AG Watch

Attorney General Usurps Ability of Immigration Judges to Terminate Proceedings

Continuing his assault on due process and the over-burdened immigration court system, Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued two new Board of Immigration Appeals decisions today that further curtail the power of immigration judges to terminate court proceedings. In S-O-G- & F-D-B-, 27 I&N Dec. 462 (A.G. 2018), the Attorney General dictated that immigration judges (who are under his purview as part of the Department of Justice) have no inherent authority to...

Sessions Rescinds Memoranda Impacting Refugee and Asylee Right to Work

Continuing his assault on refugees and asylum seekers, Jeff Sessions rescinded Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance that dictated refugees and asylum seekers have the right to indefinitely work in the United States. The guidance is superseded by DOJ memoranda issued in 2014 and revised in 2016, which basically lays out the same rights for refugees and asylees, but without additional guidance for employers who hire refugees and asylees. Perhaps,...

Jeff Sessions Ends Administrative Closure Leaving 355,000 In Limbo

In an unprecedented move, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has quietly moved to terminate the authority of Immigration Judges to close cases in removal proceedings. In Re Matter of Castro-Tum, an Immigration Judge closed proceedings against a Guatemalan citizen after he did not appear for removal proceedings because the judge was unconvinced that ICE had properly served him with notice of the hearing. Rather than deport him inabsentia, the Immigration...

Attorney General Sessions Vacates BIA Decision That Provided Asylum Seekers With A Hearing

In Matter of E-F-H-L-, 27 I. & N. Dec. 226 (A.G. Mar. 5, 2018), Attorney General Jeff Sessions vacated Matter of E-F-H-L-, 26 I&N Dec. 319 (BIA 2014) and issued the following order: In this matter, the respondent conceded removability at the outset of removal proceedings and requested relief from removal pursuant to an application for asylum and withholding of removal. The presiding Immigration Judge determined, without holding an evidentiary...