IMMIGRATION UPDATES & NEWS

New Report From the American Bar Association on Immigration System

Feb 12, 11:14 AM

Reforming the Immigration System: Proposals to Promote Independence, Fairness, Efficiency, and Professionalism in the Adjudication of Removal Cases

Some of the important findings by the ABA in this report released February 10, 2010, include:

Immigration Courts: Existing immigration courts are not doing as good a job as they should in providing fair decision making and due process to those who become subjects to the system and in providing efficient and timely decision making. The ABA found among other things:

Significant disparities in the rates which IJ’s grant favorable decisions,
Public skepticism and low level of respect for the court process,
Shortages of resources for the courts, including too few IJs and support staff,
Too many judges who display bias and/or intemperate behavior on the bench,
High level of stress and burnout experienced by IJs
Lengthy delays in appointment of IJs,

Board of Immigration Appeals
The 1999 and 2002 BIA “streamlining” reforms significantly reduced the backlog of unresolved appeals and improved the efficiency of the BIA, but this efficiency came with a heavy price.
Streamlining led to a seven-fold increase (from 2001 to 2006) in the number of appeals to the circuit courts (mostly in the Second and Ninth Circuits) and scathing criticism by a number of circuit judges with respect to decisions by the BIA and IJs.

Furthermore, studies suggest that single-member review and affirmances without opinion result in decisions that unduly favor the government at the expense of the noncitizen.

Here is the article.

2010 American Bar Association Report Reforming the Immigration System