EOIR spokeswoman Kathryn Mattingly said the agency does not comment on external analyses of its data. She quickly discarded that notion. She helped start that trajectory, says Shugall. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research organization at Syracuse University in New York, first sounded the alarmabout disparities in immigration court decisions in 2006. San Antonio-New Braunfels-Pearsall, TX $134,402 $144,678 $155,071 $165,580 $176,089 $183,300* $183,300* $183,300* San Diego-Carlsbad, CA $149,365 $160,785 $172,335 $183,300* $183,300* $183,300* $183,300* $183,300* . 200 After graduating law school at age 23, Judge Marks went into private practice at Simmons & Ungar. Through her lawyers, she asked that her full name not be used because of her uncertain status and her fear that Honduran gangs could find her. TheCleveland Immigration Court, much like the rest of the country, saw dramatic personnel changes during Donald Trumps presidency. Judge Marks led the union for a total of 18 years, serving seven two-year terms as president (not sequential) and four as executive vice president. STEP 1: Arrive in the U.S. From 2013-2018, she worked as an immigration attorney. . The Charlotte court that would hear Anas case was one of five jurisdictions labeled asylum free zones by a group of immigrant advocates in written testimony last Decemberbefore the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. ). Her boys are in school. While in Cook County, Ford was accused of complicity in a Chicago police torture scandal that targeted Black people and used torture to coerce criminal confessions for over two decades. Juan is not alone in his grievances. In March 1987, the court decided in favor of granting Cardoza-Fonseca asylum, and Judge Marks, just 32 years old, cemented her standing as a legend. The judges in San Francisco, where I served, were told we could not schedule any cases in 2022 until our calendars showed that three cases were scheduled every day through the end of 2021. Hanrahan's last day as assistant chief immigration judge was May 7, capping a 14-month tenure as the top manager overseeing the 25 immigration judges and dozens of staff at the San Francisco court. Juangrew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, where his family had few resources and he often had to go to school on an empty stomach, he said. Immigrant rights organizations, attorneys file complaint against local Immigration Judge. National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), Bay Area Asylum Support Coalition (BAASC), Dolores Street Community Services, Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Project, Democratic Socialists of America San Francisco Chapter, Collective Action For Laborers, Migrants & Asylum Seekers (CALMA), San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN). Sometimes after a court date, I would be so down that I would just say, Forget it, I should just leave.". It also excluded cases in which the immigrant did not appear in court, which nearly always end in a deportation order, and cases terminated without a decision or closed at the request of a prosecutor. Attorney General of the United States Deputy Attorney General of the United States. Close to half the complaints were dismissed. Litigating before the US Supreme Courtand winningmight be the pinnacle of many legal careers, but Judge Marks was not one to sit on her laurels. Anas response to Couchs extensive questioning played a part in the decision. FY 2015-2020. They had confidence in her that she was doing everything she could for them. She demonstrated this on a national level in October of 1986 when Judge Marks (along with Bill O. Hing, Susan Lydon, and Kip Steinberg) argued on behalf of Luz Marina Cardoza-Fonseca before the US Supreme Court (INS v. Cardoza-Fonesca). The rules of evidence are [only] a guide, theres no pretrial discovery, she says. To then have to stand by as a judge, a member of the same government these clients are seeking protection from, belittles and demonizes their every word, treats them as though they have no dignity, and fails to acknowledge their humanity, its too much. While unfair and antagonistic judges are nothing new to immigrants, Fords misconduct is part of a larger, documented effort by the Trump administration to politicize immigration courts and encourage biased decisions. Last February, a 50-year-old woman and her 29-year-old son who were selling food at the school Gutierrez and Anas children attended were kidnapped from their home and decapitated, according to police records. Judge Marks faced daunting challenges during her tenure. Individuals can sign up for a court watch training at bit.ly/courtwatch1. In a three-page ruling, one board member said Anas lawyer could not introduce a new argument on appeal and agreed with Couch that Ana hadnt proved a political motive behind the gang members attack. Right now, Ohio has one of the highest asylum denial rates in the country 88% in the fiscal year 2021, compared with the national average of 63%, according to TRAC data. Combined, the nine judges in Boston decided 3,196 cases over the time period. On the journey, they were kidnapped common for Central American migrants and held for a $3,500 ransom. They had confidence in her that she was doing everything she could for them. She demonstrated this on a national level in October of 1986 when Judge Marks (along with Bill O. Hing, Susan Lydon, and Kip Steinberg) argued on behalf of Luz Marina Cardoza-Fonseca before the US Supreme Court (. At the end of her asylum hearing in September 2016, she received a one-page form, with an X in the box next to granted. She was free to settle into life with her family in the United States. Anas assertion that she learned from Gutierrez in detention about gang threats to the parent-teacher association was not persuasive, Couch wrote. The third pointed a gun at Anas head. Immigration Judges Across The US Are Staying Home After The Coronavirus Hit Courtrooms. Disregards basic legal rules, causing undue prejudice and wasting public resources. But theyre not holding their breath. I didnt have to scare or browbeat people into my decisions, says Judge Marks. Learn more about how to check your immigration court date and the status of your immigration case from here. See how your salary compares to other Immigration Judges with Comparably. Judge Marks says she was never bored. Unaware of each others plight, both fled with their children, making the dangerous trek across Mexico. The situation in our country is getting worse and worse.. He noted that she testified about her fears of the gang with a flat affect and little emotion, displaying a poor demeanor that did not support her credibility.. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. The older one, once threatened by gangs in Honduras, likes studying history and math and is learning to play the cello. Additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia and Kristina Cooke, By Mica Rosenberg in Oakland, California, and Reade Levinson and Ryan McNeill in New York, with additional reporting by Gustavo Palencia in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco, Photo editing: Steve McKinley and Barbara Adhiya, Edited by Sue Horton, Janet Roberts and John Blanton. The clients loved her, says Ungar. There they piled with another group of migrants into an inflatable raft and crossed the Rio Grande, the border between Mexico and the United States. Ill have to weigh my options and consider how bad it is before I stick my neck out there.. As has been true in earlier years, having representation greatly increases the odds of winning asylum or other relief, TRACs Oct. 28 report says. Judge-by-Judge Asylum Decisions in Immigration Courts. Those on the other side of the complaints the immigration judges also take issues with the EOIR discipline process. Circuit Court of Appeals, and they rule in favor of immigrants far more often than courts in the 4th Circuit, which includes North and South Carolina, Maryland and Virginia, Reuters found. The top ten percent of employees in the Executive Office for . But multiple attorneys familiar with the matter said no one received clear information from EOIR on the investigation outcome, as is often the case with these complaints. The union representing immigration judges is suing the Trump administration over a policy they say censors judges. I love the Wild West aspect of it.. The mission of BorderReport.com is to provide real-time delivery of the untold local stories about people living, working and migrating along the U.S. border with Mexico. Reviews Deals IJ Ford felt empowered to shout at and accuse my client throughout the hearing, showing little regard for the fact that she was a human being in his courtroom, said Omar de la Cruz, immigration attorney at Centro Legal de la Raza. McFarland residents vow to keep organizing after court lets GEO expand immigration detention, look to incoming administration for support, After about 5 minutes of struggle, they forced my index finger on the paper: ICE Forcing More Asylum Seekers to Sign Deportation Paperwork as Another Deportation Flight to Cameroon Looms. When he turned 16, he left his hometown and crossed the border by himself in search for a better life, settling in Columbus. Are they also Mexicans? Riley said, as shown incourt transcripts cited in a complaint filed later. The courts handle cases to determine whether an individual should be deported. Dana embodied that proactive spirit., Highly technical and often confusing, immigration law can intersect with family, dependency, and criminal law. Her door was always open, says Judge King. Persecutors dont give affidavits, said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge who now works at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit organization that supports lower levels of immigration. She remains active today as president emerita. I saw the denial coming after seeing everything that Judge Riley was doing. Numerous legal providers and community members have expressed strong concerns about Fords racist history influencing his work in San Francisco. Immigration judges, appointed by the U.S. attorney general, are not authorized to speak on the record about cases. Juans case was initially assigned to Judge Thomas Janas, an immigration judge in Cleveland who has since retired. She was very vocal as head of NAIJ, says Atkinson, especially [on issues] related to fairness and due process. Judge Webber appreciated Judge Markss talents as a spokesperson for the union, remarking on her great voice and quick thinking. . Becoming involved with and leading theNational Association of Immigration Judges(NAIJ) was a natural extension of her skills and influence. As the sole breadwinner in his family, he said his wife and kids would suffer emotionally and financially if he were deported. (Previously, appointments were considered promotions for prosecuting attorneys from INS.) The number of immigration judges Biden appoints will also affect the immigration court backlog, currently at 1.3 million cases. Weeks apart, in the spring of 2014, each of the women was confronted by armed gang members who vowed to kill them and their children if they didnt meet the thugs demands. In the 1980s, AILA (, ) was very stodgy, a reactive organization, Judge Webber says. No one isanillegal in this country. Judge Marks, in keeping with her upbeat character, reflects on the pluses of her role. They drove all night to her friends mothers house in another town. (Neither Holyoak nor Couch worked as an ICE prosecutor, according to their EOIR biographies. Its just that she forgets things.. The rest were requests for cancellation of deportation orders or other adjustments to immigration status. Demonstrates unlawful and inappropriate manifestations of bias in the courtroom. She made it more proactive, trying to affect the law. In 2014, an unprecedented 68,000 parents and children, most of them fleeing violence and lawlessness in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, crossed into the United States from Mexico a refugee crisis that has contributed to the bloated backlog of asylum petitions. Gutierrez moved with her boys to Oakland, California, to join her husband, and petitioned to have her case moved to San Francisco. 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Its not that she is lying. More than 300 judges are spread among 58 U.S. immigration courts in 27 states, Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. And according to the Department of Homeland Security, most of those coming across the border without authorization since are from Mexico. The lack of a transparent complaint process is especially concerninggiven this influx of new judges, who tend to come from enforcement backgrounds and lack experience on the bench, Nemecek said. 2020-03-20T04:49:42Z They were eventually transferred to the ICE detention center in Artesia. Judge Fords dehumanizing treatment of those who appear in his courtroom is unacceptable, said Lisa Knox, Legal Director for the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. When she started, she was one of few women. They must convince the court that they have well-founded fears of persecution in their country because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinions or membership in a particular social group. The union kept me intellectually stimulated, she says. I have nothing in Mexico. According to TRAC, denial rates were at 54.6% in fiscal year 2016 (the last full year of Barack Obamas presidency). In May2021, the Ohio chapter of theAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a group complaint against Riley to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency within the Department of Justice that oversees immigration courts. And whether the individual fleeing gang violence in San Pedro Sula or official oppression in Venezuela had legal representation also made a big difference in the outcome of his or her case, according to research from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Gutierrez hid for two months at her friends mothers house outside Tegucigalpa. The lawyers also argued that she was part of another particular social group as the family member of someone under threat, since the gangs had terrorized her son in trying to recruit him. The rules of evidence are [only] a guide, theres no pretrial discovery, she says. Talking with her former colleaguesmany of whom are now also her friendsis an uplifting experience. The new six-member association board set about trying to improve security at the school, which sits on a dirt road behind a high wall topped with razor wire. Judge Halperin is a member of the Utah State Bar. In immigration court, the asylum seeker is typically the only witness. In New York City, 24 percent do. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation athttps://bit.ly/3fNsGaZ. Were all humans. She is known for her intelligence and wit, having coined oft-repeated, appropriate zingers that help people better understand the challenges of immigration court, including Immigration judges do death penalty cases in a traffic court setting and Immigration is more complicated than tax law. But it still astounded him when Riley calledMexican immigrants illegals while cross-examining his wife about the subcontractors that Juan employed at his construction business. Sixty-one percent of all complaints closed in the fiscal year 2020 ended up being dismissed. Hondurans enjoy no special considerations. Judge Marks says her biggest success was seeingH.R. The most common payscale is General Schedule. Help us advocate for . This, as federal immigration judges decided the second-highest number of asylum petitions on record despite partial court shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She made it more proactive, trying to affect the law. The advocates testified that, while asylum is granted in nearly half of cases nationwide, Charlotte judges granted asylum in just 13 percent of cases in 2015. Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services officials say the money will be used to try to win cases for migrants in an El Paso facility with 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of October. So far, it hasn't. Likewise, the Biden administration last month said it would seek a 21 percent increase to the budget for immigration courts, good enough to hire 100 new immigration judges to begin to ease the courts' massive backlog. This is the phone number you can use to contact the court's clerks or the judges' legal assistants. Judge Olivia Cassin in New York City allows immigrants to remain in the country in 93 percent of cases she hears. Charles R. Davis. ICE has not released their estimate of how many cases would be cleared under this plan. Circuit Court of Appeals because her lawyer confused the deadline. Individually reported data submitted by users of our website Base Salary $65,625 $72,811 Medium $84,735 Highest Paying Cities for Immigration Judge in the United States Immigration Judge salaries in the United States will pay differently by cities. Judge Mabry is a member of the State Bar of Arizona and State Bar of New Mexico. Immigration court doesnt have contempt, so I had to use charm, she says. Opinion by Judge Owens * The Honorable Morrison C. England, Jr., United States Senior District Judge for the Eastern District of California . More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? When Theodore Murphy, a former ICE prosecutor who now represents immigrants, has a client in a jurisdiction with a high deportation rate but near one with a lower rate, I tell them to move, he said. They demanded that a payment of more than $5,000 be delivered in 24 hours, a huge sum for a woman who sold tortillas for a living. The cases she worked on, he notes, were life-threateningnot just physically life-threatening, but as in your whole life is ahead of you. And theres a ripple effect, not just for the individuals, but for their family members, especially, says Ungar, for kids with parents facing deportation.. The administration of President Donald Trump is continuing the effort. The 43-year-old, who worked as a nurse in Honduras, lives in a small one-bedroom apartment with her husband, her two sons now 15 and 8 her adult daughter and her grandson. James Roder, the court administrator at the Cleveland Immigration Court, declined to offer a response. I began to panic and shake, she said. Couch wrote in his opinion that Anas difficulty recounting the names of the women on the association board weighed against her credibility. Ugarte says he felt elated when he learned he would appear before her, not because all cases were granted, but because you felt heard., Judge Markss generosity extended to her colleagues on the bench. That experience, the Reuters analysis found, makes them 23 percent more likely to order deportation. There are complaints that were made because someone is not happy that they lost a case, and those claims need to be taken with a grain of salt, Schmidt said. Hon. There, they applied for asylum. It was June 11, 2018, and then-attorney general Jeff Sessions, her boss . I got in that moment what that was going to be. Argued and Submitted November 20, 2020 . Every story is individual, she says, and every person deserves to be heard. Citing the experience of six anonymous immigrants, including Juan, the complaint accuses Riley of biases against Latino immigrants, bullying and hostile questioning,a lack of professional competence and other alleged misconducts. WASHINGTON An immigration judge in the San Francisco court abruptly quit his post this week, issuing a scathing letter upon his retirement . The question of equality of treatment among judges has gained urgency as the number of cases in immigration court has ballooned to record highs. Of the 28 immigration judges Sessions has appointed so far, 16 are former ICE prosecutors. Before: Richard A. Paez and John B. Owens, Circuit Judges, and Morrison C. England, Jr., * Senior District Judge. Gutierrez said that was when she first learned that her fellow parent-teacher association board member had been threatened and had fled from home. She was our fearless leader in the union, says Judge King, who was Union site representative in San Francisco while Judge Marks was president. We discussed cases together. In addition to helping her colleagues with the analysis of cases, Judge Marks was available for emotional support. The bill, if approved by the Senate, will transition the nations immigration court system into an independent judiciary consistent with Article I of the U.S. Constitution. Says Judge Marks, Thisquickly became my long-term goal outside of judging., When that does happen, it certainly will be part of her legacy, but just one part of a stellar career. The year before, according to police records in Honduras, gang members killed a school security guard. Another 35% ended with additional counseling or training of the judge involved. They hoped that mothers working together could oust the violent gangs that plagued the campus. Those appointed under Trump had ordered. U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Department of Justice. She can look back with satisfaction at the mass of people whose lives she helped, says Ungar. The coalition has urged EOIR to thoroughly investigate IJ Fords conduct and take appropriate action to ensure that individuals who appear in the San Francisco Immigration Court are treated with due process, dignity, and respect. Some of those asylum seekers told Border Report recently they hope their chances will improve once Joe Biden takes over the White House. Country of origin is a big factor in determining who gets to stay in the United States because immigrants from some countries are afforded special protections. The Chief Immigration Judge shall ensure that each temporary immigration judge has received a suitable level of training to enable the temporary immigration judge to carry out the duties assigned. Filing a complaint against the judge is something on the table, Olawale said. In 2012, ICE agents arrested Juan at his home and put him in deportation proceedings. Nationally, EOIR receives about 100 complaints against immigration judges every year, but most of them do not carry serious consequences, EOIR statistics show. All of the new immigration judges discussed in this post were selected by former Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Constanza Hevia H. / Special to The Chronicle 2020 One was closed because the judge in question had since retired. Nationality and filing a case with the right judge played a role in cases were asylum was granted, according to the data. Many immigrants released on bond before their cases are heard have no idea that where they settle could make the difference between obtaining legal status and deportation. Dana embodied that proactive spirit., Highly technical and often confusing, immigration law can intersect with family, dependency, and criminal law. The appointments included former immigration judges who themselves ordered high rates of deportation on the bench, according to the Reuters analysis. In late 2014, the two women were released on bond. Because there is no TurboTax for immigration law.. I can think of one case I had in front of her, says Ilyce Shugall, a former immigration judge who is currently managing attorney with Immigrant Legal Defense. Judge Monique Harris in Houston allows immigrants to stay in just four percent of cases. The judge denied her petition and ordered her deported. Ana moved with her daughter to live with her daughters father and petitioned to have her case moved to Charlotte. It has also been politically charged, as immigration courts fall under the jurisdiction of theUS Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR). Legal Aid at Work. She was very vocal as head of NAIJ, says Atkinson, especially [on issues] related to fairness and due process. Judge Webber appreciated Judge Markss talents as a spokesperson for the union, remarking on her great voice and quick thinking. Shes the GOAT of immigration judges! declares Francisco Ugarte, Manager of the Immigration Defense Unit of San Franciscos Public Defenders Office. Early in 2020, the immigration case backlog eclipsed 1 million, and the San Francisco court handles the second largest load in the country, roughly 70,000 cases. After her, all these really amazing women came to the bench, says Shugall, women Judge Marks mentored and encouraged to apply for the bench. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2019. (She also refers to herself as a sit-down comedian.), Attorneys who appeared before Judge Marks were impressed by her complete command of her courtroom. The previous president was a man, so we thought, We are women, they wont do anything to us. . She works as an office janitor and is taking English classes. The Reuters analysis used data from the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), the U.S. Justice Department unit that oversees immigration courts. In a 2016 report, the GAO found that little had changed. The firm made a wise choice. Administrative Law Judges Effective January 2021 . [ 72 FR 53677 , Sept. 20, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 39956 , July 11, 2014; 85 FR 81655 , 81750, Dec. 16, 2020] Immigration Court. It then created a system for the public to file complaints against immigration judges. The findings underscore what academics and government watchdogs have long complained about U.S. immigration courts: Differences among judges and courts can render the system unfair and even inhumane. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in April that the Justice Department planned to hire more than 50 judges this year and 75 in 2018, which would put the total number of sitting judges above 400. With Riley, it felt like she just wanted me out. They were allowed to stay in the United States in just 16 percent of cases, the Reuters analysis found. Their nature ranged from alleged due process violations to concerns over in-court conducts, records show. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) It did not take U.S. Immigration Judge Nicholas Ford long to stir up controversy in San Francisco. In Charlotte, immigrants are ordered deported in 84 percent of cases, more than twice the rate in San Francisco, where 36 percent of cases end in deportation. The courts facedand continue to grapple witha crisis of backlogged cases. Dana Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said each case is like a 1,000 piece puzzle. While two cases might look identical on the surface, she said, each judge has to weigh the nuances of immigration law to allow someone to stay in the country, which could lead to different outcomes. Two months later, according to court documents, Ana was walking her 7-year-old daughter home from school when three members of a rival gang confronted them. The state court had plexiglass barriers, an air. The count of deportations included cases in which judges allowed immigrants to leave the country voluntarily. Yilun Cheng is a Report for America corps member andcovers immigration issues for the Dispatch. Jamil adds Judge Markss tireless work for the union and giving a professional, female voice to immigration judges to her list of accomplishments. However, the women said their reasons for seeking asylum were the same: Gangs had targeted them because of their involvement in the parent-teacher association, and for that, they and their families had been threatened. Webber says conducts, records show persuasive, Couch wrote in his opinion anas... And State Bar of Arizona and State Bar of New Mexico in deportation proceedings addition to her! Percent more likely to order deportation discovery, she was doing everything she for. It was June 11, 2018, and criminal law courts facedand continue grapple. 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