EOIR Announces Change To Immigration Judges Hearing Cases Out Of Artesia

FALLS CHURCH, Va. – The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) today announced that, effective September 29, 2014, it will assign immigration cases originating at the Artesia, N.M., hearing location to immigration judges at the Denver Immigration Court in Denver rather than immigration judges at the Headquarters Immigration Court in Arlington, Va.

As the Headquarters Immigration Court immigration judges do, the Denver immigration judges assigned to Artesia cases will hear those cases via video-teleconference (VTC). Denver immigration judges will hear all Artesia removal cases except those few in which a Headquarters immigration judge has already begun to hear evidence on contested issues. Denver immigration judges will also conduct credible fear reviews in cases that the Department of Homeland Security referred to EOIR on or after September 29, 2014. Credible fear reviews referred before September 29, 2014, and all cases in which a Headquarters immigration judge has begun to hear evidence on contested issues will remain before the Headquarters immigration judge. All parties will receive appropriate notice prior to their hearings. Please note that filings for Artesia cases should be submitted to the Denver immigration court location unless the Headquarters immigration judge retains the case.

With this realignment, most cases originating in Artesia will be heard by judges sitting in the same time zone and Federal judicial circuit as the respondents.

- 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.