For example, U.S. government policy is more lenient toward people from some countries, less so for others. Attorneyseven conservativesrespected her., Judge Marks explains it another way. Two of them were dismissed. The older one, once threatened by gangs in Honduras, likes studying history and math and is learning to play the cello. In an attempt to establish that the abusedid not happen due to the client's identity, Owen stated that it is likely that officers raped the teenage girl not because she was a member of the English-speaking minoritybut because they wanted to do so and thought that the respondent was a pretty virgin, according to court documents shared with The Dispatch. How do I know this? CLEs. You felt you had a fair shot, says Milli Atkinson, Director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at JDC and Legal Director of the SFIL Defense Collaborative, who appeared before her as an attorney. It was a magic zone, says Ugarte, in part because when she made a decision, she bridged the gap in a politically charged environment. She arrived at the Artesia detention center just weeks after Gutierrez. The journey took three weeks. Judges are not always made aware of the existence of a complaint in a timely fashion, and there is no transparency or consistency when it comes to sanctions imposed in a particular case, according to Dana Marks, president emerita at the National Association of Immigration Judges who spent 35 years on the bench in San Francisco, California, before retiring in December. Yilun Cheng is a Report for America corps member andcovers immigration issues for the Dispatch. Becoming involved with and leading theNational Association of Immigration Judges(NAIJ) was a natural extension of her skills and influence. The question of equality of treatment among judges has gained urgency as the number of cases in immigration court has ballooned to record highs. She was our fearless leader in the union, says Judge King, who was Union site representative in San Francisco while Judge Marks was president. Transparent and . In late 2014, the two women were released on bond. The October announcement explained that " [s]ince Jan. 20, 2017, the [Department of Justice] has increased EOIR's immigration judge corps from 306 to 520 adjudicators an increase of nearly 70 percent." Some of the supervisors discuss the complaint with the judge immediatelyand others dont. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? Of course, other factors influence outcomes in immigration court. Two of them grabbed Ana and her daughter, pinned their wrists behind their backs, and pointed a gun at the childs head. And whether the individual fleeing gang violence in San Pedro Sula or official oppression in Venezuela had legal representation also made a big difference in the outcome of his or her case, according to research from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. McFarland residents vow to keep organizing after court lets GEO expand immigration detention, look to incoming administration for support, After about 5 minutes of struggle, they forced my index finger on the paper: ICE Forcing More Asylum Seekers to Sign Deportation Paperwork as Another Deportation Flight to Cameroon Looms. Judge. From 2000 to 2008, she served as a staff attorney for ASK Law Group, in Sherman Oaks, California. Knowing that providing legal advice to asylum seekers can make a difference, one El Paso nonprofit applied for and got two private grants to provide these services. Jan. 27, 2020 4 AM PT HOUSTON Immigration Judge Charles Honeyman was nearing retirement, but he vowed not to leave while Donald Trump was president and risk being replaced by an ideologue. I have nothing in Mexico. Right now, Ohio has one of the highest asylum denial rates in the country 88% in the fiscal year 2021, compared with the national average of 63%, according to TRAC data. My client was seriously mentally ill, there were a lot of complexities in his case. In the 1980s, AILA (, ) was very stodgy, a reactive organization, Judge Webber says. She is known for her compassion and fairmindedness. Appearing in IJ Fords courtroom was a reminder that immigration courts are arenas ripe for traumatization and dehumanization, especially in the context of xenophobic administrations. But complainants like Juan and their attorneys said they have beendisappointed that their efforts did not lead to any lasting changes and that there was little transparency in the investigation process. Immigration judges in New York and San Francisco stayed home from work Tuesday, and their union announced a judge in Denver had COVID-19 symptoms and an Atlanta attorney tested positive. Shes funny and insightful, she says. I got in that moment what that was going to be. Learn more about how to check your immigration court date and the status of your immigration case from here. From 2012 to 2016, EOIR received 624 complaints against judges.The 138 complaints lodged in 2016 alone included allegations of bias, as well as concerns about due process and judges conduct within the courtroom. The San Francisco immigration court doesn't have the kind of COVID-19 supplies that he saw in a Wisconsin courthouse in October 2020. So far, it hasn't. Likewise, the Biden administration last month said it would seek a 21 percent increase to the budget for immigration courts, good enough to hire 100 new immigration judges to begin to ease the courts' massive backlog. Unlike federal court judges, whose authority stems from the U.S. Constitutions establishment of an independent judicial branch, immigration judges fall under the executive branch and thus are hired, and can be fired, by the attorney general. During his time as an Immigration Judge, Ford has consistently terrorized community members through his hostile and unprofessional treatment of those in his courtroom. It is clearly troubling when you have these kinds of gross disparities, said Karen Musalo, director of the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings School of the Law in San Francisco. Another 35% ended with additional counseling or training of the judge involved. The definition of a particular social group has been subject to conflicting interpretations in the courts, but in general, such a group comprises people who share basic beliefs or traits that cant or shouldnt have to be changed. New Company Ratings Recent Salaries by Company. I came here when I was very young. Their nature ranged from alleged due process violations to concerns over in-court conducts, records show. But the bulk of asylum seekers who came during the 2018-2019 migrant surge were Central Americans. National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area, Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice (CCIJ), Bay Area Asylum Support Coalition (BAASC), Dolores Street Community Services, Deportation Defense and Legal Advocacy Project, Democratic Socialists of America San Francisco Chapter, Collective Action For Laborers, Migrants & Asylum Seekers (CALMA), San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (SFILEN). Shes the GOAT of immigration judges! declares Francisco Ugarte, Manager of the Immigration Defense Unit of San Franciscos Public Defenders Office. After her, all these really amazing women came to the bench, says Shugall, women Judge Marks mentored and encouraged to apply for the bench. She is known for her compassion and fairmindedness. Shuting Chen, Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court . In a three-page ruling, one board member said Anas lawyer could not introduce a new argument on appeal and agreed with Couch that Ana hadnt proved a political motive behind the gang members attack. I love the Wild West aspect of it., National Association of Immigration Judges. The courts in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Atlanta also received the designation. Four of the 31 new immigration judges are assistant chief immigration judges who will oversee six immigration courts. Filing a complaint against the judge is something on the table, Olawale said. REUTERS/Ross D. Franklin/Pool/File Photo. Juans application for cancellation of removal was denied in November 2020. After hearing Anas case, Couch concluded in his written opinion that Ana was not eligible for asylum because she had not demonstrated a well-founded fear of future persecution on account of a statutorily protected ground. He wasnt convinced that she risked persecution in Honduras because of her political opinion. Sometimes after a court date, I would be so down that I would just say, Forget it, I should just leave.". From 2020 to 2022, she served as a staff attorney in Cynthia M. Nunez, Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court Cynthia M. Nunez was appointed as an Immigration Judge to begin hearing cases in May 2022. There is no training on the 2017 calendar. He is especially unsuited to hear cases involving survivors of torture applying for asylum and other forms of immigration relief. We had to jump over a wall, and I hurt my foot doing so, she said in an affidavit. Dana embodied that proactive spirit., Highly technical and often confusing, immigration law can intersect with family, dependency, and criminal law. Constanza Hevia H. / Special to The Chronicle 2020 After walking for an hour and a half, lost and desperate, Gutierrez and her sons sat down in the middle of a dirt road and waited for someone to pass. El Paso federal immigration judges denied 85.4% of asylum claims in fiscal year 2020. The other 27 immigration judges will serve across the country on 19 immigration courts. It is unclear why the judge was absent. She is known for her fierce advocacy for the court. In 2012, ICE agents arrested Juan at his home and put him in deportation proceedings. In Charlotte, immigrants are ordered deported in 84 percent of cases, more than twice the rate in San Francisco, where 36 percent of cases end in deportation. Judge Dalin Holyoak, who heard Gutierrezs case in San Francisco, orders deportation in 43 percent of cases. Well-established law recognizes family as a protected social group, according to the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. With the seventh and latest complaint the one led by AILA-Ohio against Riley information regarding the investigation outcome was redacted by the Department of Justice. Robert S. Hough had the highest denial rate (92.2%), according to TRAC. I am not going to risk my childs life. . . Ana missed the deadline to appeal the BIA decision to the 4th U.S. She quickly discarded that notion. Immigrant rights organizations, attorneys file complaint against local Immigration Judge. And when there isnt an independent investigatorand you have people on the same team investigating each other, that isnt a fair way to undo the wrong that has been done.. OAKLAND, California The two Honduran women told nearly identical stories to the immigration courts: Fear for their lives and for the lives of their children drove them to seek asylum in the United States. 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