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2025 Immigration Law Practice Updates

With the return of the Trump administration, we have already seen and continue to anticipate attempts to make sweeping immigration law and policy changes over the course of the upcoming years. The purpose of this page is to keep our IJC volunteers informed of critical changes in immigration policy and practice so to best be able to protect and defend the rights of IJC immigrant clients during these challenging times.

Here, you will find analysis of the administration’s executive, congressional, or other actions, and guidance on advising your clients and navigating their legal cases. Note that this page is not meant to be exhaustive, and will focus on changes that impact IJC’s placed and ongoing cases. We strive to update this page as quickly as possible, and welcome your return for continued updates.

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Aftermath of Initial Executive Actions (Week One)

Expanded Expedited Removal

Changes to Asylum Eligibility and Processing in Immigration Courts

Changes to Immigration Court Practice

Laken-Riley Act and Expanded Mandatory Detention

Changes to Parole

Know Your Rights Information

Navigating Next Steps when a Client Gets Detained By ICE

Additional Useful Links to Track Changes in Immigration Policy

Aftermath of Initial Executive Actions (Week One)

Expanded Expedited Removal

As of January 21, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded its use of expedited removal.

Expedited removal is the process by which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can quickly remove someone they believe to be undocumented from the U.S., without a hearing before an immigration judge.

Under DHS’s current expansion of expedited removal, the following individuals are subject to expedited removal: Undocumented individuals encountered anywhere in the U.S. without proper entry documentation, and who have been continuously present in the United States for less than two years. The burden of proving more than two years of physical presence in the U.S. is on the individual.

In implementing the expansion of expedited removal, DHS has directed immigration officials to review cases of undocumented individuals, to identify whether they are subject to expedited removal, including taking steps to terminate an active temporary parole status or ongoing removal proceedings before an immigration judge, and placing them into expedited removal instead. Additionally, DHS has also indicated an intention to prioritize those eligible for expedited removal who did not file for asylum within the statutory one year of their physical presence in the U.S.

For IJC volunteer attorneys, this means that if your client has been in the country for less than 2 years, and entered without inspection, without a lawful entry document, or currently holds a temporary parole status that can be terminated or revoked (such as TPS), they may be at risk of expedited removal.

This is also what is happening when people who are not detained are being detained at the immigration courts. Please see our guidance on challenging those cases here.

Additionally, if your client is picked up and/or detained by ICE, they should affirmatively express any fear of return to their country of nationality to ICE officials, as they will not be asked these questions by the government.

Useful Links for Additional Information on Expedited Removal

Changes to Asylum Eligibility and Processing in Immigration Courts

Termination of the Use of CBP One App

CBP One is no longer used for entry appointments into the United States. However, since this policy change is not retroactive, any IJC client who entered the U.S. prior to January 20, 2025, and had used the CBP One application to enter,

is considered to have been paroled into the U.S., and should explain their use of CBP One in the course of their asylum proceedings, particularly if they entered the U.S. after May 2023, and are subject to either the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways or Securing the Border asylum regulations. For additional information on these two regulations, see IJC's practice advisory on this issue.

EOIR Policy Memos on Asylum Processing and Adjudications

EOIR has reinstated former and issued new policy memos on asylum processing and adjudication timelines in Immigration Courts. In accordance with these memos:

  • IJC volunteer attorneys should take note that asylum applications must include a response to every question on the form including articulating proposed particular social groups where applicable, be signed, and be accompanied by the required materials. Asylum applications that are incomplete or do not provide a legally sufficient basis for asylum can be rejected and the client (if in removal proceedings) can be ordered removed.

  • Once your client’s initial Form I-589 asylum application has been filed, IJC attorneys should work with their client to complete the client’s declaration, country conditions, and legal briefing, and be sure to file those in compliance with court-ordered deadlines and/or the deadlines set forth in the Immigration Court Practice Manual.
  • When seeking a continuance of an asylum case in immigration court, an applicant needs to show both "good cause" and "exceptional circumstances." Note that applicant caused delays via continuances may stop the running of the client’s 180-day asylum clock for purposes of seeking a work permit, so we advise being judicious with such requests.

Biometrics: IJC attorneys should ensure that client's biometrics (background and security checks) are completed and up to date prior to individual hearings, as an immigration judge is not required to postpone an individual hearing solely for purposes of biometrics completion. As of December 2024, clients are no longer required to submit a copy of the first three pages of their filed asylum application to USCIS to request a biometrics notice. Instead, clients should be notified at their master calendar hearings before the immigration judge, if biometrics need to be collected. It is DHS's job to conduct the biometrics checks, and if new biometrics collection is needed:

  • Non-detained clients should receive a USCIS appointment notice by mail. If the client is informed that biometrics are needed, but doesn’t receive the appointment notice within three months of filing the Form I-589 with the court or has an individual hearing date within six months, IJC attorneys should contact the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283. Please refer to the complete biometrics instructions here.
  • If your client is detained, you should reach out to the Office of Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) attorney assigned to your client's case, as well as the client's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) deportation officer, and tell them that biometrics need to be arranged for your client. If you experience challenges with DHS officials in fulfilling this requirement, please reach out to your IJC mentor.

The points above are not exhaustive, and IJC volunteer attorneys are encouraged to review the memos and cases (linked below) directly, and reach out to their IJC mentor with any questions.

Changes to Immigration Court Practice

Since the Trump administration has taken office, the state of immigration court practice has been changing rapidly (sometimes on a weekly basis), including reverting back to previous policies.

Therefore, the best advice for IJC attorneys is to always review the most updated Immigration Court Practice Manuals and current EOIR policy and director’s memoranda in effect, which can be found on EOIR’s website, as well as applicable statute, caselaw, and regulation, prior to filing documents with the immigration court, and when in doubt, consult with your IJC mentor. While not meant to be exhaustive, we have provided some of the critical changes and updates below.

Changes to Immigration Court and BIA Practice Manuals

EOIR has taken down the previous versions of the Immigration Court Practice Manual and the BIA Practice Manuals pursuant to EOIR Policy Memo (PM) 25-02 on EOIR’s Core Policy Values. Moving forward, EOIR has released one unified Policy Manual available on the EOIR website, with separate sections for Immigration Court Practice (Part II) and BIA Practice (Part III). This new Policy Manual informs immigration court and BIA practice and should be followed by practitioners, to the extent it does not contradict statute or other regulation.

DHS Enforcement Priorities and Prosecutorial Discretion

The Trump administration issued an Executive Order (EO) revoking the Biden administration’s previous civil enforcement priorities, and directed DHS to revoke all underlying memoranda, guidance, or other policies based on the previous administration’s enforcement priorities. The current administration’s enforcement priorities are much more expansive, and include illegal entry, unlawful presence, people with final orders of removal, and essentially any undocumented person. The EO also directs DHS to expand the use of expedited removal.

In light of this EO, the EOIR Acting Director rescinded a 2023 Director’s Memo outlining guidance to immigration judges on the DHS enforcement priorities and exercise of PD, which had relied on former DHS Secretary Mayorkas’ September 2021 and former DHS Principal Legal Advisor Kerry Doyle’s April 2022 Memos with guidance to OPLA attorneys.

As a result, the previous Mayorkas and Doyle memoranda are now no longer in effect and should not be relied upon or referenced.

Seeking Continuances in Immigration Court

EOIR reinstated a 2021 PM on the granting of continuances in immigration court, which essentially raises the standards for practitioners seeking continuances in immigration court, makes such requests more challenging to obtain, and discourages continuance requests for attorney preparation time.

IJC volunteer attorneysshould ensure that their clients have complied with all biometrics requirements prior to the client’s individual merits hearing, because immigration judges are not required to grant continuances for the purposes of biometrics completion. For instructions on biometrics compliance, please see the section above on Changes to Asylum Eligibility and Processing in Immigration Courts.

For more information about the standards and arguments required to seek a continuance, and specific circumstances in which continuances are appropriate or required, please review the policy memo directly.

See also the section above on changes to asylum processing.

Laken-Riley Act and Expanded Mandatory Detention

The Laken-Riley Act was signed into law on January 29, 2025. This Act has two major components, the main of which makes more individuals subject to mandatory detention and ineligible for bond under INA Section 236(c). Specifically, the Act requires mandatory detention for noncitizens who are inadmissible for having entered without inspection or parole, and who have been arrested for, charged with, convicted of, or admit that they committed any of the following crimes or elements thereof as defined under the relevant jurisdiction where the acts occurred: burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person.

For IJC volunteer attorneys, if your client has been arrested for a crime (even if they weren't convicted) please review IJC’s practice advisory on this new law and its impacts, linked below.

Useful links on Laken-Riley Act

IJC Practice Advisory for Volunteer Attorneys on Laken-Riley Act

National Immigration Project Community Explainer

Changes to Parole

The administration has begun terminating parole for noncitizens who entered the U.S. through CBPOne and those paroled through the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, or Venezuelan (CHNV) program (though the latter is temporarily blocked pending the outcome of litigation). The administration has been sending parole termination notices informing noncitizens to leave the country immediately Unfortunately, these terminations cannot be appealed.

For any IJC clients who are at risk of losing a temporary parole status or have otherwise already lost such status, we advise that if they have a fear of return to their country of origin, that they file an asylum application as soon as possible, if they haven’t already, and/or apply for additional forms of immigration relief or visas for which they may be eligible. For those who already have a pending asylum application, they should carry proof of filing on their person along with an ICE carry letter from their attorney (see more in the Know Your Rights Section below).

Know Your Rights Information

In light of increased immigration enforcement under the current administration, it’s even more important for clients to be aware of their rights in various situations, should they be confronted by immigration officials or local law enforcement officials working in collaboration with federal immigration authorities. The Trump administration has rescinded longstanding guidance that had previously prevented ICE enforcement actions in “sensitive locations” such as schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship, social services establishments, public religious ceremonies, or public demonstrations, among others. The Immigration Courts and ICE have also reinstated policies that allow for civil immigration enforcement actions at or near courthouses, including in immigration courts and their surrounding or attached facilities.

Below, you will find a variety of resources to help you advise your clients on how they can protect themselves and their loved ones in this era of immigration enforcement.

Sample Family Preparedness Plans:

In the event that your client or their family member is apprehended and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), below is information on locating detained individuals and next steps in assisting them.

Additional Useful Links to Track Changes in Immigration Policy

Stanford Law Professor Lucas Guttentag’s Immigration Policy Tracking Project.

Apply to Volunteer

Attorneys with any level of immigration law experience—or none at all—are needed!