Troubling Move By Trump Administration to Decertify Immigration Judge Union

Over the last several years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has undertaken several moves which have curtailed the independence of the immigration bench to the detriment of noncitizens in immigration proceedings. Attorney General decisions have almost entirely ended the practice of administrative closure [see article], curtailed continuances [see article], and reversed prior precedent decisions making it possible for victims of private violence [see article] and violence based on family membership [see article] to be considered for asylum. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions established unreasonable case quotas for immigration judges and narrowed the cases in which they may exercise their proper discretion as judges [see blog], while former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein emphasized that immigration judges are members of the executive branch who must follow all lawful instructions from the Attorney General [see blog]. As an immigration attorney who practices before immigration courts across the country, I have experienced the negative effects that these precedents and new guidance documents from main DOJ have had on noncitizens' right to receive the full consideration they are due in immigration court.