Prawo i regulacje · 16/12/2020

Appellate Procedures and Decisional Finality in Immigration Proceedings; Administrative Closure

On August 26, 2020, the Department of Justice ("Department") published a notice of proposed rulemaking ("NPRM" or "proposed rule") that would amend the regulations of the Executive Office for Immigration Review ("EOIR") regarding the handling of appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA" or "Board"). The Department proposed multiple changes to the processing of appeals to ensure the consistency, efficiency, and quality of its adjudications. The Department also proposed to amend the regulations to make clear that there is no freestanding authority of line immigration judges or BIA members to administratively close cases. Finally, the Department proposed to delete inapplicable or unnecessary provisions regarding the forwarding of the record of proceedings on appeal. This final rule responds to comments received in response to the NPRM and adopts the NPRM with minor changes as described below.