Tag: VIISTA Villanova

THE GIBSON REPORT— 01-02-22 — Compiled By Elizabeth Gibson, Esquire, NY Legal Assistance Group — Garland’s Aimless Docket Reshuffling (“ADR”) Squeezes Refugees On Both Ends Of His Ludicrous Backlog, As Those Patiently Waiting Given Court Dates Nearly A Decade In The Future, While Recent Arrivals Mindlessly Rocketed To The “Front Of The Line” Struggle To Find Lawyers & Prepare Cases — Plus Other New Year News From The Dystopian World Of U.S. Immigration!

Elizabeth Gibson
Elizabeth Gibson
Attorney, NY Legal Assistance Group
Publisher of “The Gibson Report”

NEWS

 

President Biden promised to reform immigration policy. How has that been going?

NPR: President Biden had an ambitious agenda to overhaul the nation’s border policies. But as the end of the year approaches, many of those proposals have been blocked, reversed or simply abandoned.

 

Biden asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear ‘Remain in Mexico’ case

Reuters: The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court whether it needed to continue to implement a Trump-era policy that has forced tens of thousands of migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. asylum cases. See also ‘Remain In Mexico’ Renewal May Bring More Solo Migrant Kids

 

Hundreds of Afghans denied humanitarian entry into US

AP: Since the U.S. withdrawal, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has received more than 35,000 applications for humanitarian parole, of which it has denied about 470 and conditionally approved more than 140, Victoria Palmer, an agency spokesperson, said this week. See also Months later, Afghan evacuees abroad and at US bases still wait to be resettled.

 

Mexico Is Detaining More US-Bound Migrants Than Ever

Vice: Authorities in Mexico detained more than a quarter of a million migrants this year, and most of them were from Honduras. See also Mexico disbands makeshift camp with thousands of migrants

 

“I Hope a Lawyer Will Answer”: Asylum Seekers Risk Deportation in Expedited Process

KQED: Advocates say the current system has more safeguards for migrant families and isn’t placing them in detention facilities, but the accelerated pace still makes it tough for asylum seekers like López to find legal representation.

 

LITIGATION/CASELAW/RULES/MEMOS

 

Top Immigration Litigation To Watch In 2022

Law360: Federal courts in 2022 will grapple with immigration law questions ranging from the extent of the president’s authority to set immigration enforcement priorities to federal courts’ ability to review immigration decisions made by the executive branch. Here, Law360 breaks down the cases to watch.

 

Biden Administration Petitions the High Court, Seeking to End Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” Program

ImmProf: The petition, which asks to review a decision of the Fifth Circuit court of appeals, addresses issues relating to the Migrant Protection Protocols, commonly known as the “Remain in Mexico” program.

 

Oral Argument and Other Court Operations at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

CA2: In light of the recent surge in Covid-19 infections, beginning January 4, 2022 oral arguments will be conducted remotely, by Zoom or teleconference.

 

Unpub. CA5 Niz-Chavez Remand: Lima-Gonzalez V. Garland

LexisNexis: Lima-Gonzalez v. Garland “Lima-Gonzalez’s NTA did not contain the information required to trigger the stop-time rule. See Niz-Chavez, 141 S. Ct. at 1478-79, 1485; see also § 1229(a)(1)(A)–(G). Neither did any of the subsequent notices of hearing. As a result, the Government has not furnished Lima-Gonzalez with the “single compliant document” required by statute. Niz-Chavez, 141 S. Ct…

 

Illinois’ law ending immigration detention in 2022 hits snag

WaPo: Three Illinois counties with such federal agreements faced a Jan. 1 deadline to end contracts. While one in downstate Illinois complied last year, two others are involved in a federal lawsuit challenging the law. The case was dismissed last month, but a federal judge on Thursday granted an extension while an appeal is considered. Authorities in McHenry and Kankakee counties now have until Jan. 13.

 

DOS Proposed Rule to Raise Several Consular Service Fees

AILA: DOS proposed rule which would raise several nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, the fee for the Border Crossing Card for Mexican citizens age 15 and over, and the waiver of the two-year residency requirement fee. Comments are due 2/28/22. (86 FR 74018, 12/29/21)

 

Third Delay of Effective Date of Final Rule on Pandemic-Related Security Bars to Asylum and Withholding of Removal

AILA: USCIS and EOIR interim final rule further delaying until 12/31/22 the effective date of the final rule “Security Bars and Processing” (85 FR 84160, 12/23/20). Comments on the extension of the effective date as well as the possibility of a further extension are due 2/28/22. (86 FR 73615, 12/28/21)

 

President Revokes Proclamation Suspending Entry of Certain People Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Omicron Variant

AILA: Effective December 31, 2021, 12:01 am (ET), Presidential Proclamation 10315 was revoked, thus rescinding travel restrictions on Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Vaccine requirements remain in effect.

 

USCIS Extends Flexibility for Responding to Agency Requests

USCIS: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is extending the flexibilities it announced on March 30, 2020.

 

USCIS Provides Guidance on Expedited EADs for Healthcare Workers

AILA: USCIS stated that healthcare workers with a pending EAD renewal application, Form I-765, and whose EAD expires in 30 days or less or has already expired, can request expedited processing of their EAD applications. Proof of employment will be required.

 

RESOURCES

 

 

EVENTS

 

 

ImmProf

 

Monday, January 3, 2022

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Friday, December 31, 2021

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Monday, December 27, 2021

 

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Thanks, Elizabeth!

The problem with “ADR” @ EOIR is chronic! It’s one that Garland seems determined to repeat, despite ample advice to the contrary.

Also, he’s ignored the availability of many “practical experts” on the outside who, if appointed to key EOIR positions, could have helped him solve this without stomping on due process (although, I admit the solution would have been easier in March 2021, when Garland was sworn in as AG, than it is after 9 months of his making it worse — not to mention that his “defiant tone-deafness” has probably “turned off” some of the top-flight talent he needed to “reach out” to). As the KQED article points out:

  • “But there’s a lot of room for improvement, and I don’t know if the people that are being named to supervise this actually know what’s happening in the trenches.”
    • Duh! That’s what all of us have been saying. Truth is, they aren’t the right people, and they don’t know what’s happening. Not by a long shot!
    • I also understand why Torres, who’s trying to maintain a relationship with Garland’s “Clueless Crew” is trying to be charitable.
    • But, as someone not currently “out there in the trenches,” I don’t have to be so reticent. So, I’ll say what she can’t. This is a totally unacceptable and inexcusable performance from Garland! 
  • Another reason why this program is a massive failure is that, like their ADR-promoting, backlog-building predecessors, Garland & Mayorkas started this misguided and mishandled program without seeking the advice, counsel, and support of the pro bono lawyers who have to staff it to make it work!
    • Think of the total absurdity of what Garland is doing here! While a pro bono (or low bono) lawyer is having already prepared cases “orbited” years out on the docket (a process that usually requires re-preparation of the entire case), the phone is ringing off the hook with desperate, perspective new clients given unrealistically expedited hearing dates that should have been used for the cases “orbited” to the end of the docket.
  • Also, having not practiced privately for many years, Garland appears to have forgotten the Code of Ethics.
    • Attorneys are obligated not to take on work (even pro bono work) that they can’t professionally and timely handle.
    • Yet, Garland is pushing them to do exactly that! The choice is let folks try to prepare their own cases (literally tantamount to a “death sentence” in many cases); or 
    • Take on work you can’t handle (a clear ethical violation that could have the same unfavorable result for the client).
  • There actually are ways of working with outside experts to increase pro bono representation. One of the most promising is the the amazing VIISTA Program created and run by Professor Michele Pistone at Villanova Law to train non-attorney “Accredited Representatives” to handle pro bono asylum cases.
    • I have no knowledge that Garland or anyone at EOJ/EOIR has ever reached out to Professor Pistone, despite recommendations that Garland do so.
    • Worse yet, Garland has allowed his “EOIR Clown Show” to also create a “new backlog” in the approval process for Accredited Representatives! Talk about clueless, counterproductive mismanagement!
  • Garland’s mis-handling of EOIR and his new round of “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” raises serious issues about his own performance.
    • Whatever happened to Democratic oversight of EOIR in Congress? Why is Garland getting a “free pass” on mismanagement of EOIR, his further undermining of Due Process in Immigration Court, and his disrespectful treatment of the immigration pro bono and low bono bar?

🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

01-04-22

Related posts:

  1. 🧑🏽‍⚖️⚖️🗽🇺🇸WHO’S JUDGE IS IT ANYWAY? — The Crisis Of Independence In Our Immigration Courts! — Coming April 7, 2021! — Sponsored By The HNBA! — Don’t Miss It!
  2. WOW, HERE’S A SURPRISE: MANY KIDS FLEEING VIOLENCE IN THE NORTHERN TRIANGLE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BIDEN BORDER POLICIES — They Are Just Trying To Save Their Lives!
  3. ⚖️🗽🧑🏽‍⚖️”MEDLEY OF INJUSTICE” — CIRCUITS CONTINUE TO LOWER HAMMER 🔨 ON BIA: Anti-Asylum Misogyny; Illegal & Incredibly Stupid “Policies;” “Perplexing” Lack Of Legal Knowledge Highlighted In Latest Batch Of Reversals! — “Attempted rape by a gang of men, in broad daylight on a public street, is especially terrorizing because it powerfully demonstrates the perpetrator’s domination, control over the victim and imperviousness to the law. Requiring evidence of additional harms both minimizes the gravity of the sexual assault and demeans the victim.”
  4. ⚖️🇺🇸👍🏼🗽DEAN KEVIN JOHNSON’S SUCCINCT RESPONSE TO GREG ABBOTT’S PREDICTABLE SOUTHERN BORDER BS IS WORTH A READ! — PLUS: ARELIS HERNANDEZ OF WASHPOST WITH SOME MUCH-NEEDED TRUTH & PERSPECTIVE FROM THOSE ACTUALLY LIVING ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER: “We need more lawyers and judges, not more troops or technology.”

⚖️🗽GREAT NEWS FOR DUE PROCESS: NAIJ WINS RE-CERTIFICATION FROM DOJ! — “The immigration courts work best when judges are treated justly,” says NAIJ Prez Judge Mimi Tsankov! — A “Stunner” That Should Have Been A “No Brainer” For The Biden Administration!

Honorable Mimi Tsankov
Honorable Mimi Tsankov
U.S. Immigration Judge
President, National Association of Immigration Judges (“NAIJ”)
Judge Amiena Khan is the executive vice president of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ)
Judge Amiena Khan, Past President, National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ)
Hon. A. Ashlley Tabaddor
Hon. A. Ashley Tabaddor
Past President, National
Association of Immigration Judges (“NAIJ”)

From NAIJ President Judge Mimi Tsankov:

‘Finally, Some Justice for Immigration Judges Two-Year Union Busting Battle Ends as DOJ Reverses Course and Agrees to Recognize NAIJ’

Dear Friends of NAIJ,

We’re thrilled to announce that NAIJ has reached a settlement with EOIR:  https://www.naij-usa.org/images/uploads/newsroom/NAIJ_Press_Release_on_ULP_Settlement.pdf.  Thank you for standing by us over the past few years, especially, as we’ve stood up against the decertification effort.  The unfair labor practice matters are now settled.  What’s left for another day — resolution of the pending motion to reconsider awaiting a decision at the FLRA board.

Today, we celebrate this achievement, thank all those that have stood by us, and look forward to working with the Agency to improve working conditions at the Immigration Courts.

Sincerely,

Hon. Mimi Tsankov

President

National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ)

26 Federal Plaza

Room 1237

New York, NY 10278

(720) 837-8737 (Cell)

mimi.tsankov@gmail.com

 

DISCLAIMER:  The author is the President of the National Association of Immigration Judges.  The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the official position of the United States Department of Justice, the Attorney General, or the Executive Office for Immigration Review.   The views represent the author’s personal opinions, which were formed after extensive consultation with the membership of NAIJ.

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

Alexandra Villarreal
Alexandra Villarreal
Immigration Reporter
The Guardian
Joanna Walters
Joanna Walters
Journalist
The Guardian
PHOTO: Twitter

Also, great coverage by Alexandra Villarreal and Joanna  Walters from The Guardian:

Victory for US immigration judges as Biden administration recognizes union

Settlement comes after judges accused president of ‘doubling down’ on Trump’s position

Alexandra Villarreal in Austin and Joanna Walters in New York
Published: 18:01 Tuesday, 07 December 2021

In a stunning victory, US immigration judges have settled a tense dispute with Joe Biden’s administration over their effort to restore union rights taken away from them under Donald Trump.

Biden’s Department of Justice agreed on Tuesday to recognize the union as the exclusive representative for the nation’s immigration judges and follow the terms of their collective bargaining agreement, at least for the time being.

Days before reaching the settlement, the head of the federal immigration judges’ union had accused the Biden administration of “doubling down” on its predecessor’s efforts to freeze out their association even as they struggle with a backlog of almost 1.5m court cases and staff shortages, which exacerbate due process concerns in their courts.

Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), had declared herself “mystified” that Biden’s Department of Justice would not negotiate with her members despite the US president vocally and frequently touting his support for workers’ representation.

“This administration has really doubled down on maintaining the [Trump] position that we are not a valid union,” Tsankov said before the settlement.

Tsankov was appointed as an immigration judge in 2006 and is based in New York, where she also teaches at Fordham University School of Law. She spoke to the Guardian only in her union role.

After what she described as “decades” of relatively smooth relations between the NAIJ and the Department of Justice, Donald Trump capped four years of rightwing immigration policy by successfully petitioning to strip hundreds of immigration judges of their right to unionize.

The hostile move was decided by the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), an independent administrative federal agency that controls labor relations between the federal government and its employees, on 2 November 2020, the day before the presidential election.

Despite a Democratic victory and Joe Biden taking the White House pledging to undo damage done by Trump, the union remained shut out and silenced for more than a year, without a date set to hear its case attempting to restore its official status.

“I cannot understand it … Working together, as the president has stated, working with federal employees, working with unions, achieves better results,” said Tsankov.

. . . .

Read the full report here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/07/us-immigration-judges-union-biden-administration

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

Congrats to Judge Tsankov and former NAIJ Presidents Judge Amiena Khan, Judge Ashley Tabaddor, and all of the others who courageously and steadfastly fought against this scurrilous retaliation by Billy Barr directed against those with the guts and integrity to “speak truth to power” about the due process disaster in our Immigration Courts!

Yes, it’s a great victory for the NAIJ and “good government.” But, I’m with Judge Tsankov here: Why on earth did it take so much time and wasted effort for the Garland DOJ to finally “do the right thing?”

This should have been “day one stuff” for Garland — a true “no brainer.” The real “stunner” here is that it took so long!

The NAIJ was and remains “the only game in town” when it comes to expert professional judicial training @ EOIR! The rest of EOIR’s professionalism and training program could be characterized as a shambles — that is, if it actually existed, which it effectively doesn’t.

Compare EOIR “management’s” pathetic attempts at training with what the “real pros” at NAIJ and the VIISTA Program at Villanova (training for non-attorney reps) under Professor Michele Pistone have developed over the past year. There is no comparison — NAIJ and VIISTA win, hands down!

Yet, rather than harnessing this available energy, talent, expertise, and creativity, “Team Garland” has dawdled away the time, making few material inroads into the toxic culture and broken pieces of our Immigration Courts. Ask almost any practitioner how much their life and the lives of their clients in Immigration Court have “improved” under Garland! You’ll get an “earful” — as I do on occasion.

A new group of progressive practical expert leaders at EOIR should have made NAIJ, representatives of the private bar and NGOs, and representatives of ICE OPLA part of  an “expert advisory team” working cooperatively to reform EOIR, institute merit-based hiring practices, and reduce the backlog without more wasteful gimmicks and in full compliance with due process.

Instead, most of the first year of Garland’s DOJ tenure has been wasted fighting battles that never should have been fought, irrationally alienating would-be allies who could have provided creative solutions to endemic problems, and engaging in yet more “Aimless Docket Reshuffling” even while continuing to build unnecessary backlog. The actual state of due process at EOIR has remained deplorable, morale at record lows, and the frustration and anger of attorneys subjected to Garland’s ongoing mess growing.

Even the “lowest of low-hanging fruit” — speedy approvals of applications for recognition and accreditation of non-attorney representatives involving graduates of VIISTA and other top NGO programs have been inexplicably allowed to languish. A process that should easily be completed in 30-60 days in most cases delayed for months, perhaps years, under unrealistically low staffing and “low priority” assigned by habitually negligent and unresponsive to public needs “EOIR Management.” This, at  a time when there is a dire crisis in representation that VIISTA and other “top drawer NGOs” are fighting and innovating to solve.

(Remember, of course, that former EOIR Director James McHenry improperly “took over” the R&A program, which has become less, rather than more, functional and timely as a result. That’s a good measure of how inane EOIR “management” became under Trump. But, although McHenry is gone, it’s not that there has been drastic improvement under Garland. The lack at EOIR HQ of those who truly understand the Immigration Court process and could solve problems and “make the trains run on time,” without stomping on anyone’s rights, is simply mind-boggling!)

But, however bad EOIR is and remains, the “real buck stops with Garland” who has miserably failed to address in a timely, professional, systemic, rational manner the ongoing mess in his “EOIR Star Chambers!”

Star Chamber Justice
Belated re-recognition of NAIJ, while welcome, won’t solve this problem at Garland’s EOIR! — “Justice” Star Chamber Style, Public Realm — or this:
Four Horsemen
BIA Asylum Panel In Action
Albrecht Dürer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The public deserves better — much better!

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am a proud retired member of the NAIJ.

👍🏼🇺🇸Due Process Forever!

PWS

12-08-21

Related posts:

  1. AS TOTALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL IMMIGRATION COURTS 👎🏽 CONTINUE THEIR DESCENT INTO THE ABYSS, 80 EXPERTS AND ORGANIZATIONS ASK GARLAND TO UNDO BARR’S ILLEGAL “BANISHMENT” OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES (“NAIJ”)🧑🏽‍⚖️
  2. “PURE SOPHISTRY” 🤮— POLITICIZED FLRA MAJORITY REVERSES REGIONAL DIRECTOR, BUSTS IMMIGRATION JUDGES’ UNION!— NAIJ President Judge Ashley Tabaddor Pledges To Continue Fight For Due Process Rights Of Migrants & 1st Amendment Rights Of Judges!
  3. ⚖️👨🏻‍⚖️ THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION SHOULD “RE-CERTIFY” THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF IMMIGRATION JUDGES (NAIJ) — Will They? ❓❓— Marcia Brown Reports For American Prospect
  4. ⚖️NAIJ RESPONDS TO U.N. ON NEED FOR INDEPENDENCE, GENDER DIVERSITY — “[A]chieving judicial independence is essential to ensuring a diversity of opinions and reducing bias in adjudications.”