Thursday, March 28, 2024

Top immigration judge retires amidst backlog of cases and a migrant crisis

The nation’s immigration judges lost a key leader this week, the latest in a string of departures at the top of the system amid a backlog of cases and a migrant crisis at the southwestern border. The official, David Neal, said that he would retire from his position as head of the judges’ appeals board […]

Sessions issued order asking judges to use the “good-cause standard”

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued an order yesterday seeking to speed up the handling of deportation cases, telling immigration judges they should only issue continuances in immigrant removal proceedings for “good cause.” The “good-cause standard,” he noted, “limits the discretion of immigration judges and prohibits them from granting continuances for any reason or no […]

Immigration judges unite against Sessions and claim they want their independence back

In an uncharacteristically public move, the union representing immigration judges on Wednesday criticized the Attorney General Jeff Sessions led Department of Justice for interfering with the courts’ independence. “The agency’s actions violated the independence of the judge’s decision-making authority and undermined the integrity of immigration courts,” Judge Ashley Tabaddor, speaking as president of the National Association […]