administrative closure

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...

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...