EOIR Announces Change to Immigration Judges Hearing Cases Out of Dilley

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced that, following the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s announcement of the Dilley, Texas, residential detention facility expansion to 2,400 beds, EOIR will reassign immigration cases originating at the Dilley hearing location from the Denver Immigration Court to the Miami Immigration Court.

As the Denver Immigration Court immigration judges do, the Miami immigration judges assigned to Dilley cases will hear those cases via video-teleconference (VTC). Miami immigration judges will hear all Dilley removal cases except those in which a Denver immigration judge has already begun to hear evidence on contested issues. Miami immigration judges will also conduct credible fear reviews in cases that DHS refers to EOIR on or after May 1, 2015. Credible fear reviews that DHS refers before May 1, 2015, and all cases in which a Denver immigration judge has begun to hear evidence on contested issues will remain before the Denver immigration judge. All parties will receive appropriate notice prior to their hearings. Please note that filings for Dilley cases should be submitted to the Miami Immigration Court location unless the Denver immigration judge retains the case.

"Following an evaluation of the available docket space, EOIR determined that the increase in immigration court cases due to the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to expand the Dilley facility will be most efficiently handled from the Miami Immigration Court," said EOIR Director Juan P. Osuna.

The immigration judges in Miami who will hear the cases from Dilley are rescheduling the non-detained, non-priority cases that are scheduled for docket time needed to hear the priority cases.

- EOIR -

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is an agency within the Department of Justice. Under delegated authority from the Attorney General, immigration judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals interpret and adjudicate immigration cases according to United States immigration laws. EOIR's immigration judges conduct administrative court proceedings in immigration courts located throughout the nation. They determine whether foreign-born individuals—whom the Department of Homeland Security charges with violating immigration law—should be ordered removed from the United States or should be granted relief from removal and be permitted to remain in this country. The Board of Immigration Appeals primarily reviews appeals of decisions by immigration judges. EOIR's Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer adjudicates immigration-related employment cases. EOIR is committed to ensuring fairness in all of the cases it adjudicates.