Immigration Lawyer
Houston, Texas
Photo: Mendoza Law website
Excerpts from “A New Opportunity to Build a 21st-Century Immigration Court System” by Elizabeth M. Mendoza:
This lack of judicial independence, along with heavy dockets and the vulnerability of the EOIR to the political influence of the administration in power, has created the crisis we have today. It also presents the Biden-Harris administration with the opportunity to course-correct and put the EOIR on a path to effectively, nimbly, and fairly navigate the 21st century and beyond.
. . . .
Immigration judges need to be able to manage their dockets. A practical tool to help them do so is the use of administrative closure. This tool allows judges to “freeze” cases, or make them inactive, at their discretion or when requested to do so by the UP or the Department of Homeland Security. The case remains in the court system under the control of the immigration judge, but it is not on an active docket requiring hearings in court. This tool is commonly used when the UP has a petition pending with another agency, usually Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), that if approved would allow the UP to apply for permanent residency in court or with CIS. Through administrative closure, the judge can put the UP’s case on inactive status, allowing the UP to process the petition with another agency. This allows the judge to free up docket slots for other cases and thereby process more cases that do not have collateral relief or are higher priority.
. . . .
It is against this backdrop that the EOIR currently uses quotas. The quota metric imposed by the last presidential administration does little to promote a fair, nimble, effective court system. It is a policy that should be rescinded as soon as possible.
. . . .
Certifying cases without transparency or regard to the reality of the immigration situation at our borders, in our communities, and in the EOIR system itself does not engender confidence that the EOIR is independent. Indeed, case certification is the antithesis of an immigration judge’s judicial independence. And, while an administration may be tempted to use the certification tool to achieve its political and policy goals, it is not appropriate within the judicial context unless it is used to undo precedents clearly at odds with statutes, regulations, or congressional intent.
. . . .
With over 1 million cases pending in its system, the EOIR cannot continue down this path. It should institute reasonable, practical, real-world solutions to manage its docket and afford due process and fairness to those who come before it presenting their cases for relief.
. . . .
The EOIR must be effective, nimble, and fair. The Biden-Harris administration has all the tools at its disposal to recreate an EOIR that embodies these traits. It will require a thoughtful approach, competent management, consistent policy deployment, and transparency to achieve these goals. The last four years saw numerous policy and regulatory changes to the EOIR that fundamentally changed the focus of the immigration court system into what could be considered a “deportation machine.” As noted earlier, the EOIR is a civil court system housed inside a law enforcement agency. It is not an independent court.
. . . .
The people who appear before the EOIR deserve a well-functioning court system. Our communities deserve a court system that promptly adjudicates the cases of bad actors so they can be quickly removed. And our nation deserves an EOIR that reflects the best of American principles—that all people are equal under the law.
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“Nimble” certainly isn’t a word I’ve ever used to describe EOIR. But, it shows exactly why new thinking and dynamic creative leadership is required @ DOJ and EOIR. And, Elizabeth and others are more than ready to provide it! I just don’t think anyone asked them to come on board.
Something I learned as a Senior Executive in the Government and in private practice: If you want to change the composition of your workforce and attract the”best and the brightest” you must ACTIVELY recruit! It’s also something that I learned from rebuilding the Legacy INS legal program under General Counsel Maurice C. “Iron Mike” Inman, Jr.
Mike told me to treat every law school appearance, public speech, CLE, bar luncheon, or training session as a “recruitment opportunity” and never, never to rely solely on the “USG system” for getting out the word to the folks we wanted to reach to improve our program and provide better legal services to the Commissioner. He also insisted that I deliver that message to each member of our senior legal staff: every engagement was a potential selling and recruiting opportunity!
So, here’s Elizabeth’s “resume” —
About Attorney Elizabeth M. Mendoza
Attorney Elizabeth M. Mendoza practices exclusively immigration law since 1993. She is a graduate of Rice University and the University of Houston Law Center.
Attorney Mendoza represents immigrants and their families in family-based immigration, removal defense in immigration court (asylum, CAT, withholding of removal, cancellation of removal, voluntary departure), appeals and motions, consular processing, waivers, citizenship, work permits, TPS, NACARA, VAWA, U and T visas, Deferred Action, widow\er petitions, removal of conditionals of residency, and renewals of residency card.
For over two decades Attorney Mendoza has provided pro bono legal assistance to non-profit organizations throughout the Houston area, such as Catholic Charities. She volunteered at Bush Airport in Houston, Texas to assist travelers affected by the travel ban. Attorney Mendoza volunteered in Matamoros, Mexico in a camp along the Rio Grande helping asylum seekers.
Committed to supporting fair and just immigration laws, Attorney Mendoza has lobbied at the Texas capitol and in Washington, D.C. for comprehensive immigration legislation.
Advocating for immigrants and their families, Attorney Mendoza is a frequent speaker at community know your rights talks in churches and schools.
Attorney Mendoza is a speaker at workshops for the University of Houston Law Center and the state bar of Texas where she presents to colleagues about different immigration law topics.
Currently, Attorney Mendoza serves as the liaison to immigration courts (Executive Office for Immigration Review) in the Houston area on behalf of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).
Attorney Mendoza is licensed by the state bar of Texas since 1993. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 1996.
So, here’s someone who not only has intellectual brilliance, comprehensive knowledge of immigration, human rights, and due process, organizational skills, presentation and writing skills, creativity, and demonstrated leadership and inspirational mentoring ability, but has actually used them to represent individuals in Immigration Court and to solve real life problems!
Everything a real judge or a competent judicial administrator should be!
Compare Elizabeth’s qualifications and background with the ridiculously thin qualifications of the “Miller Lite Holdover Gang of 17” that Garland had the audacity to announce publicly yesterday! (Only after “DT-21,” Kowalski, and I “outed” the sordid story.) You can’t compare them because there is no comparison! Elizabeth and other NDPA superstars are the folks we need in charge of EOIR, replacing the existing BIA, and on the Immigration Bench across the country. And, they aren’t hiding under rocks!
For obvious reasons many exceptionally well qualified practical scholars and advocates did not apply for largely fraudulent Immigration “Judgeships” that were more like “Deportation Clerkships” operating under a scofflaw, unethical, xenophobic, racist, misogynistic Trump DOJ.
For Pete’s sake, this is a life or death court system, not a stupid bureaucracy! It’s up to folks like Garland to actively recruit the “best and brightest” from the private sector, NGOs, academia, and minority communities to build a diverse, progressive judiciary that eventually will model “best judicial practices” and “feed” the Article IIIs “battle tested” judicial talent unswervingly committed to due process and equal justice for all.
Part of that is “repackaging and reinventing” these jobs as independent judgeships, with good working conditions, adequate support, no political interference, and where courage, integrity, and top flight scholarship in pursuit of due process, fundamental fairness, and equal justice for all will be encouraged, respected, and honored! In simple terms, “more Elizabeth Mendozas.” It’s also why all “recruitments” conducted under the Trump DOJ should be considered tainted and inherently suspect!
🇺🇸👩🏽⚖️🗽⚖️Due Process Forever!
PWS
05-07-21