Advanced “due dates” detract from due process
In recent weeks, the national news spotlight has been on immigration. Several Republican governors continue to send incoming migrants in buses to left-leaning cities, often without the understanding or consent of those involved.
Without legal status, many of these migrants will be seeking defensive asylum to avoid being deported back to danger in their home countries.
Behind every successful defensive asylum case is a committed immigration lawyer. Lawyers usually spend months compiling all the needed materials to successfully represent their clients.
The Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) handles the scheduling for immigration cases within the immigration court system. Unfortunately, many cases are being rescheduled and advanced without hardly any notice given to lawyers.
What this looks like in real time: when immigration lawyers look at the online portal with the calendar of their case hearings, certain case dates have drastically changed. For example, a hearing that was previously two years in the future could now instead be two months away.
This presents challenges for lawyers who, on top of juggling all their other cases, must now make accommodations for cases with advanced dates. This makes it difficult to serve clients effectively. Even the most committed immigration lawyers are finding it difficult to keep up.
These unfair decisions are detracting from the due process of law. Without sufficient notice, migrants seeking protection will not have the opportunity to be heard– rights which is guaranteed to all people in the U.S. under The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. EOIR must stop advancing cases without ample notice so that due process can be restored.