Florida residents are likely familiar with the hardline stance that has been taken by the Trump administration on immigration. Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Attorney General, has turned his attention to the immigration courts and speeding up the process of deportation.
According to a report that was published by NPR, Sessions is looking at administrative closures, which occur when immigration judges place cases on hold indefinitely. An administrative closure of a deportation and removal case may happen for many different reasons. For example, some immigrants may receive administrative closures of their deportation cases while they are waiting on answers to the petitions that they have filed for visas or green cards.
Sessions is considering overruling the immigration judges on the administrative closures, and he is also pushing to have more deportations happen in a much faster manner. Critics have decried his moves, arguing that they would result in violations of the immigrants’ due process rights. The president of the National Association of Immigration Judges stated that Sessions’ actions threaten to decrease the integrity of the immigration courts because judges are supposed to be free from external pressures.
People who are facing deportation and removal proceedings might benefit by consulting with experienced immigration attorneys who may evaluate the cases in order to build the best defense cases for their clients. They may be able to help their clients secure visas or to apply for asylum if their situations warrant it. The attorneys may argue for their clients to be released from detention centers while their cases are pending on immigration bonds.
Source: NPR, “Sessions pushes to speed up immigration courts, deportations“, Joel Rose, March 29, 2018
