I was recently reading the annual EOIR statistics related to complaints made against Immigratoin Judges. The Office of Chief Immigration Judge has been publishing statistics regarding Immigration Judge complaints every year for the last few years.
[Update September 7, 2015 – the EOIR has moved these recently. Now they’re here:
One of the most surprising facts about these annual statistics is the source of the majority of complaints against Immigration Judges, which, it turns out, is the BIA.
Looking at the 2010 statistics, the largest source of formal complaints about the conduct of Immigration Judges came from the Board of Immigration Appeals itself (44%). That’s more than double the complaints that were filed by immigration attorneys (20%).
The EOIR has a fairly straightforward procedure for IJ complaints that is easy to navigate. The main downfall of this system is that you can’t complain anonymously.
Also, it’s not clear that the complaints have much effect. Of the 152 complaints that were resolved in 2010, only two led to any type of discipline (which the EOIR defines as “reprimand, suspension or removal”).