If you or someone close to you is in immigration court deportation proceedings, you may finally be able to close your case. Currently, the Department of Homeland Security has a massive backlog of cases to handle. They recently released a new change to how they’ll manage the immigration court backlog. This new change brings some leniency toward those potentially facing removal and could bring a lot of relief to those who need it.
A Change in Priorities
With such a massive backlog to tackle, the Department of Homeland Security had to find a solution that would help move these immigration cases faster. Their solution was to instruct prosecutors from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to exercise their use of prosecutorial discretion, or their ability to decide which cases to focus on and which cases to dismiss or close. As of April 25, 2022, ICE attorneys are instructed to prioritize only cases in which the person has been deemed a threat to national security, public safety, and/or border security, all other cases are deemed “non-priority”. Cases that are non-priority have a high likelihood of being dismissed or closed and the government attorneys are encouraged to decide favorably on behalf of the defendant.
Cases that are “high priority” are divided into three categories. Threats to national security can include those suspected of terrorism or otherwise committed human rights violations in the past. Threats to border security include an apprehension at the border, unlawful entry to the United States after November 1, 2020, or a history of smuggling other individuals into the country. Threats to public safety include those who have a history of serious criminal conduct, especially those with violent crimes. These high-priority cases are unlikely to receive favorable treatment even after this new memorandum, as its purpose is to eliminate the lower priority and less dangerous cases in order to address these high-priority cases.
With this new memo, many of those who are facing deportation in the immigration courts should now receive some leniency – so, if you are in immigration court proceedings, or have been in the past, you should contact an attorney and seek relief. If your case was previously closed, it’s likely that you’ll be able to have it reopened and terminated. If you’re seeking assistance in your immigration case, contact Rotella & Hernandez today at 305-596-3618 to schedule a consultation.