by Matthew Hoppock | Aug 21, 2018 | FOIA, Immigration, Immigration Practice |
Every summer the Immigration Judges from around the country meet in suburban Washington D.C. for a training session. The training materials are interesting, because they help us understand the IJs’ thinking on specific issues. The 2018 conference was held at the...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jul 16, 2018 | BIA Best Practices, FOIA |
I received a final response on my FOIA request for any memoranda or guidance directed to BIA members. I was surprised by how much we received. Here they are: BIA Style Manual_redline_Redacted (242 pgs) 15-05 Handling Cases Involving Certain Applications for...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jun 22, 2018 | Immigration, Motions to Reopen, Removal Defense |
Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Pereira v. Sessions appears fairly technical and narrow, it isn’t. It casts a light on a practice by the DHS dating back to 1996. In nearly all cases the DHS has served a deficient charging document, called a...
by Matthew Hoppock | Jun 1, 2018 | Immigration, Immigration Practice, Removal Defense |
Some concerning developments in the last few days require writing this post when we still don’t have all of the details. Apparently the Immigration Courts are implementing a system of “No Dark Courtrooms,” which may mean Immigration Courts operating...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 31, 2018 | FOIA |
Without any explanation, the Department of Justice stopped posting its “Immigration Litigation Bulletin” online in mid-2016. The older versions are online here. The Immigration Litigation Bulletin is a publication by the Department of Justice’s...
by Matthew Hoppock | May 15, 2018 | Denaturalization, Immigration |
Three of the pending Operation Janus cases which had been largely dormant the last few months have now been updated on PACER. As I have written previously, these cases are “locked” on PACER, meaning you can read the titles of the documents that have been...
by Matthew Hoppock | Apr 17, 2018 | Immigration, Removal Defense |
Dimaya v. Sessions – Sessions loses. And the cherry on top? Gorsuch casts the deciding vote and writes a compelling concurrence. So, what does this mean? I will have a lot more to say later, but my quick take: The aggravated felony of “a crime of...
by Matthew Hoppock | Mar 8, 2018 | Immigration, Naturalization |
Yesterday the USCIS rolled out e-filing for its naturalization form for everyone except military members. But in doing so it hid the link to the N-400 form, making it fairly difficult to know what form is the correct one to use if you’re in the military (or...
by Matthew Hoppock | Mar 4, 2018 | Denaturalization, Immigration |
I predict a sea change in Immigration enforcement efforts in the coming year, focusing finite resources on denaturalization at the expense of adjudicating benefits applications for everyone else. This is a summary of that program and how I think it’s going to...
by Matthew Hoppock | Feb 19, 2018 | FOIA, Immigration |
The Department of Justice just can’t make up its mind. Removal of the Immigration Judge Benchbook Sometime in April, 2017 the Department of Justice removed the Immigration Judge Benchbook from the internet without any announcement or warning. The benchbook is a...
