There are currently 540,000 people in deportation proceedings somewhere in the United States. Most will make their final stance against forced separation from their families and homes without an attorney. This is a shameful mark on our nation’s commitment to justice that should stop. Earlier this month, New York officials took a significant step in that direction by funding a state-wide network of attorneys to represent people undergoing immigration court proceedings while detained. More cities and states should follow New York’s lead. Despite what politicians frequently suggest, deciding [...]
Immigration judge leader to discuss merits of independent immigration courts at Denver Law
Should Congress move the immigration courts out of the Justice Department and create independent courts under Article I of the U.S. Constitution? The National Association of Immigration Judges thinks so. As the union representing many of the nation’s approximately 250 immigration judges, the NAIJ is the sole official means through which the public and policymakers hear from the front-line adjudicators who decide hundreds of thousands of cases every year. Despite being critical components of the immigration law system, the immigration courts are notoriously understaffed. As anyone who has [...]
Immigration courts busy as obstacles to representation continue, government statistics reveal
Without much fanfare, last month the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, the agency that oversees the nation’s immigration courts, released its important annual compilation of statistical data. Though the report isn’t the only source of information about the immigration court system, it is a hugely valuable glimpse into the front-line adjudication of migrants’ attempts to remain in the United States. The fiscal year 2015 report, released in April 2016, reveals an immigration court system that continues to process hundreds of thousands of removal cases with glaring [...]
The Power of 1000: Updates from the Nation’s First Immigration Public Defender
By Andrea Saenz The nation’s first public defender system for detained immigrants facing deportation, the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP), recently marked an important milestone unimaginable just a few years ago: representing over 1000 clients since opening its doors as a pilot project in 2013. That’s 1000 New Yorkers and their families who would have faced permanent separation for no reason except their inability to afford counsel. Instead, they entered court with an outstanding lawyer by their side, courtesy of the NYIFUP service providers: the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn [...]
Cardozo clinic defeats aggravated felony charges after years of litigation
By Katie Tinto, Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Cardozo School of Law On February 2, 2015, an immigration judge in New York City terminated removal proceedings after finding that the government failed to meet its burden of proof that a lawful permanent resident (hereinafter, “Mr. P”) was removable on the grounds of either an aggravated felony theft offense or an aggravated felony fraud offense. Matter of P-F-M- (NYC Immigr. Ct. Feb. 2, 2015). The Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic of Cardozo School of Law (IJC) represented Mr. P for over three years, but for Mr. P, a [...]
Nation’s First Immigrant Public Defender System Launches; Report Shows Deportations Cost Communities Millions
By Andrea Saenz This week, for the first time in the United States, detained immigrants who cannot afford attorneys will be provided with counsel through the New York Family Unity Project (NYIFUP). The program is a one-year pilot, funded through a grant from the forward-leaning New York City Council, which will provide representation for nearly 200 detainees at the Varick Street Immigration Court in New York City. The program grew out of research by the New York Immigrant Representation Study, under the leadership of now-Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the [...]
IJ: Not all drug convictions are controlled substance offenses
An immigration judge in New York recently concluded that a state conviction from possession of a controlled substance isn’t a controlled substance offense for immigration law purposes. Matter of Nunez, slip op. (NY Imm. Court September 20, 2013) (Segal, IJ). The IJ therefore dismissed the removal proceedings. This case involved an LPR convicted of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, N.Y. Penal Code § 220.03. DHS claimed that this conviction rendered him removable for having been convicted of a controlled substance offense (CSO) under INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i). The [...]
Government shutdown will hinder the overtaxed immigration courts
The federal government’s looming shutdown promises to slow the already backlogged immigration courts. As have all Executive Branch departments, the Justice Department—the federal agency that includes the Executive Office for Immigration Review which houses the Board of Immigration Appeals and the immigration courts—expects to furlough thousands of workers if Congress doesn’t approve a budget to keep the government funded past midnight Monday. According to the DOJ’s contingency plan for dealing with a revenue shortfall—a “lapse in appropriations,” as the agency put it—the EOIR will continue [...]