800K Without Full Vetting

Law360: A federal watchdog on Wednesday called on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to improve its employment eligibility verification system, finding shortcomings that kept the agency from accurately confirming workers’ identities and work authorization in at least 800,000 instances.

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

Supreme Court Allows “Remain in Mexico” Policy to Be Reinstated

AILA: The Supreme Court denied the application for a stay and thus preventing the Biden administration’s effort to halt the reminstatement of “Remain in Mexico.” (Biden, et al. v. Texas, et al., 8/24/21)

Week Ahead in Immigration: Aug. 30, 2021

Reuters: Here are some upcoming events of interest to the immigration law community. All times are local unless stated otherwise.

CA5 Extends Stay on Preliminary Injunction on Biden Enforcement Memos Indefinitely

AILA: The court extended the district court stay on the preliminary injunction on the Biden immigration enforcement memos indefinitely. (Texas, et al., v. USA, et al., 8/27/21)

2nd Circ. Says Judge Unfairly Nitpicked Asylee’s Story

Law360: A Nepalese asylum-seeker has another shot at avoiding deportation after the Second Circuit ruled Friday that an immigration judge had prematurely declared his story of Maoist intimidation and violence not credible without giving him a chance to address minor discrepancies.

2nd Circ. Says Asylum-Seeker Could Have Moved Within India

Law360: The Second Circuit rejected an immigrant’s arguments Wednesday that after being beaten by members of a rival political party for his affiliation with a Sikh party, he could not escape the threat of more violence by moving within India, affirming a Board of Immigration Appeals’ decision to deny asylum and deport the man.

BIA Must Weigh 5th Circ. Ruling In Cannabis Removal Order

Law360: A panel of Fifth Circuit judges vacated a Pakistani man’s deportation order issued after he was convicted for synthetic marijuana possession, finding that the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to fully consider whether his state law conviction is equivalent to federal drug law.

CA5 Finds BIA Did Not Err by Declining to Construe Petitioner’s Motion to Reconsider as a Motion to Reopen

AILA: Where the petitioner alleged that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Sessions v. Dimaya made his removal unlawful, the court held that the BIA did not err by construing his motion as a motion to reconsider nor by denying it as time barred. (Gonzalez Hernandez v. Garland, 8/13/21)

CA8 Finds BIA Erred by Failing to Apply Matter of Sanchez Sosa Factors to U Visa Applicants

AILA: The court granted the petition for review of the BIA’s denial of the petitioners’ motion to reopen, finding the BIA abused its discretion by departing from established policy when it failed to apply the Matter of Sanchez Sosa factors. (Gonzales Quecheluno v. Garland, 8/12/21)

CA8 Upholds Denial of Deferral of Removal Under the CAT to Somalian Petitioner

AILA: Where BIA had reversed the IJ’s findings that petitioner would more likely than not be tortured in Somalia, the court found that BIA applied the correct legal standard to the Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim and did not engage in impermissible fact finding. (Mohamed v. Garland, 8/13/21)

8th Circ. Says INA ‘Vagueness’ Can’t Stop Deportation

Law360: The Eighth Circuit refused to stop an Ethiopian refugee’s deportation, ruling Friday that a portion of the Immigration and Nationality Act allowing the deportation of certain migrants who face persecution upon return is ambiguous, but not unconstitutionally vague.

9th Circ. Slams Judge For Nitpicking Rape Survivor Testimony

Law360: The Ninth Circuit Wednesday revived a Cameroonian rape survivor’s asylum bid, ruling that the immigration judge cherry-picked discrepancies in the woman’s testimony to justify deporting her and “displayed a dubious understanding of how rape survivors ought to act.”

CA9 Holds That INA §212 Applies for Cancellation of Removal Purposes to Petitioner Who Legally Entered the United States

AILA: The court upheld BIA’s determination that petitioner was ineligible for cancellation of removal under INA §240A(b)(1)(C) due to his conviction for an offense described in INA §212(a)(2), even though he had been previously admitted into the United States. (Sanchez-Ruano v. Garland, 8/11/21)

CA9 Says Failure to Notify Petitioner That Alleged False Claim of Citizenship Would Be at Issue During Hearing Violated Due Process

AILA: The court held that the IJ failed to put the petitioner on notice that his alleged false claim of U.S. citizenship would be at issue during his hearing, and that such failure violated due process by denying him a full and fair hearing. (Flores-Rodriguez v. Garland, 8/16/21)

CA9 Says There Is No Colorable Constitutional Claim Exception to Statutory Limits on Judicial Review of Expedited Removal Orders

AILA: The court found it lacked jurisdiction to review petitioner’s challenge to his expedited removal proceedings, concluding that the Supreme Court’s decision in DHS v. Thuraissigiam abrogated any colorable constitutional claim exception to INA §242(a)(2)(A). (Guerrier v. Garland, 8/16/21)

CA9 Says Substantial Evidence Supported BIA’s Holding That Serious Nonpolitical Crime Bar Applied to Petitioner with Interpol Red Notice

AILA: The court held that an Interpol Red Notice, among other evidence, created a serious reason to believe that the petitioner had committed a serious nonpolitical crime before entering the United States, and that he was ineligible for withholding of removal. (Villalobos Sura v. Garland, 8/17/21)

CA9 Holds That Petitioner Did Not Suffer Past Persecution in India After Considering Non-Exhaustive List of Factors

AILA: The court held that the record did not compel the conclusion that the petitioner suffered hardship in India that rose to the level of past persecution, where he did not experience significant physical harm and his harm was an isolated event, among other factors. (Sharma v. Garland, 8/17/21)

CA9 Says Vehicle Theft Under California Vehicle Code §10851(a) Is Not an Aggravated Felony

AILA: Granting in part the petition for review, the court held that vehicle theft under California Vehicle Code §10851(a) is indivisible in its treatment of accessories after the fact, and thus is not an aggravated felony theft offense under INA §101(a)(43)(G). (Lopez-Marroquin v. Garland, 8/18/21)

CA11 Concludes That Petitioner’s Federal Conviction for Making False Statements in an Immigration Application Was an Aggravated Felony

AILA: The court denied the petition for review, holding that because petitioner was convicted of a violation of 18 USC §1546(a) and his sentence was greater than one year, his conviction expressly fell under the definition of aggravated felony in INA §101(a)(43)(P). (Germain v. Att’y Gen., 8/18/21)

Split 11th Circ. Won’t Revive Sri Lankan’s Asylum Bid

Law360: A split Eleventh Circuit panel refused Tuesday to grant asylum to a member of a Sri Lankan ethnic minority or to block his deportation, ruling he hasn’t proven past persecution or credible fear of future persecution.

Federal Court Blocks Texas Migrant Transportation Order

Law360: A Texas federal judge has blocked an executive order from the state’s governor banning the transportation of certain migrants in the state, holding it violates the supremacy clause of the Constitution by authorizing state officials to make federal immigration determinations.

ICE Must Test Migrants Before Sending Them To Wash. Center

Law360: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must test immigrants for COVID-19 before transferring them to a Washington state detention center, after a federal judge blamed the agency for 240 detainees and facility staff contracting the virus over the past three months.

DHS Says Border Turnback Policy Doesn’t Exist

Law360: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has told a California federal judge that it could not produce an administrative record related to its practice of turning back asylum-seekers at the southern border because no such policy existed.

USCIS Provides Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement in SIJ Cases A.O., et al. v. Jaddou, et al.

AILA: USCIS provided information regarding a proposed class settlement in A.O., et al. v. Jaddou, et al. No. 19-cv-6151 (N.D. Cal.) regarding juvenile court orders in the California Juvenile Court with subsequent filed Special Immigrant Juvenile (SIJ) petitions after the age of 18 years old.

DHS Releases Guidance on Parole for Certain Afghan Nationals Into the U.S.

AILA: DHS released a memo with guidance on immigration processing for certain Afghan nationals, stating that they will be paroled into the U.S. on a case-by-case basis for a two-year period and may be eligible to apply for status through USCIS.

EOIR Announces Launch of FOIA Public Access Link

AILA: EOIR launched its FOIA Public Access Link (PAL), which will allow users to submit requests, check the status of requests, download records, browse the FOIA reading room, and correspond with the EOIR FOIA Service Center. The PAL also allows users to pay required fees online.

ICE Issues Interim Guidance Regarding Civil Immigration Enforcement and Removal Policies and Priorities

AILA: ICE issued interim guidance to all OPLA attorneys to guide them in appropriately executing interim civil immigration enforcement and removal priorities and exercising prosecutorial discretion. Note, on 8/19/21, OPLA suspended reliance on this guidance due to litigation.

Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility

USCIS: Starting 10/26/21, we will only accept the 7/20/21 version.

RESOURCES

AILA: How to Request CIS Ombudsman’s Individual Case Assistance

AILA: Find Resources for Assisting Afghan Clients

AILA: Practice Alert: Impact of Ongoing Litigation on the Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion

AILA: Practice Alert: Proposed Rule to Change Asylum Processing for Individuals in Expedited Removal

AILA: Practice Alert: Starting October 1, COVID-19 Vaccinations Required for Applicants Applying for LPR or Refugee Status

AILA: Practice Alert: Changes to USCIS Field Office Interview Scheduling

AILA: Practice Alert: Impact of Ongoing Litigation on the Exercise of Prosecutorial Discretion

AILA: Practice Pointer: Heightened Scrutiny of Individuals of Iranian Descent

AILA: Liaison Update: Key Takeaways from AILA Meeting with CIS Ombudsman

AILA: How to Request CIS Ombudsman’s Individual Case Assistance

CLINIC: Frequently Asked Questions: TPS Eligibility and the Application Process

CLINIC: New ICE “Victim-Centered” Policy Protects Noncitizens Eligible for Humanitarian Relief

CLINIC: Assistance for Afghans Toolkit

EOIR: FOIA Public Access Link

ICE: Attorney Information and Resources

ICE: New ERO Varick detained contact list (attached)

ICE: Updated NYC OPLA Instructions for PD (attached)

ILRC: Enforcement Priorities Litigation Update: August 2021

ILRC: Potential Remedies for Immigrant Families After Losing a Family Member to the Pandemic – Widow(er)s of U.S. Citizens, 204(l), and Humanitarian Reinstatement

ILRC: Probation Agencies and the Deportation Pipeline

IRAP SIV/P-2 Training for Attorneys

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Webinar PowerPoint (PDF, 1.26 MB)

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Webinar Questions and Answers (PDF, 174.17 KB)

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti Questions and Answers (PDF, 226.5 KB)

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti Webinar (PDF, 1.55 MB)

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia Questions and Answers (PDF, 145.65 KB)

USCIS: Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia Webinar (PDF, 1.24 MB)

USCIS: Online Filing Webinar: Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status (PDF, 3.58 MB)

EVENTS

8/31/21 Hot Topics in Marriage-Based Adjustment of Status

9/2/21 EOIR to Host Information Sessions in Advance of EOIR Courts & Appeals System (ECAS) Launch at Certain Immigration Courts

9/2/21-9/23/21 Waiver Series: Dealing with Denials

9/8/21 Fearless Lawyering: Administrative Closure Breaking Updates and Strategies

9/9/21 APA Litigation: How to Take a USCIS Denial to Federal Court

9/14/21 USCIS Virtual Listening Session on Public Charge Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

9/15/21 Introduction to BIA Appeals

9/15/21 Legal Remedies for Immigrant Survivors: Introductory Seminar Series – Part III: Getting Survivors & Their Families to the Finish Line

9/16/21 Managing Immigration Compliance in a Remote and Hybrid Post-Pandemic World

9/17/21 Strategic Considerations in the Wake of Niz-Chavez

9/22/21 Adjustment of Status: Eligibility and Pitfalls

9/23/21 EOIR to Host Information Sessions in Advance of EOIR Courts & Appeals System (ECAS) Launch at Certain Immigration Courts

9/23/21 Representing Children in Immigration Matters 2021: Effective Advocacy and Best Practices

9/27/21-9/28/21 Immigration Law and Policy Conference

9/28/21 Waiver Series: Overview of the Grounds of Inadmissibility

9/29/21 Temporary Protected Status: Updates and Options

9/30/21 Crafting a Winning Direct Examination: Practical Tips and Examples

9/30/21 Naturalization and Crimes

10/5/21 USCIS Virtual Listening Session on Public Charge Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

10/5/21 Waiver Series: Working With Clients to Build Strong Waiver Cases

10/6/21 Challenging Agency Delays in District Court

10/7/21 Introduction to Derivation of Citizenship

10/5/21 Waiver Series: Extreme Hardship and Discretion

10/13/21 Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act: Updates 10/13/21

10/14/21 Detention & Deportation System for Children and Youth

10/19/21 Webinar Series: Putting the Case Together

10/19/21 The Categorical Approach Now

10/20/21 What is Happening with DACA?

10/21/21 Public Charge: Advising Clients in the Current Landscape

10/26/21 Emerging Issues in Asylum Law

10/27/21 Challenging Expedited Removal and Reinstatement Orders

11/2/21 U Visa Adjustment

11/10/21 Remedies for Surviving Relatives

11/11/21 Inadmissibility: A Look at Common Grounds and Red Flags

11/16/21 Advocating for Prosecutorial Discretion Under the Current Enforcement Priorities

11/23/21 Establishing Social Group in Asylum Claims

11/29/21-12/3/21 Partial to Full Accredited Representative Initiative 2021

12/1/21 54th Annual Immigration and Naturalization Institute

12/2/21 Post-Conviction Relief For Immigrants: New Laws, New Developments, New Advice

12/7/21 Hardship in Non-LPR Cancellation Cases

12/9/21 December Immigration Update

12/15/21 FOIA

ImmProf

Monday, August 30, 2021

EU to recommend reinstating Covid-related travel restrictions on US, reports say

Podcast: Rethinking immigration on The Weeds

Naturalized Citizen of the Day: Sandra Ok, Actress (Canada)

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Poetry Break: Things We Carry on the Sea by Wang Ping

Saturday, August 28, 2021

58th Anniversary of “I Have a Dream”

Trump Aide Stephen Miller Laid Groundwork For Disastrous Afghan Evacuation

Friday, August 27, 2021

From The Bookshelves: Clamouring for Legal Protection–What the Great Books Teach Us About People Fleeing from Persecution

Jennifer Chacon | Our History of Policing Migration Through the Criminal Justice System

Vigil for Haitian Immigrant Fighting Detention and Removal

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Female Afghani Robotics Team Makes it to Mexico

Circuit Judge Appointed by Ronald Reagan Finds that IJ and BIA “Nitpicked” in Adverse Credibility Determination in Asylum Case

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

From the Bookshelves: Our Grandfathers Were Braceros And We Too…

More on Supreme Court’s Order Keeping MPP in Place

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Breaking News: SCOTUS Declines to Stay Injunction Preventing Rescission of MPP

Airbnb Offers to Host Afghan Refguees

Immigration Article of the Day: Unpacking the Rise in Crimmigration Cases at the Supreme Court by Philip Torrey

Monday, August 23, 2021

Disputes About Quotas for Social Security Judges Offer Insight On IJ Caseloads

EOIR Rolls Out “Dedicated Dockets” For Families Seeking Asylum

Supreme Court To Review Bond Hearings For Detained Immigrants

Why Mass Immigration Is the Key to American Renewal Our economy, politics, and culture all need the revitalization only immigrants can provide.

***********************

Thanks, Elizabeth! It’s interesting and satisfying that several Circuits, including the 2d and the 9th, are openly rejecting EOIR’s practice of “nit-picking” asylum applicants’ testimony in an attempt to deny meritorious applications. It’s all part of the “culture of denial” that continues to flourish at EOIR’s deportation assembly line under Garland.

Sadly, the Circuits haven’t yet had the guts to face the larger problem here — the EOIR system, as currently staffed with too many “Trump plants” as judges and a continuing lack of expertise and anti-asylum, anti-immigrant bias is clearly unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment!

Indeed, some Circuit panels take judicial review seriously, others function as rubber stamps, and most individuals wronged in Immigration Court lack the lawyers and wherewithal to take their case to the Circuits. This means that inconsistent results and lack of consistently applied expertise at all levels of the Federal legal system just add to the inconsistencies and unfairness heaped on migrants in violation of the Due Process Clause. To date, no Circuit has been willing to act on the glaring constitutional defects at EOIR staring them in the face.

Unhappily, Congress also has failed to act on long-overdue legislation to create an independent, Article I Immigration Court. In the interim, it would be possible to ameliorate, if not entirely eliminate, these constitutional problems by replacing marginally qualified IJs and BIA judges with well-qualified progressive experts and then giving them independence to issue precedents and make necessary procedural and structural changes to restore some semblence of Due Process, quality control, fair procedures, and efficiency to this disgracefully dysfunctional, unnecessarily backlogged system. The private bar could be constructively involved in creating universal representation and sane docket management. Indeed experts recommended these very changes to Garland, only to be ignored in favor of the “same old, same old” incredible mess and gross indifference to both the rule of law and human life at EOIR!

Not surprisingly, a recently issued report from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) highlighted lack of “shareholder engagement” — something specifically discouraged by the Trump kakistocracy — as an endemic and continuing problem at EOIR. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-104404

Shareholder engagement means having a meaningful dialogue with those practicing before the courts, and honestly considering their input in advance of promulgating new policies. So called “Town Halls” to announce unilaterally developed bureaucratic policies are the antithesis of this meaningful process. It’s no mystery why EOIR continues to founder and stumble under Garland.

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

09-01-21

THE NEW YORKER: Bureaucratic Delays Impede Due Process In U.S. Immigration Court!

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-will-trump-do-with-half-a-million-backlogged-immigration-cases

Jonathan Blitzer writes in The New Yorker:

“In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions travelled to Nogales, Arizona, to make an announcement. “This is the Trump era,” he said. “The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigrations laws, and the catch-and-release practices of old are over.” While his tone was harsh, and many of the proposals he outlined were hostile to immigrants, he detailed one idea that even some of his critics support: the hiring of more immigration judges.

U.S. immigration courts are facing a backlog of over half a million cases—and each one, on average, takes almost two years to close. These delays mean that everyone from asylum seekers to green-card holders faces extended stays in detention while awaiting rulings. Speaking about the problem, one immigration judge recently told the Times, “The courts as a whole lose credibility.”

Much of the backlog can be traced back to the Obama Administration, when spending on immigration enforcement went up, while Congress dramatically limited funds for hiring more judges. The number of pending cases grew from a hundred and sixty-seven thousand, in 2008, to five hundred and sixty thousand, in 2017, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. The broader trend, though, goes back farther. Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, in 2002, the increase in resources allocated for border security and immigration policing has always significantly outpaced funding for the courts. (Immigration courts are part of the Department of Justice.) As more and more people have been arrested, detained, and ordered deported, the courts have remained understaffed and underfunded. “We’ve always been an afterthought,” Dana Leigh Marks, the president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, told me.

Roughly three hundred judges nationwide are responsible for the entire immigration caseload, and hiring is slow—filling a vacancy typically tak

es about two years, according to the Government Accountability Office. In Nogales, Sessions said that he would try to streamline the hiring process. But until that happens the Administration has been relocating judges to areas where they’re deemed most necessary. “We have already surged twenty-five immigration judges to detention centers along the border,” Sessions said, as if talking about military troop levels.”

*****************************************************

To state the obvious, a court should be run as an independent court system, not a bureaucratic agency within a highly politicized Executive Department like the DOJ. (If you ever wondered whether the DOJ was politicized, recent events should make it clear that it is.)

And, Jeff, these are judges, not troops; and the individuals are not an “invading army,” just mostly ordinary folks seeking refuge, due process, and fair treatment under our laws and the Constitution. Remember, it’s not an immigration crisis; it’s a crisis involving the steady degradation of due process within the U.S. Immigration Court system.

PWS

06-21-17

Still Not Sure We Need U.S. Immigration Court Reform? Read This Explosive New OIG Report — While “Rome Was Burning” In The Immigration Courts, EOIR Senior Exec Was Busy Fiddling Around Hiring Pals, Soliciting Sexual Favors, Taking Kickbacks On Contracts, Lying To Investigators, & Retaliating Against Honest Employees!

INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY

Findings Concerning Improper Hiring Practices, Inappropriate Interactions with Subordinates and a Contractor, and False Statements by a Senior Executive with the
Executive Office for Immigration Review

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated an investigation of a senior executive with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) based on information it received from DOJ that the official engaged in inappropriate hiring practices, used non‐public information to benefit friends, solicited and accepted gifts from subordinates, maintained inappropriate relationships with subordinates, and participated in an inappropriate quid pro quo scheme with a contract company.

The OIG found that the executive engaged in improper hiring practices when, on seven separate occasions, the executive disregarded merit system principles to hire close friends and associates as DOJ employees or DOJ contract personnel over applicants with superior qualifications for the positions. The OIG also found that the executive initiated and approved the promotion of a friend before the individual was eligible for promotion, nominated a friend for a monetary award without sufficient justification, and promoted a friend who lacked qualifications for the position. The OIG further found that the executive disclosed to friends and acquaintances non‐public information about job opportunities on a pending DOJ contract, and advocated for increasing contractor salaries in support of friends. The OIG found that this conduct violated federal statutes, federal regulations, and DOJ policy.

In addition, the OIG found that the executive maintained an inappropriate personal relationship with a subordinate, and solicited and accepted gifts and donations from subordinates, in violation of federal statutes and regulations, and DOJ policy. The OIG investigation further concluded that the executive engaged in an inappropriate scheme with a DOJ contractor in which the executive sought employment and training from the contractor for personal friends in exchange for the executive actively participating in the creation and awarding of a purchase agreement of substantial monetary value to the contractor, in violation of federal statutes and regulations.

Lastly, the OIG found that the executive lacked candor and provided false statements to the OIG in relation to the executive’s conduct in the above‐described matters, in violation of federal statute and regulation. Prosecution of the executive was declined.

The OIG has completed its investigation and provided this report to EOIR for appropriate action. The OIG also referred to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel its findings that the executive retaliated against employees who refused to hire the executive’s friends.

Posted to oig.justice.gov on June 6, 2017

**********************************************************

The “experiment” with trying to run a major court system as an agency of the USDOJ is over. It has failed! Is Jeff Sessions going to straighten this mess out? No way! In addition to being less than candid under oath during his Senate Confirmation hearing (or perjuring himself in the view of many), the Comey testimony certainly made it appear that Sessions either was under active investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller or soon would be under such investigation.

And, it’s by no means just Sessions. Every Attorney General since Janet Reno has contributed significantly to the downward spiral in the U.S. Immigration Courts (including the BIA). Former Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who helped push Immigration Court backlogs to incredible new heights with poor hiring practices and politically motivated enforcement priorities, also came out of the Comey hearing looking like someone who put political loyalty before integrity. For the record, she has denied Comey’s charges. But, then so have Trump & Sessions. Not very good company, I’m afraid. And, don’t forget that the whole mess with the announcement on the Hillary Clinton investigation started because Lynch had the incredibly poor judgement to meet with Bill Clinton during the heat of his wife’s Presidential campaign.

This OIG Report comes on the heels of a GAO Report that pointed out a number of chronic management problems in EOIR, including the ridiculous 2-year hiring cycle for U.S. Immigration Judges. The GAO also discussed options for restructuring the Immigration courts as an independent agency, although the report did not make a specific recommendation on that subject. Here’s a link to my blog on the GAO report: http://wp.me/p8eeJm-Uh

PWS

06-10-17

“AIMLESS DOCKET RESHUFFLING” (“ADR”) IN NEW YORK — NPR’s Beth Fertig Exposes Due Process/Management Abuses By Obama & Trump Administrations!

http://www.wnyc.org/story/why-new-yorks-immigration-court-even-busier-fewer-judges-under-trump/

Fertig reports:

“There are 29 immigration judges assigned to court rooms in the Federal Building in Lower Manhattan. But as the number of pending cases grew from about 70,000 in January to nearly 80,000 this spring, more and more people have been coming to court only to discover they don’t have judges.

On a Tuesday morning in May, Alin Guifarro expected to attend a hearing with his 18-year-old son, Jose David Rodriguez. The teen came from Honduras last year to join his father and is trying to get legal status in the U.S.

But when they went to the 12th floor and scanned the long list of names with appearances scheduled that day, Guifarro saw his son’s case wasn’t assigned to a judge. Confused, he went to the clerk’s office and was told he would eventually get a letter in the mail about a new court date.

Guifarro was frustrated. “I came over here driving 2 ½ hours for nothing,” he said, referring to his journey from his home in Mastic, Long Island.

This father and son aren’t the only ones whose immigration cases have been postponed lately.

“In the last two months this has happened every week,” said Bryan Johnson, an immigration lawyer based on Long Island. Many of his clients are seeking asylum, and he said some have already been waiting a couple of years. With extra delays, he said, “if they have children who are abroad, that will delay family unification or spousal unification if their spouse is abroad.”

On a single day in May, when almost 400 hearings were scheduled to take place in immigration court, WNYC counted 60 people who didn’t have judges.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review runs the nation’s immigration courts. It says staffers typically mail a notice if a judge is out or a case is delayed, but they don’t always go out in time. As for why people are coming to court without judges, the agency explained that they are technically assigned to ”visiting judges.” But it acknowledged these judges don’t actually exist.

“The concept of ‘visiting judges’ is for internal case management,” said E.O.I.R. spokesman John Martin. “When judges retire, or temporarily stop hearing cases due to illness, the New York City Immigration Court will assign these dockets to a ‘visiting judge’ in order to maintain continuity of these cases. As new immigration judges are hired and officially placed at their respective immigration court locations, these ‘visiting judge’ dockets in those locations are reassigned to them.”

Even after a recent hire, New York City has only 29 immigration judges, compared to 31 at this time last year.

The backlog in immigration courts isn’t new. There are almost 600,000 pending cases, nationally. The problem started well before President Donald Trump took office.”

*********************************************

Read Beth’s complete article at the link.

A recent GAO report highlighted and quantified endemic management issues with the DOJ’s stewardship over the U.S. Immigration Courts, particularly in hiring new Immigration Judges which takes an astounding average of 742 days. http://wp.me/p8eeJm-Uh

Then, there are the retirements. It’s hardly rocket science that an aging workforce in high-stress jobs might retire in large numbers. I ran “Immigration Judge retirements” into my search engine and got 9 articles, right off the bat. Try it yourself.

Additionally, there is the practice of both Administrations of mindlessly jamming more new cases in the front of the system without a rational plan for completing the ones already in it. That’s followed by reassigning Immigration Judges (like they were assembly line workers) from existing dockets of cases scheduled for final hearings to new dockets of Not Quite Ready For Prime Time (“NQRFPT”) cases. And to cap it off, Secretary Kelly, egged on by Jeff Sessions, has told DHS agents to arrest anyone the feel like arresting without any regard for reasonable priorities or space on already overcrowded court dockets!

And, while we’re at it, let’s stuff more non-criminals into dangerous, expensive, and unneeded immigration detention, thereby turning them into self-created emergency situations, rather than thinking creatively about cheaper, more humane, and more effective methods of getting non-dangerous folks through the system in a reasonable manner.

And you gotta love imaginary “visiting judges.” Visiting from where, “The Twilight Zone?” Almost as good as “warehousing” tens of thousands of cases on a single day in November 2019. No wonder that once in extreme frustration I referred to this administrative morass as “Clown Court!”🤡

No, it’s not all the fault of EOIR bureaucrats, most of whom mean well and are simply caught up in a “built for failure” system. But, it is the fault of the DOJ whose politicized management of the Immigration Courts has been a disaster since the beginning of this century. And, even if you removed politics from the equation, the DOJ obviously lacks the basic administrative competence to run a complicated, high volume court system. Ultimately, Congress must assume the responsibility for allowing this travesty to continue to exist. An independent Immigration Court outside the Executive Branch is long overdue.

But, other than that, it’s a great system!

Stay tuned! Tomorrow, Beth will tell us what judges pulled off their existing dockets find when they get to their “detail courts.” I can’t wait to hear what she found out!

PWS

06-05-17

GAO Report Recommends Improvements In U.S. Immigration Court Hiring, Technology, Data Analysis, & Oversight!

Here’s a link to the entire package, including highlights, summary of recommendations, and the full 153 page report:

http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-438

The part of the GAO study that I participated in, entitled “Experts and Stakeholders Have Proposed Restructuring EOIR’s Immigration Court System,” may be found at pages 73-87 of the full GAO report.

Lots to think about here. But one thing is clear: EOIR needs some fundamental changes and reforms for the U.S. Immigration Courts to survive as an institution. Notwithstanding EOIR’s positive, yet somewhat bureaucratic, “official response” to the draft version of the report, whether those changes can and will be made within the structure of the current Department of Justice remains to be seen. If I were an oddsmaker, I’d give it somewhat less than a 50-50 shot.

PWS

06-02-17

The 5th Circuit didn’t mince any words in its latest (inexplicably) unpublished, 24-page takedown of EOIR’s ridiculous “judicial” failure with lives at stake!

🇺🇸 Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

Related posts:

Related posts:

Related posts:

Related posts:

Related posts: