2025 Immigration Law Practice Updates
Welcome to Immigration Court Practice! The resources on this page will provide you with critical information to guide you through procedural and practical elements of representing immigrant clients in court. As a volunteer attorney with IJC, the items below will be essential to your case.
Skip ahead to any subheading:
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
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.
The best protection for a client who has been here for less than 2 years is a pending application. In most cases, this will be a pending asylum application. If you are representing a client in an asylum process, it is imperative that you get an I-589 on file as soon as possible.
Clients who entered the U.S. prior to January 2023 should collect proof of physical presence documents covering a period longer than two years. Examples include utility bills, school enrollment verification for children, or letters from employers.
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 it’s likely that they will not be asked these questions by the government.
Useful Links for Additional Information on Expedited Removal
For Background: American Immigration Council
Fact Sheet on Expedited Removal .
DHS Memo on Implementing Expanding Expedited Removal.
Changes to Asylum Eligibility and Processing in Immigration Courts
Termination of the Use of CBPOne App
President Trump has ordered the end of the use of the CBP One application as a method of making an appointment to present at a port of entry to seek parole or entry to the U.S. This phone application, which was initiated under the Biden administration, was used by asylum seekers to request appointments to present themselves at the border to seek asylum. Eliminating the use of this application essentially shuts down the U.S. Southern Border to asylum seekers. All appointments that had been scheduled for a future date were immediately cancelled, leaving hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border in limbo.
It does not appear that this policy change is retroactive. Therefore,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 entered “lawfully” and should explain their use of CBP One to enter 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 and the importance of CBP One use for entry to the U.S. during that time, see IJC's on this issue.
EOIR Reinstatement of Policy Memos on Asylum Processing and Adjudications
On February 3, 2025, EOIR reinstated several former policy memos on asylum processing and adjudication timelines in Immigration Courts. In accordance with these memos:
- IJC volunteer attorneys should take note that defensive asylum applications (those filed in court) must include a response to every question on the form, be signed, and be accompanied by the required materials; otherwise, incomplete applications will be rejected and returned to the applicant.
- We advise that IJC attorneys begin working on the supplemental asylum materials such as the client’s declaration, country conditions, and legal briefing
- If seeking a continuance of an asylum case in immigration court, an applicant may need to show both ‘good cause’ and ‘exceptional circumstances’ if such a request would put the adjudication of the client’s asylum application beyond 180 days from the time the application was filed. Additionally, 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.
- IJC attorneys should ensure that clients’ biometrics are completed and up to date prior to individual hearings,
in conjunction with or immediately after filing the Form I-589
as the time to prepare prior to an individual hearing may be compressed significantly (45 days in non-detained cases and 14 days in detained matters).
The points above are not exhaustive, and
IJC Volunteer attorneys are encouraged to review the memos (linked below) directly, and reach out to their IJC mentor with any questions.
2020 EOIR Policy Memo on Asylum Processing
2018 EOIR Policy Memo on Adjudication of Asylum Applications
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.
Laken-Riley Act and Expanded Mandatory Detention
This document provides a general overview of information that is important for attorneys to become familiar with before representing a client in immigration court.
Changes to Parole
For information on parole and recent changes to parole programs generally, see the links below. If your IJC client experiences changes in their current parole status that otherwise impacts their immigration matter with IJC, please reach out to your IJC mentor directly.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. We also advise reviewing the Know Your Rights Guidance below and sharing with your client.
Useful Links for Additional information on Parole and TPS
American Immigration Council
American Immigration Council
American Immigration Council
Immigration Impact Post on Venezuelan TPS and CHNV Parole
IRAP
IExplainer on Initial Trump Actions on Parole
For information on parole as a form of release from immigration detention, please navigate to the Parole page of IJC’s Get Trained site.
Navigating Next Steps when a Client Gets Detained By ICE
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.
AILA Practice Pointer on How to Locate Clients Apprehended by ICE
Online ICE Detainee Locator System
National Immigrant Justice Center Guide:
This resource provides next steps to take when a client is detained by ICE. Though it focuses on the Chicago area, much of the information is generally applicable to detained proceedings.
Additional Useful Links to Track Changes in Immigration Policy
Stanford Law Professor Lucas Guttentag’s
Immigration Policy Tracking Project