Executive Office for Immigration Review
Articles covering policy from Executive Office for Immigration Review. Sorted by the agency's own publication date.
EOIR Pre-Hearing Conferences: Using Stipulations, PD, and Continuances to Reshape the Case
Pre-hearing conferences under 8 C.F.R. §1003.21 are EOIR's underused settlement and case-management tool. Used well, they narrow the issues, secure stipulations, and create space for prosecutorial discretion.
Motions to Reopen: The Number and Time Bars, and the Changed-Country-Conditions Door
INA §240(c)(7) gives a respondent one motion to reopen, filed within 90 days. The statutory exception for changed country conditions is the door that asylum, withholding, and CAT motions continue to walk through.
BIA Appeals: The 30-Day Window and What Makes a Brief Reviewable
The 30-day filing window for a BIA appeal under 8 C.F.R. §1003.38(b) is jurisdictional. The brief that follows is the case — a brief that fails to identify specific factual or legal error gets summary affirmance.
Asylum-Only Proceedings: VWP Overstays, Stowaways, and the Limits of EOIR Jurisdiction
Asylum-only proceedings are EOIR's narrow track for noncitizens who have already lost their right to a full removal hearing — VWP overstays, stowaways, certain administrative-removal respondents. The procedural rules look like removal practice; the substantive scope is much smaller.
Voluntary Departure Under INA §240B: The Pre-Conclusion vs Post-Conclusion Choice
Voluntary departure under INA §240B comes in two flavors with different time limits, bond requirements, and waiver consequences. Picking the wrong one — or missing the departure deadline — costs the client a decade of relief.
Non-LPR Cancellation Under INA §240A(b): The Ten-Year Bar and the Hardship Mountain
Non-LPR cancellation under INA §240A(b)(1) requires ten years of continuous physical presence, good moral character, no disqualifying conviction, and 'exceptional and extremely unusual hardship' to a qualifying relative. The hardship element is where most cases die.
Cancellation of Removal for LPRs Under INA §240A(a): The Seven-Five Rule and Its Quiet Traps
An LPR's path to cancellation under INA §240A(a) sounds mechanical — seven years continuous residence, five years as a green card holder, no aggravated felony. The litigation lives in the qualifiers.
Withholding of Removal Under INA §241(b)(3): The Higher Bar When Asylum Is Out of Reach
Why withholding is the fallback when the one-year deadline, bars, or discretion sink asylum — and what 'more likely than not' really requires.
The Notice to Appear After Bermudez-Cota: What an NTA Must Contain to Vest Jurisdiction
Matter of Bermudez-Cota, 27 I&N Dec. 441 (BIA 2018), narrowed Pereira's reach and salvaged jurisdiction in pending removal cases. Here is what defense counsel must still check on every NTA before pleadings.
Firearms-Offense Deportability Under §237(a)(2)(C): The 'Any Felony or Misdemeanor' Trigger and the Antique-Firearm Carve-Out
INA §237(a)(2)(C) makes a noncitizen LPR deportable for any firearms or destructive-device conviction — even a misdemeanor. Matter of Chairez-Castrejon sets the categorical analysis.
Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude After Silva-Trevino II: The Categorical Approach Is Back
The BIA's 2016 Silva-Trevino decision restored the categorical approach for CIMT determinations and rejected the realistic-probability fact-finding the AG had grafted on in 2008. Here's what that means in practice.
False Claim to U.S. Citizenship Under INA §212(a)(6)(C)(ii): The Catastrophic Ground With No General Waiver
A false claim to U.S. citizenship made on or after September 30, 1996, for any purpose or benefit under federal or state law, is a permanent inadmissibility and deportability ground — with no §212(i) waiver.
Crime of Domestic Violence Deportability Under §237(a)(2)(E): The Categorical Approach and the Domestic-Relationship Element
INA §237(a)(2)(E) makes a noncitizen LPR deportable for a single conviction of a crime of domestic violence, stalking, child abuse, or violation of a protective order. The categorical analysis is unforgiving.
CSPA 'Sought to Acquire' and Matter of O. Vazquez: What Counts Inside the One-Year Window
The BIA's holding in Matter of O. Vazquez on what it means to have 'sought to acquire' LPR status within one year of CSPA visa availability — and how USCIS now applies it.
The Frivolous-Asylum Permanent Bar Under §208(d)(6): What Counts and How To Avoid Triggering It
A finding of frivolous asylum under INA §208(d)(6) permanently bars all immigration benefits. The standard from Matter of Y-L- is procedural and substantive — both sides must be litigated.
The Petty-Offense Exception to CIMT Inadmissibility: INA §212(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) Done Right
A single CIMT can survive inadmissibility if the maximum possible sentence was a year or less and the actual sentence was six months or less. Matter of Garcia-Hernandez sets the math.
The §212(c) Waiver After St. Cyr: A Pre-1996 Door That Is Still Open
INS v. St. Cyr held that the §212(c) waiver remains available for noncitizens whose pre-IIRIRA guilty pleas were entered when the waiver was on the books. Twenty-five years later, the doctrine still controls a narrow but real slice of removal-defense work.
Bond Redetermination After Matter of Adeniji: The Burden Is on the Detained Noncitizen
Matter of Adeniji, 22 I&N Dec. 1102 (BIA 1999), placed the burden of proof in bond redetermination on the detained noncitizen. Twenty-five years later, the doctrine still controls daily IJ practice — within the limits Congress and the Supreme Court have since drawn.
CAT Protection: When Asylum Is Barred and Torture Is the Only Argument Left
How Convention Against Torture relief works in U.S. removal proceedings — the no-bars structure, the 'acquiescence' element, and the difference between withholding and deferral.