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Practicing in

Immigration Court

By: Ronald Nguyen

Immigration Court

• Three Judges

• Judge Glen R. Baker-Utah Immigration Judge who transferred to the KC Court

• Judge Jayme Salinardi-Former Assistant Chief Counsel

• Judge Justin W. Howard-Former Assistant Chief Counsel

• Immigration Court Practice Manual

• https://www.justice.gov/eoir/pages/attachments/2015/02/02/practice_manual_revie

w.pdf

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Immigration Court

• Immigration Court-Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR)- 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite #535 Kansas City, MO 64108

• 1(800) 898-7180 (Hotline)-Need client’s Alien Registration Number (A#)

• Master Calendar Hearings

• Bond Hearing

• Individual Hearing

• Office of the Chief Counsel (OCC)- 2345 Grand Boulevard, Suite #500 Kansas City, MO 64108

EOIR-28

You need to register to get an EOIR ID

Number, to be able to practice in front of

Immigration Court.

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How Individuals End up in Deportation

• Filing an application through United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Immigration determining they are Deportable, who then refer it to Immigration Court

• LPRs or undocumented individuals who are caught by ICE or their case is referred to ICE after they are picked up by the police, due to the type of crime or a prior deportation order.

• Once someone is picked up by the police, if they are undocumented, then the police are required to contact ICE and inform them if the individual makes bond. ICE then has a48 hour ICE hold, excluding holidays and weekends to determine whether they want to pick them up for deportation proceedings.

ICE Bonds

• If they are picked up by ICE, then ICE can either detain them at jails contracted with the government to hold individuals in deportation proceedings or ICE can provide them with an ICE Bond. This is a bond possibility through ICE, allowing them to not have to be detained throughout their immigration deportation proceedings. Usually they have to pay a $5,000.00 bond; but the price has increased.

• It is best if your client can obtain an ICE Bond, but if they cannot, they may be eligible to get a Bond hearing with Immigration Court.

• 11125 NW Ambassador Drive, Suite 100, KC MO 64153 (p)-(816) 880-5000

• https://locator.ice.gov/odls/searchByAlienNumber.do

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Bond Hearings

• Clients who are detain by ICE can ask the immigration court for a Bond Determination Hearing, to see if the Immigration Judge (IJ) will let you out on bond.

• Mandatory Bonds- INA §236(c).

• Two aspects to a bond and bond values can vary based on these two factors:

• Flight Risk

• Any form of immigration relief, who can help the immigrant, employment, family ties?

• Letters of Support?

• Danger to the Community

• Previous criminal history (DV, DUI’s, etc). Any actions to show attempts to rehabiliate?

• Bonds will range in price based on these two factors. Client’s can expect to pay a $5,000-$10,000 bond.

Master Calendar Hearings

• Master Calendar Hearings are similar to Case Management Conferences, in the sense that the court is determining the next steps to your case.

• If your client is detained, they will be video conferenced into the court.

• If your client is not detained, they will need to attend unless given expressed permission not requiring their attendance.

• You can file your EOIR-28 (Entry of Appearance) for: 1) All proceedings; 2) Custody and bond proceedings only; 3) All proceedings other than custody and bond proceedings.

• Submission of Written Pleadings regarding the Notice To Appear (NTA)

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Written Pleadings

• Written Pleadings are a document that is provided to the court, or stated in

open courtfor the record, which go into detail about service, attorney’s

advisals to the Respondent, factual allegations, charges of removability,

designation of country of removal, your forms of relief, and a biometrics

advisal.

• This is required for the Judge to set the final court date.

Individual Hearings

• Immigration cases are either on the expedited track (if detained) or the normal track (if non detained).

• Cancellation of Removal (EOIR-42A and EOIR-42B)

• U-Visa

• Family Petitions

• Asylum/CAT/Withholding

• There are specific rules and procedures for each type of application.

• Judges want the final applications, supporting documentation, and a brief regarding the case file before the case. Rule is 15 days before the individual; but Judge Salinardi requests 30 days before the individual

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Changes in Immigration

• Matter of A-B- (ARCG)

• Matter of E-F-H-L- (Asylum)

• Immigration Court Quotas

• Separation of Children

• Pereira v. Sessions

Immigration Court Background

• Immigration Courts are not under the judiciary branch of the government, but rather than executive branch.

• The Attorney General is supposed to be an impartial arbiter between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the immigrants prosecuted.

• The Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is in charge of overseeing the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which includes the immigration courts/judges.

• The Attorney General has the ability to refer cases for review and vacate decisions and remand the case for further proceedings.

• This has the impact of changing case law that would normally be beneficial to immigrants

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Immigration Court

1:04-6:33

8:25-12:40

13:07-14:59

Matter of A-B- (ARCG)

• 27 I&N Dec. 316 (A.G. 2018)

• https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1070866/download

• Overruled an Asylum case based on Domestic Violence

• ARCG is about a woman who left her country seeking asylum in the United States because of the constant and severe abuse she received from her husband (beaten weekly, broke her nose, burned her with paint thinner, raped, etc.)

• Multiple Impact on Immigration Cases, including Domestic Violence Asylum

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Impact of Matter of A-B- (ARCG)

• (1)Matter of A-R-C-G-, 26 I&N Dec. 338 (BIA 2014) is overruled. That decision was wrongly decided and should not have been issued as a precedential decision.

• (2)An applicant seeking to establish persecution on account of membership in a “particular social group” must demonstrate: (1) membership in a group, which is composed of members who share a common immutable characteristic, is defined with particularity, and is socially distinct within the society in question; and (2) that membership in the group is a central reason for her persecution. When the alleged persecutor is someone unaffiliated with the government, the applicant must also show that her home government is unwilling or unable to protect her.

• (3)An asylum applicant has the burden of showing her eligibility for asylum. The applicant must present facts that establish each element of the standard, and the asylum officer, immigration judge, or the Board has the duty to determine whether those facts satisfy all of those elements.

Impact of Matter of A-B- (ARCG)

• (4)If an asylum application is fatally flawed in one respect, an immigration

judge or the Board need not examine the remaining elements of the asylum

claim.

• (5)The mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing

certain crimes or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of

crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim.

• (6)To be cognizable, a particular social group must exist independently of the

harm asserted in an application for asylum.

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Impact of Matter of A-B- (ARCG)

• (7)An applicant seeking to establish persecution based on violent conduct of a private actor must show more than the government’s difficulty controlling private behavior. The applicant must show that the government condoned the private actions or demonstrated an inability to protect the victims.

• (8)An applicant seeking asylum based on membership in a particular social group must clearly indicate on the record the exact delineation of any proposed particular social group.

• (9)The Board, immigration judges, and all asylum officers must consider, consistent with the regulations, whether internal relocation in the alien’s home country presents a reasonable alternative before granting asylum.

Matter of E-F-H-L-

• 27 I&N Dec. 226 (A.G. 2018)

• https://www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1040936/download

• Judge ruled, without an evidentiary hearing, that respondent failed to make a prima facie Asylum claim; Respondent appealed, and the Board of Immigration Appeal (BIA) remanded the case, holding a Respondent was ordinarily entitled to a full evidentiary hearing. Respondent later withdrew application with prejudice to seek a family petition.

• Impact on Immigration Cases: Allows the Court to pre-terminate cases if they do not demonstrate a prima facie case that the Respondent is eligible for an Asylum or Withholding of Removal.

• In KC judges are requested memos from attorneys, explaining the prima facie case for Asylum, otherwise the Judge will terminate the case without a full evidentiary hearing.

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Quota Systems for Immigration Judges

Quota Systems for Immigration Judges

• Starts on October 1, 2018

• Financially Incentives Judges to get more cases closed per year.

• Satisfactory is 700 cases per year with less than a 15% remand rate, etc.

• Needs Improvement is more than 560 cases but fewer than 700 cases per year or a

remand rate of between 15% and 20%.

• Unsatisfactory is fewer than 560 per year, or a remand rate of greater than 20%.

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FOIA

• "Practicing in Immigration Court"

•

• This CLE will provide helpful tips and an explanation of the

procedure for practicing in immigration court. More specifically, the CLE will cover

an overview of the process from the initial call to the client's individual hearing.

This CLE will review bond hearings, written pleadings, the common forms of

relief in immigration court, and the individual hearing. Additionally, this CLE will

discuss changes in immigration law and how it applies to the immigration court.

Separation of Children

• https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621065383/what-we-know-family-

separation-and-zero-tolerance-at-the-border

• Executive Order to “maintain family unity, including by detaining alien

families together where appropriate and consistent with law and available

resources.”

• Does not help the families already separated.

• Children are detained in groups in tents and warehouses.

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Pereira v. Sessions

• No. 17–459, SCOUTUS, October Term, 2017

• https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/17-459_1o13.pdf

• Respondent was served a Notice To Appear (NTA), but was never given the time and place of the removal proceedings to be held. The service of the NTA stopped the clock for the client to accrue the 10 years for a 42-B case. SCOUTS held that service was not sufficient to trigger the stop-time rule.

• Impact on Immigration Cases: provides individuals with the ability to potentially accrue time required for specific forms of relief. (42-B)

So You Want To Practice Immigration Law-

Helpful Tools

• American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA)

• Membership

• AILALink

• Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook

• Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. (CLINIC)

• Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)

• Local and National Mentors

• Center of Excellence (www.innovationlawlab.org)

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Contact Me

• Ronald Nguyen

The Law Office of Ronald Nguyen, LLC

4235 Baltimore Avenue

Kansas City, Missouri 64111

English/Español: (816) 237-0808

Tiếng Việt: (816) 945-2808

Questions?