Federal court in Chicago will see biggest impact in deportation appeals

[Jorge Mujica]

Federal court in Chicago will see biggest impact in deportation appeals

by Heather Somerville
Jan 26, 2010

Chicago can expect the most significant increase in the country of deportation appeals due to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, a Harvard University expert predicts.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that immigrants ordered to leave the country have the right to appeal their cases in the federal courts. The ruling provides immigrants with another layer of judicial review for decisions made at the discretion of immigration judges.
 
The Supreme Court’s decision will broaden the judicial process more in Illinois than in any other state, said Gerald Neuman, law professor at Harvard University.

“This is the area of the country that, as the result of this decision, there will be more opportunities for judicial review,” Neuman said.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is located in Chicago and has jurisdiction over Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, has historically taken a more hands-off approach to immigration cases than other federal courts, Neuman said. Now, Chicago’s federal court can expect to see a substantial increase in immigration cases, Neuman said.

Previously, immigrants could only appeal deportation orders with the Board of Immigration Appeals, a group that “often rubber stamps immigration court decisions,” according to Tara Tidwell Cullen of the National Immigrant Justice Center. The Supreme Court’s decision allows immigrants to have their cases reviewed by the federal courts, where judges can order the immigration court should reopen the case.

The extra layer of judicial review will correct errors made by the immigration courts, which are underfunded and understaffed, Tidwell Cullen said.

“This is pretty significant,” Tidwell Cullen said. “We’ve seen a lot of really questionable, really irrational decisions in the immigration courts.”

The Chicago Immigration Court is one of the nation’s busiest. In fiscal year 2008, Chicago held 11,460 deportation proceedings, according to most recent data provided by the Department of Justice. Only four other immigration courts in the country saw more cases.

Of those removal cases, 2,366 immigrants applied for relief from their deportation order. A court spokeswoman was unable to confirm how many of those applicants received permission to stay in the country, either through asylum or another change in immigration status.

During that same period, the Chicago court granted asylum to less than half of applicants. It denied asylum to more than 300 applicants.

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Jorge Mujica