'Hidden tribunals': Immigration court due process in tumult with new locations
Immigrants are being told last minute about new in-person hearings at previously undisclosed courtroom locations.
asserted
Immigrants → tell → locations
That's according to five immigration attorneys who reviewed notices or observed the hearings and spoke to NPR about them.
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who → accord → them
The last-minute notifications appear to be another tactic in a broader strategy from the Trump administration to short-circuit immigrants' already limited due process options to speed up arrests and deportations.
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notifications → appear → arrests
NPR has learned that over the past few weeks, immigrants who were scheduled to appear in coming months for hearings out of the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts in Maryland and the Sterling court in Virginia have instead been rescheduled to two other buildings: one in Washington, D.C., and another in Falls Church, Va.
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who → learn → Church
Neither of these buildings currently has an immigration court that's set up for in-person hearings.
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that → have → hearings
The D.C. location has no listed affiliation with the Justice Department.
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location → have → Department
Instead, the building is listed as being occupied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to one source familiar with the project who was not authorized to speak publicly.
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who → list → project
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 identified by NPR.
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Immigrants → notify → NPR
Kel White, an officer of the D.C. chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, attended one such hearing this week.
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White → attend → hearing
"The most unusual thing I've ever seen" in her more than 15 years of practicing the law is how she described having an immigrant appear in person at the unusual location before a judge and prosecutor who were remote-only.
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who → see → judge
She also said the last-minute changes and lack of notice violates regulations as set by the Justice Department, which oversees all such immigration courts.
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which → say → courts
"People need to receive at least ten days' notice in order for there to be a response," White said.
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White → need → notice
She cited a policy manual that indicates immigrants should get ample notice of a new hearing date.
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immigrants → cite → date
"My concern about these hidden tribunals is that essentially 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," she said.
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she → hide → court
The notices appeared to be targeted at immigrants who did not have legal representation at the time, the attorneys told NPR.
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attorneys → appear → NPR
Most immigrants who seek to argue their case to stay in the U.S. don't have a lawyer.
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who → seek → lawyer
And any immigrant who doesn't show up for a scheduled hearing, even by mistake, can be issued a so-called "in-absentia order of removal," which allows immigration officers to detain and deport the person.
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officers → show → person
As part of the Justice Department, the Executive Office for Immigration Review runs some 60 immigration courts and adjudication centers.
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Office → run → courts
A statement from EOIR said that as it "continues to add new immigration judges, EOIR will continue to make scheduling adjustments, to include opening new hearing locations as needed, to ensure all cases are handled in a timely and lawful manner."
EOIR did not respond to questions about why immigrants were being told to appear at these locations and if they were new immigration courts.
The Trump administration has aimed to reduce the backlog of immigration court cases — which numbers some 3.5 million cases.
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which → say → cases
It also has cast doubt on the validity of those claims.
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It → cast → claims
Trump has pointed to such courts as an obstacle to rapid deportation.
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Trump → point → deportation
In a press release from April, the White House touted an "aggressive and successful immigration enforcement overhaul" that "extends to immigration courts."
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that → tout → courts
Immigrants sent to locations not posted as in-person immigration courts
Attorneys warn this latest step of scheduling hearings at previously unfamiliar locations adds to the confusion and lack of transparency in an already-complicated immigration court system.
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step → send → system
White, from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, attended a hearing on Sept. 2 at the Falls Church location in Virginia.
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White → attend → Virginia
It happened inside a government building that houses the Executive Office for Immigration Review headquarters, as well as the Board of Immigration Appeals, two bodies at the Justice Department that make up the immigration court system.
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that → happen → system
However, neither location is normally a place for immigrants to attend in-person hearings.
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immigrants → attend → hearings
White and other attorneys who have practiced in the greater D.C. area for over a decade said the Falls Church location has previously been used as an adjudication center for some remote hearings — not as a regular courtroom.
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location → practice → courtroom
White described a waiting area with two conference rooms where an immigration judge and an attorney representing the Homeland Security Department were appearing remotely.
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judge → describe → Department
She said the judge ordered several people to be deported because they did not appear for their hearings.
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they → say → hearings
The fact that the judge and the prosecutor didn't show up in person for the hearing "really reflects a lopsidedness in the system and in fairness to people who are required to show up, who don't even know about their hearings," White said.
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White → show → hearings
The D.C. location, which is slated to hold hearings as soon as September 9, is Federal Center Plaza at 400 C St SW, which also does not have DOJ courtrooms, nor is an EOIR facility.
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which → slat → courtrooms
The General Services Administration, the U.S. agency that manages government facilities and procurement, did not respond to a request for comment on the DOJ's use of the space.
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that → manage → space
There is an ongoing "surge" for GSA to acquire space for the DOJ's immigration court agency by December, according to two sources familiar with the project who spoke with NPR on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details of the public contracts.
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who → be → contracts
One of the sources said the GSA put out a public request for lease proposals that identifies 18 potential locations, requiring space for at least 10 courtrooms.
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that → say → courtrooms
Still, no new building or conversion of another agency's existing lease has been publicly announced, either for the D.C. location or the Falls Church one.
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building → exist → location
That adds to the confusion for advocates and immigrants.
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That → add → advocates
One individual who was scheduled to appear at one of these locations spoke to NPR on condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing their legal case.
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who → schedule → case
The person said they did not receive a notice in the mail.
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they → say → mail
Instead, the app MigraConnect, which is used by some people to track their immigration court cases, flagged that a December hearing date in Virginia's Sterling Immigration court had changed to Sept. 2 in Falls Church with a two-week notice.
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date → use → notice
"Thank God I had that application because without it they would have put me on a path to deportation, because I never got a notice in the mail," the person said, referring to the fact that an immigration judge can issue a final order of deportation if an immigrant does not appear for their hearing.
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immigrant → thank → hearing
…and 29 more, not listed.
