Appellate Immigration Judge, BIA
PHOTO: immigrantarc.org
https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1442001/download
NOTICE
U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office for Immigration Review
Office of Policy
5107 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, Virginia 22041
Contact: Communications and Legislative Affairs Division Phone: 703-305-0289 PAO.EOIR@usdoj.gov
www.justice.gov/eoir @DOJ_EOIR Oct. 14, 2021
EOIR Announces New Appellate Immigration Judge
Agency Seeks Qualified Individuals for Immigration Judge Positions
FALLS CHURCH, VA – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced the appointment of Andrea Saenz as a Member of EOIR’s Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s appointment of Appellate Immigration Judge Saenz brings the BIA to its regulatory maximum of 23 Members.
The BIA is the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying immigration laws,
having nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals of decisions by adjudicators, including
Immigration Judges. EOIR has more than 2,300 employees in its 69 immigration courts
nationwide, at the BIA and at EOIR headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. As provided in the
President’s Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2022, EOIR anticipates increasing its immigration
judge corps from 535 today to 734 by the end of the next fiscal year.
EOIR recognizes the many benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce, and is looking for
qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our corps of Immigration Judges. For
information about qualifications and application requirements to become an Immigration Judge,
please review EOIR’s current Immigration Judge Job Opportunity Announcement, which closes at 11:59 p.m. on October 15.
Biographical information follows:
Andrea Saenz, Appellate Immigration Judge
Andrea Saenz was appointed as an Appellate Immigration Judge in October 2021. Judge Saenz earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Juris Doctor in 2008 from Harvard Law School. From 2016 to 2021, she was Attorney-in-Charge of the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project, Brooklyn Defender Services, in Brooklyn, NY. From 2013 to 2016, she was a Clinical Teaching Fellow at the Immigration Justice Clinic, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (New York). From 2012 to 2013, she was a Staff Attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 2010 to 2012, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk at the New York – Varick Immigration Court, entering on duty through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. From 2008 to 2010, she was an Equal Justice Works Fellow at the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project, in Boston. Judge Saenz is a member of the New York State Bar.
Communications and Legislative Affairs DivisionEOIR Announces New Appellate Immigration Judge Page 2
— EOIR —
The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. EOIR’s mission is to adjudicate immigration cases by fairly, expeditiously, and uniformly interpreting and administering the Nation’s immigration laws. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, EOIR conducts immigration court proceedings, appellate reviews, and administrative hearings. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all cases it adjudicates.
Communications and Legislative Affairs Division
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“Courtside” readers had this story three weeks ago:
https://immigrationcourtside.com/2021/09/24/%e2%9a%96%ef%b8%8f%f0%9f%97%bd%f0%9f%87%ba%f0%9f%87%b8%f0%9f%91%8d%f0%9f%8f%bcfollowing-a-hideous-0-27-start-garland-hits-a-home-run-%e2%9a%be%ef%b8%8f-amazing-practical-scholar-ndpa-superstar-and/
Congratulations again, Judge Saenz! Capable as she is, Judge Saenz is just one among 23 BIA Appellate Immigration Judges. All of her colleagues are “government insiders,” and none has any recent experience representing individuals in Immigration Court!
Decades of skewed hiring at EOIR overwhelmingly favored those with government/prosecutorial backgrounds by a ratio of more than 9 to 1 (even worse at the BIA, where Judge Saenz is the first “private sector” appointee since the waning days of the Clinton Administration and the “Schmidt Board” in 2000).
This is in a system where studies such as the highly acclaimed Refugee Roulette have consistently shown that judges’ backgrounds and personal philosophies have more to do with the outcome of “life or death cases” than the actual merits of the claims. Claims that might be routinely and properly granted by one judge are summarily rejected by others, sometimes in another courtroom in the same court building!
The BIA as currently comprised has shown neither an interest in nor the ability to consistently protect due process, equal justice, individual rights, and enforce consistency among Immigration Courts. Indeed, there is a ridiculous and quite intentional dearth of positive asylum precedents from the BIA and the various AGs who have inserted themselves onto the process!
Remarkably, as shown by recent FOIA disclosures, “rubber stampism” in a race to make quotas, please political “handlers,” and hold onto jobs and careers is still “alive and well” at today’s EOIR, including the BIA:
EOIR now claims:
EOIR recognizes the many benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce, and is looking for
qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our corps of Immigration Judges. For
information about qualifications and application requirements to become an Immigration Judge,
please review EOIR’s current Immigration Judge Job Opportunity Announcement, which closes at 11:59 p.m. on October 15.
That this belated announcement on October 14 cites a deadline at noon the next day (now expired) is probably a good indicator of the (lack of) sincerity of EOIR’s claims that it actively seeks “diversification,” particularly from the private/NGO/academic sector.
Fortunately, I’m aware that a number of exceptionally well-qualified NDPA members have “thrown their hats in the/ring.” There will be future announcements and opportunities.
So NDPA members need to “put DOJ/EOIR to the test” by flooding their “designed for insiders” system and pathetically inadequate recruitment mechanisms (e.g., where’s the “outreach” to HBCUs, to Hispanic, Black, and Asian American Bar Associations, and to human rights NGOs?) with a tidal wave of superior applicants who can change this broken system into a real due-process-oriented judiciary, even in the absence of dynamic progressive leadership at with a plan!
🇺🇸Due Process Forever!
PWS
10-18-21