The Trump administration is trying to dismantle the immigration appeals system to fast-track deportations and deny people their day in court. A sweeping new rule would effectively eliminate meaningful judicial review before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the body that Congress has mandated to review deportation orders when immigration courts get it wrong. 

The rule imposes drastic changes that would eviscerate immigrants' right to appeal decisions in their cases, including:  ​​​

• Slashing the time to file most appeals from 30 days to 10 days; 
• Require automatic dismissal of cases unless a majority of permanent BIA members vote within 10 days to accept the case for review; and 
• Permit dismissal decisions before transcripts of the hearing are created. 

The rule will be particularly harmful to people who most need the recourse of an appeal: those held in immigration detention, children navigating the system alone, people without legal representation, Indigenous language speakers, and anyone fleeing persecution who needs time to build their case. As legal advocates have argued in federal court, this rule makes meaningful review functionally impossible in most cases. 

Immigration courts make life-and-death decisions. Without a fair appeals process, people who have fled persecution and violence, asylum seekers, children, and families with deep roots in this country could be wrongfully deported—often to life-threatening conditions—before their cases are properly reviewed. Many people who would otherwise be eligible for asylum or other legal status will never have the opportunity to pursue protection under our laws. 

A federal court has already blocked some of the most dangerous pieces of this rule, but the administration is still pushing to implement it. 

The comment period closes April 8. Submit a public comment using the form on this page.

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