Tag: Department of Justice
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 especially the case for immigrants being held in remote detention centers, hours from the nearest immigration court. However, under the Trump administration, immigration courts […]
Following Jeff Sessions’ resignation as Attorney General, President Trump named Matthew Whitaker to replace him—a move that has already inspired multiple lawsuits that contend the designation was illegal. In a recent immigration case, an amicus brief explains why designating Sessions’ former chief of staff is unlawful. The amicus brief was filed in Matter of Negusie, […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stinging rebuke to President Trump’s ongoing efforts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative last week, unanimously upholding a lower court injunction which had blocked the Trump administration from ending the program. Just three days before that hearing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) took […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) released “Phase I” of its review of the federally-funded Legal Orientation Program (LOP) this week. The review came after Attorney General Jeff Sessions attempted to end the program in April but was forced to reverse that decision after receiving significant bipartisan pushback from Congress. The LOP, which is managed by […]
After being order last month by a federal judge to reunite the thousands of children it had separated from their parents under the “zero tolerance” policy, the Trump administration said it would not meet the first court-mandated deadline to reunite all children under the age of five. This admission coincided with a separate federal ruling […]
The immigration court system will begin to roll out an electronic filing pilot program in six immigration courts on July 16 this year, representing an important advancement for these courts that still heavily rely on paper documentation. Currently, immigration courts generally do not permit any electronic filing. Instead, immigrants and their attorneys must submit documents […]
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday in response to public outcry about family separation – a horrific policy that has led to the forced separation of over 2,000 minor children from their parents. Though the order discusses an end to the callous form of family separation that has captured the nation’s attention in […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced they will be stepping up prosecutions of individuals along the southern border. There is much folly in deciding in advance to criminally prosecute everyone who crosses the border. But what is most troubling is the likely prosecution of asylum seekers and the increase […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it filed criminal charges on Tuesday to prosecute some migrants who recently crossed the border and were reportedly once a part of the caravan. The vast majority of the migrants from the caravan are asylum seekers fleeing persecution, grave violence, and the risk of death. Unfortunately, these attempts […]
A newly-released document obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) shows that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is making radical changes to the immigration court system that deliberately contradict the recommendations given to the department by its own independent evaluators. The recommendations were made in an April 2017 Booz Allen Hamilton report commissioned by […]
