Immigration courts are rescheduling in-person hearings to previously undisclosed locations with minimal advance notice, creating serious due-process violations for unrepresented immigrants.
What changed
Over the past few weeks, immigrants scheduled to appear in coming months for hearings at the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts in Maryland and the Sterling court in Virginia have been rescheduled to two new buildings: one in Washington, D.C., and another in Falls Church, Virginia. Neither of these buildings currently has an immigration court set up for in-person hearings. The D.C. location has no listed affiliation with the Justice Department and instead is listed as being occupied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Immigrants were notified about the change in location within days of the newly scheduled appointments — or were not notified at all, in at least two cases. The notices appeared to be targeted at immigrants who did not have legal representation; most immigrants who seek to argue their case to stay in the U.S. don’t have a lawyer.
One D.C. immigration attorney described having an immigrant appear in person at the unusual location before a judge and prosecutor who were remote-only as “the most unusual thing” in more than 15 years of practicing immigration law. Attorneys say the last-minute changes violate Justice Department regulations requiring at least ten days’ notice of a new hearing date.
Why it matters
This practice exposes unrepresented immigrants to catastrophic default outcomes. Any immigrant who doesn’t show up for a scheduled hearing, even by mistake, can be issued an “in-absentia order of removal,” which allows immigration officers to detain and deport the person. With notice arriving days before the hearing (or not at all) and new locations unknown to immigrants or their counsel, the likelihood of non-appearance—and automatic removal—increases sharply.
Attorneys representing immigrants express concern that “people are not getting notice of them or that the mail would not arrive in time for them to even know that they need to go to court.” For practitioners, this signals heightened risk when advising clients on notice compliance and the necessity of independent verification of hearing location and date through the immigration court system.
The facility setup—conducting in-person hearings in locations not formally configured as immigration courts, with judges appearing remotely—also raises questions about the integrity of the hearing format and the court’s authority to conduct proceedings in unapproved spaces.
Way forward
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Verify all hearing notices independently: Do not rely solely on USCIS/EOIR mail. Contact the immigration court directly (by phone or in-person visit) to confirm the location, date, and judge assigned at least 10 days before the scheduled hearing.
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Serve written notice of address change early: If your client changes address, provide written notice to the immigration court and the government as soon as possible. Request a new hearing date in writing if the rescheduled hearing does not allow reasonable time to prepare.
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Document all notice defects: Preserve evidence of late or missing notices. Photograph the notice envelope with its postmark. If notice arrives fewer than 10 days before the hearing, document this and prepare a continuance motion citing the regulatory requirement.
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File a stay or continuance immediately upon learning of rescheduling: If you learn of a location change with inadequate notice, file a motion for continuance under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.29 and cite the notice violation. Include the regulation, the date of the new notice, and the hearing date.
Disclaimer
This article is provided by a software company, not a law firm, and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult a licensed immigration attorney to discuss your specific situation and verify all information against the primary source linked above. Immigration policy and procedure change frequently without notice; always confirm current requirements with the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the immigration court handling your case.