A coalition of associations that have been calling for the closure of the nation’s 68 immigration courts due to the coronavirus crisis seemed puzzled at why the Justice Department, which oversees this court system, did eventually close some but not all immigration courthouses. The DOJ, they said, “has provided no scientific or reasoned basis to explain why one locale deserves this type of protection, while the immigration courts in the rest of the country are being provided with either partial health and safety solutions, or worse, no health and safety precautions at all.”
The Miami Herald’s new report may explain why. “As state and local courtrooms across the country have shuttered their doors, immigration courtroom closures are being decided on a case-by-case basis by the White House itself, according to records obtained by the Miami Herald,” the report said, citing an email from court management who told immigration court staffers that “Decisions for closure are beyond the agency level; but rather are forwarded to [the Department of Justice] and ultimately the White House.”
This could explain why while the impeached president has (finally) declared a national emergency, California and New York have implemented shelter-in-place policies, restaurants and bars have completely shut down, and even the Supreme Court has postponed cases for now, advocates continue to fight tooth and nail to try to force the same in the immigration court system. It’s the same thing for hearings themselves: while DOJ has halted some, other asylum-seekers still have to go to theirs (although some judges are now reportedly taking this matter into their own hands).
It’s just incomprehensible why the vast majority of the nation’s immigration courts remain open during this public health crisis. Then again this is the Trump administration and even in a pandemic, the immigrant bashing doesn’t take a break. “In almost a dozen letters, the employees have asked that the government consider their plight and at least explain why some courts are being prioritized over others,” Miami Herald continued. “The DOJ and the White House have not responded to their various requests for a telephone meeting. According to three court staff members, employees have been told in meetings that the directive to shut down courthouses is coming ‘from the very top of the administration.’”
Experts have previously criticized Attorney General Bill Barr’s overruling of immigration decisions he didn’t like, saying, “What’s happening now is that all the norms are breaking. All the wheels are coming off the car.” The wheels dangerously continue to come off, with lives at stake. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, one of the groups that has been calling for the immigration court system’s closure, told the Miami Herald : “The politicization of the immigration courts has now infected the decision-making process of the agency as to the health and well-being of immigration judges, staff and all who appear before the court.”