Immigration courts reduce hearings across nation
In response to the coronavirus, federal officials are sharply reducing the number of in-person hearings in the nation’s immigration courts.
But organizations representing immigration judges, defense attorneys and immigration prosecutors are pushing federal authorities to go further and close the courts entirely for the next several weeks.
The conflict has been brewing for days and took a sharp turn Sunday night, when the federal agency in charge of the courts, the Executive Office for Immigration Review, announced on Twitter that it’s postponing all “master calendar” hearings at courts other than those in detention centers.
Master calendar hearings are preliminary hearings that often draw large numbers of immigrants, attorneys and family members.
The agency’s statement appears to allow some individual hearings to take place — and to allow all hearings to take place as usual at immigration detention centers. Efforts to reach a federal spokesperson for clarification on the new policy were not immediately successful Monday.
The new measures will likely have an impact in cities such as Memphis, whose immigration court at 80 Monroe Ave. in Downtown serves all of Tennessee, all of Arkansas and the northern half of Mississippi.
Other immigration courts are scattered across the nation. All told, the court system is currently handling more than 1 million deportation cases.
Judges, lawyers join in statement
The Sunday night Twitter statement follows days of pressure from the National Association of Immigration Judges to take strong measures to reduce the potential spread of the coronavirus inside the immigration courts.
On Sunday, the judges organization issued a joint statement along with two other organizations: the American Immigration Lawyers Association, which represents immigration defense lawyers, and the American Federation of Government Employees Local 511, which represents immigration prosecutors.
The joint letter said the immigration judges association had consulted with Dr. Ashish Jha, a public health expert at Harvard University. “It is his expert opinion, from an epidemiological perspective, that the Immigration Court should not be holding any hearings at this point,” the statement says.
The statement concluded by saying, “Now is the time to close the nation’s 68 Immigration Courts for two to four weeks, to protect the health and safety of the Immigration Judges, the Immigration Court staff, and the public that we serve.”
‘Not normal times’
The three organizations — judges, defense lawyers and immigration prosecutors — have never before issued a joint statement, said Fanny Behar-ostrow, president of the union that represents the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorneys who work in immigration court.
“It’s unprecedented,” she said.
The Department of Justice’s partial shutdown of the immigration courts does not go far enough, she said. “We’re not pleased,” Behar-ostrow said. “We think that all the hearings should be postponed — whether they’re detained, non-detained, whether they’re individual or master.
“Because of the huge concerns that everyone has regarding the health and safety of the attorneys, and the judges, the private bar attorneys, the public, the respondents, everybody concerned.”
She said she planned to talk again with DOJ leadership later Monday afternoon.
“These are not normal times, and this should not be business as usual. People’s lives are at risk. We don’t know how this virus works, how it will respond. There’s no treatment. People are scared.”
Some hearings draw big crowds
Immigration courts hold two types of hearings. In master calendar hearings, immigrants come to court in large numbers and a judge addresses them either one by one or as a group to take steps such as advising them of their legal rights and checking their home addresses.
What to know
According to the CDC, the risk of being exposed to the coronavirus (COVID-19) for most people is low. The CDC recommends taking simple, everyday steps to avoid catching or spreading respiratory diseases including COVID-19. These include covering your cough or sneeze and thoroughly washing or sanitizing your hands. Call your doctor and stay home if you are sick. Get more information at Cdc.gov/coronavirus or contact the Tennessee Department of Health coronavirus information line at 877857-2945 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT daily.
As of 3 p.m. CT on Monday, the total number of coronavirus cases are:
Jefferson County: 1
Sevier County: 1
Williamson County: 18
Source: Tennessee Department of Health; Centers of Disease Control and Prevention; World Health Organization
Campbell County: 1
Davidson County: 25
Hamilton County: 1
Knox County: 1
Rutherford County: 1
Shelby County: 2
Sullivan County: 1
United States: 3,487
Worldwide: 168,019
Dozens of people may crowd into a small room for a master calendar hearing, and advocates have argued the situation presents an opportunity for spread of the respiratory virus.
In individual hearings, immigrants present testimony and evidence as they try to convince a judge to let them avoid deportation. There are usually far fewer people in the room during these hearings.
Conflict was brewing
The conflict between immigration court professionals has been brewing for several days as the judges union pressed for more action on the coronavirus.
When an attorney asked about the coronavirus issue at a training session for immigration lawyers in Nashville on March 9, James Mchenry, the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, offered no information and referred questions to the office’s parent organization, the Department of Justice.
Then the DOJ announced late Friday night that it’s closing the Seattle immigration court through April 10. The Seattle area has been the site of one of the most severe outbreaks of the new respiratory virus.
The federal agency also announced late Friday that it was postponing preliminary hearings, or master calendar hearings, in Boston; Los Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; New York City; Sacramento, California; and San Francisco.
That prompted the joint statement on Sunday by the associations representing the judges, the immigration defense lawyers and immigration prosecutors.
Shortly after the joint statement was published Sunday, the Department of Justice appeared to announce a new policy policy on Twitter: “All non-detained aliens’ master calendar hearings scheduled 03/16-04/10 are postponed. Usual operations for filings except Seattle. All other hearings proceeding.”
Investigative reporter Daniel Connolly welcomes tips and comments from the public.