EOIR MEETING WITH ASSISTANT CHIEF IMMIGRATION JUDGE
On May 10, 2017, Larry Rifkin attended a liaison meeting on behalf of the Florida Bar International Law Section at the Miami Immigration Court to meet with Assistant Chief Immigration Judge (ACIJ) Christopher Santoro. ACIJ Santoro advised that he was touring the country’s Immigration Courts for a year on behalf of the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) to meet with immigration judges, Department of Homeland Security attorneys, members of the private bar, and nonprofit organizations in order to better streamline the removal process and expedite the processing of cases pending before the Immigration Courts nationwide. He advised that there are currently 550,000 removal cases pending before the Immigration Courts and even with the expected additional hiring of 100-125 new immigration judges in the next two years, there is a significant backlog of cases. Mr. Santoro’s role is to present at the end of his year-long tour a list of recommendations to the Chief Immigration Judge in Falls Church, Virginia to address some of the concerns and deficiencies in the current procedures and policies of the Immigration Courts nationwide.
He asked the representatives present to state their concerns and issues with the current procedures before the Immigration Court. The issues and concerns voiced were: the unfair bias Immigration Judges appear to have when it comes to filing deadlines and other rules in the Immigration Court Practice Manual (ICPM) as it applies to DHS government attorneys; the unnecessary scheduling of preliminary hearings to present applications for relief; the small amount of time indigent aliens who are detained have to present document-intensive cases such as asylum and cancellation of removal; the unpreparedness of DHS government attorneys who appear at removal hearings without the alien’s file; and the lack of consistency in procedure between Immigration Judges themselves as it pertains to court procedures, pleadings, submission of relief, etc.. Recommendations proposed were amending the ICPM to allow for mandatory pre-trial conference hearings to narrow the legal issues to be discussed; inserting language in the ICPM to eliminate the bias and have the rules to apply to the government attorneys and the alien (or his/her representative) equally, as well as meeting with Immigration Judges to eliminate the pro-government bias; administratively closing removal cases where a petition is pending before USCIS in order for the case to be taken off the Immigration Judge’s docket; and amending the ICPM to establish different filing deadlines for detained cases.
ACIJ Santoro was well spoken and regarded every point of view with fairness and an open mind, as he took meticulous notes on the issues and recommendations voiced by the representatives present. The meeting lasted one hour and was very informative and we hope it results in positive changes for our backlogged Immigration Courts.