Due Process and the Courts

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

Recent Features

  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

We're demanding information to uncover the hiring process for Assistant Chief Immigration Judge and their influence over the immigration courts.

Two Systems of Justice: How the Immigration System Falls Short of American Ideals of Justice

This special report lays out the the incongruency between America's criminal justice system and its immigration justice system, and provides recommendations for how these problems could be fixed.

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All Due Process and the Courts Content

  • Advocacy

Comments on the Immigration Adjudication Draft Report by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) (Feb. 13, 2012)

Addressing representation, stipulated removal orders , prosecutorial discretion, video hearings, and the asylum clock.
  • Advocacy

Petition Comments to the DOJ/EOIR regarding the “Retrospective Regulatory Review” (submitted Nov. 27, 2012)

The Council, in collaboration with AILA, inter alia, urged EOIR to amend regulations pertaining to telephonic and video hearings (see page 4).
  • Advocacy

Testimony submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee for May 18, 2011 hearing, “Improving Efficiency and Ensuring Justice in the Immigration Court System.”

Addressing access to counsel, effective assistance of counsel, protections for noncitizens lacking mental competency, the employment authorization employment clock, and the departure bar to motions to reopen.
  • Advocacy

Comments on the Immigration Adjudication Draft Report by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) (submitted Feb. 13, 2012)

The Council commented on several issues addressed by the draft report, including video hearings (see page 4). ACUS’s draft report and the final recommendations, included that EOIR should consider more systemic assessments of the use of video hearings.
  • FOIA

Complaints Against Immigrant Judges FOIA

On November 13, 2012, American Immigration Council in conjunction with AILA and Public Citizen, submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Justice’s Executive Office...

  • Blog

Legal Victory Brings Hope to Asylum Seekers Turned Away at the Border

August 12, 2020

Asylum seekers got a major win in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) illegal policy of turning back asylum seekers at ports of entry. In Al Otro Lado v. Wolf, a...

  • Blog

COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc on Immigration Courts With No Clear Plan to Stop Spread

August 4, 2020

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout the United States, immigration courts around the country remain in turmoil. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”) initially...

  • Blog

Federal Court Strikes Down Trump’s Asylum Transit Ban in Momentous Victory

July 1, 2020

On June 30, a federal judge in the District of Columbia struck down the Trump administration’s asylum transit ban, ending a sweeping policy that had shut down asylum for most people entering the...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Limits Court Oversight for Fast-Track Deportations  

June 25, 2020

The Supreme Court ruled on June 25 that certain asylum seekers forced through a fast-track deportation process at the U.S. border, called “expedited removal,” cannot challenge their deportations...

  • Blog

The Federal Agency Running the Immigration Courts Keeps Deleting Asylum Records

June 9, 2020

With 1.2 million cases pending in immigration court, transparency into how the courts are run is more important than ever. Unlike traditional courts where records are public, the only way to get...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Safeguards Federal Court Review of Torture Protections

June 4, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court found on Monday that federal courts have the authority to review certain claims from people who are seeking protection from torture. The case, Nasrallah v. Barr, is about...

  • Blog

Board of Immigration Appeals’ Restructuring and Hiring Plan Reveals Anti-Immigrant Bias

May 28, 2020

The Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) hiring process for immigration appellate judges was recently revealed. Now, the integrity of the immigration court system has never been more in question....

  • Blog

Board of Immigration Appeals Green Lights Major Errors on Notice to Appear Forms

May 12, 2020

The U.S. government rejects an immigrant’s entire application for a visa or immigration benefit over a single blank field on a form. Applications can be rejected if a box is left unchecked or has...

  • Blog

ICE Faces Lawsuit Over Blocking Phone Access to Detainees

May 4, 2020

A free phone call can mean the difference between a fair day in court and being deported to harm—or worse—for individuals held in immigration detention centers. Immigrants may not be able to meet...

  • Blog

Supreme Court Makes It Harder for Green Card Holders to Get Relief From Deportation

April 24, 2020

In a 5-4 decision on April 23, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the types of criminal offenses that bar green card holders from seeking a form of relief from deportation. The case, Barton v. Barr,...

  • Press Release

Immigration Advocacy Groups Urge Supreme Court to Interpret Child Status Protection Act Broadly

November 6, 2013

Washington, D.C.—This week, the American Immigration Council filed an amicus curiae

  • Press Release

First Circuit Holds That Immigrants Can Pursue Cases From Outside the United States

October 1, 2013

Washington, D.C. - Last week, the First Circuit Court of Appeals held that individuals who have been depor

  • Press Release

ICE Agrees to Release Thousands of Previously-Withheld Records

August 2, 2013

Washington, DC – Yesterday, a U.S.

  • Press Release

Lawsuit Seeks to Learn How Government Responds to Complaints of Misconduct by Immigration Judges

June 6, 2013

Washington, DC - The public has a right to know whether the government adequately investigates and resolves complaints alleging misconduct by immigration judges, the American Immig

  • Press Release

Bringing Fairness to the Immigration Justice System

May 15, 2013

Washington D.C. - Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee continues mark-up of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act.

  • Press Release

Moncrieffe v. Holder: Implications for Drug Charges and Other Categorical Approach Issues

May 3, 2013

Washington, D.C.—Last week, the Supreme Court issued a decision in

  • Press Release

Eleventh Circuit Holds that Filing Limitations on Motions to Reopen Are Subject to Equitable Tolling

April 23, 2013

For Immediate Release

  • Press Release

Court Says ICE Failed to Satisfy FOIA Requirements in Council’s Suit to Compel Disclosure of Records on Access to Counsel

April 12, 2013

Court Says ICE Failed to Satisfy FOIA Requirements in Council’s Suit to Compel
Disclosure of Records on Access to Counsel

  • Press Release

Federal Judge Orders USCIS to Release Records on Access to Counsel

November 29, 2012

This week, a federal district court issued an opinion highly critical

  • Press Release

Council Challenges Denial of Motion to Suppress Evidence Obtained Through Unlawful Conduct

November 28, 2012

The American Immigration Council’s Legal Action Center argued that local police violated the Fourth Amendment by unnecessarily prolonging an individual’s detention based solely on the suspicion tha

  • FOIA

Council Seeks Information About Access to Immigration Records in Removal Proceedings

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeks information about the immigration courts' implementation of the Dent v. Holder decision and how ICE is complying.
  • Blog

ICE’s New Guidance to Government Attorneys Aims to Reduce Immigration Court Backlog

April 7, 2022

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a long-awaited memo on Sunday to guide ICE attorneys on exercising their prosecutorial discretion in immigration court. Authored by ICE’s...

  • Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief Argues that Exclusionary Rule in Criminal Proceedings Should Apply to Evidence Related to Identity in Prosecutions for Illegal Reentry

Publication Date: 
March 28, 2022
In the amicus brief filed with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Council argues that the exclusionary rule in criminal proceedings should apply to evidence related to identity, because it is an essential deterrent to ICE’s widespread racially discriminatory enforcement practices.
  • FOIA

Investigating the Immigration Court System

This Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeks to uncover information about the hiring process for the position of Assistant Chief Immigration Judge (ACIJ) and the influence of these judges over the immigration courts.
  • Blog

How Would Biden’s Supreme Court Nominee Handle Immigration Cases?

March 9, 2022

President Biden has nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court. With nearly a decade as a federal judge, Judge Jackson’s...

  • Blog

The Board of Immigration Appeals Will Now Provide the Public with Access to Its Unpublished Decisions

February 15, 2022

Immigrants and their representatives will gain access to decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) that were not publicly available. As a result of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the...

  • Blog

Immigration Court Comes Into the 21st Century with Electronic Filing for Attorneys

February 3, 2022

Immigration courts will soon take a big step into the digital age. On February 11, 2022, immigration attorneys, accredited representatives, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) lawyers, will...

  • Blog

New Report Amplifies Concerns About ‘Dedicated Docket’ for Asylum Seekers

January 20, 2022

When the Biden administration announced a new “dedicated docket” in immigration court for families seeking asylum at the border, many advocates raised concerns that the docket would forgo due...

  • Blog

New Memo to Immigration Judges Reaffirms Availability of Administrative Closure

December 17, 2021

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) issued a memorandum last month providing guidance to immigration judges about administrative closure—a critical tool for docket management and...

  • Fact Sheet

The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview

Publication Date: 
November 29, 2021
The Institutional Hearing Program permits immigration judges to conduct removal proceedings for noncitizens serving criminal sentences in certain correctional facilities.

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