She made it more proactive, trying to affect the law. Dana Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said each case is like a 1,000 piece puzzle. While two cases might look identical on the surface, she said, each judge has to weigh the nuances of immigration law to allow someone to stay in the country, which could lead to different outcomes. (Neither Holyoak nor Couch worked as an ICE prosecutor, according to their EOIR biographies. Immigrant rights organizations, attorneys file complaint against local Immigration Judge. I want everyone to feel validated, listened to., To manage an immigration courtroom, says Rebecca Bowen Jamil, who retired from the bench and is currently an attorney with Argumedo Garzon Law Group in San Francisco, you have to be flexible and have the knowledge to be flexible. Judge Marks succeeded, Jamil says, because she has a big personality, and she has the goods to back it up. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2019. Copyright 2005-2023 The Bar Association of San Francisco |, Unpacking the Legacy of Judge Dana Leigh Marks, on December 31, 2021, Judge Dana Leigh Marks* had built an inspiring reputation as a leader, mentor, and advocate. She is known for her intelligence and wit, having coined oft-repeated, appropriate zingers that help people better understand the challenges of immigration court, including Immigration judges do death penalty cases in a traffic court setting and Immigration is more complicated than tax law. Samuel Y. Kim, Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court Attorney General William P. Barr appointed Samuel Y. Kim to begin hearing cases in December 2020. She is known for her fierce advocacy for the court. She helped start that trajectory, says Shugall. San Francisco, CA. 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. Gutierrez hid for two months at her friends mothers house outside Tegucigalpa. Two of them were dismissed. Some of the supervisors discuss the complaint with the judge immediatelyand others dont. Ana, 31, has had a baby since arriving in the United States and has been granted work authorization while she awaits a final decision on her case. Yilun Cheng is a Report for America corps member andcovers immigration issues for the Dispatch. Shes funny and insightful, she says. The third pointed a gun at Anas head. I will believe things when they happen, if they happen, one Cuban migrant whos been living in Juarez said last week. The average annual salary for Immigration Judges in the US is $121,299. Robert S. Hough had the highest denial rate (92.2%), according to TRAC. The top ten percent of employees in the Executive Office for . Mattingly, the EOIR spokeswoman, said the agency held training sessions for judges to address the disparities in 2008 and 2009. Immigration attorneys and their clients are not the only ones who said they are distrustful of the judicial complaint process. In May2021, the Ohio chapter of theAmerican Immigration Lawyers Association submitted a group complaint against Riley to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency within the Department of Justice that oversees immigration courts. The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research organization at Syracuse University in New York, first sounded the alarmabout disparities in immigration court decisions in 2006. Two officials in uniforms picked them up. Taken together, the two cases nearly indistinguishable in their outlines but with opposite outcomes illustrate a troubling fact:An immigrants chance of being allowed to stay in the United States depends largely on who hears the case and where it is heard. Alumni Relations. Gutierrez also said her friend is very forgetful. The union kept me intellectually stimulated, she says. The older one, once threatened by gangs in Honduras, likes studying history and math and is learning to play the cello. Instead of submitting a complaint against Owen, however, the immigration attorney opted to voice his concerns in an appeal, which is currently pending. She remains active today as president emerita. Juan is not alone in his grievances. A few years ago, when his case was reassigned to Riley, Juan heard from friends that the new judge was unusually harsh. She quickly discarded that notion. Under President Barack Obama, the courts began efforts to hire more immigration judges to reduce the systems burgeoning backlog, which now stands at more than 620,000 cases, nearly 100,000 of them added since last December. Ana declined to be interviewed for this article. 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. In the fall of 2020, Juan had trouble falling asleep whenever he thought about his upcoming court appearance in Cleveland, where the only immigration court in Ohio is located. Judge. There they piled with another group of migrants into an inflatable raft and crossed the Rio Grande, the border between Mexico and the United States. Individuals can sign up for a court watch training at bit.ly/courtwatch1. STEP 2: Apply for Asylum STEP 3: Fingerprinting and Background/Security Checks STEP 4: Receive an Interview Notice STEP 5: Interview STEP 6: Asylum Officer Makes Determination on Eligibility and Supervisory Asylum Officer Reviews the Decision STEP 7: Receive Decision Related Links Close All Open All Last Reviewed/Updated: Also, immigration judges are bound by precedents established in the federal appeals court that covers their location. Anas response to Couchs extensive questioning played a part in the decision. Holyoak was convinced. Ana moved with her daughter to live with her daughters father and petitioned to have her case moved to Charlotte. He is especially unsuited to hear cases involving survivors of torture applying for asylum and other forms of immigration relief. Attorney General of the United States Deputy Attorney General of the United States. This time, her lawyer included arguments about her membership in a particular social group. Chinese nationals won asylum almost 77% of the time in 2020, followed by people from India (62%), Cameroon (61.6%), and Venezuela (54.3%). Transparent and . Boston's immigration judges mentioned in the TRAC analysis were Maureen O'Sullivan, Leonard Shapiro, Paul Gagnon, Robin Feder, Brenda O'Malley, Matthew D'Angelo, Mario Sturla, Gwendylan, and Todd Masters. The Charlotte court that would hear Anas case was one of five jurisdictions labeled asylum free zones by a group of immigrant advocates in written testimony last Decemberbefore the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. "EOIR takes all complaints seriously, investigates all colorable complaints, and takes corrective action when appropriate, Montenegro said in an email statement. The other women in the center told me that there was someone else from Honduras who I might know, but I wasnt sure who they were talking about, Gutierrez said. Cases are assigned to an immigration court based on where the immigrant lives. She was our fearless leader in the union, says Judge King, who was Union site representative in San Francisco while Judge Marks was president. Close to half the complaints were dismissed. Those appointed under Trump had ordered. San Francisco immigration judge begs officials to close her courtroom over coronavirus. The journey took three weeks. The Reuters analysis also found that an immigration judges particular characteristics and situation can affect outcomes. But the bulk of asylum seekers who came during the 2018-2019 migrant surge were Central Americans. The findings underscore what academics and government watchdogs have long complained about U.S. immigration courts: Differences among judges and courts can render the system unfair and even inhumane. 6577, Real Courts, Rule of Law Act of 2022, and passed by the House Judiciary Committee in May of this year. (She also refers to herself as a sit-down comedian.), Attorneys who appeared before Judge Marks were impressed by her complete command of her courtroom. Featured Issue: Biden Administration Recognizes the Immigration Judge Union - December 7, 2021; EOIR Amends PM 21-18 on Filing Deadlines in Non-Detained Cases - December 16, 2021; . Judge Fords dehumanizing treatment of those who appear in his courtroom is unacceptable, said Lisa Knox, Legal Director for the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice. Hon. Despite having no immigration law experience, Ford was appointed as a San Francisco Immigration Judge by Attorney General William Barr in 2019 after retiring from his judgeship in Cook County, Illinois. I want to stay because of my kids, said Juan, who recently bought a new house for his family. Instead, they became targets. 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. While in Cook County, Ford was accused of complicity in a Chicago police torture scandal that targeted Black people and used torture to coerce criminal confessions for over two decades. Sometimes after a court date, I would be so down that I would just say, Forget it, I should just leave.". In July, the BIA granted Ana the right to a rehearing in immigration court, sending her case back to Charlotte, where it could be heard again by Couch. The case is currently in the appeal process. Youre hearing stories of trauma and torture all day long, says Carol King, also a retired immigration judge, and the judge must then make decisions about peoples futures. In 2020, of the 30,173 individuals from the Northern Triangle that received a decision on asylum claims 27,020 were denied. It occurred to me I had a meeting, Ungar says, So I asked, Would you mind if we continued this? They walked to Market Street, where they hopped on the #5 bus to the Federal Courthouse. [ 72 FR 53677 , Sept. 20, 2007, as amended at 79 FR 39956 , July 11, 2014; 85 FR 81655 , 81750, Dec. 16, 2020] Cases that claim opposition to gangs as a protected political opinion, the center says, have generated fewer precedent-setting decisions, making that argument a more difficult one to win in court, though it has prevailed in some cases. The 43-year-old, who worked as a nurse in Honduras, lives in a small one-bedroom apartment with her husband, her two sons now 15 and 8 her adult daughter and her grandson. During his time as an Immigration Judge, Ford has consistently terrorized community members through his hostile and unprofessional treatment of those in his courtroom. Administrative Law Judges Effective January 2021 . She lost. Three percentconcluded with retirement, resignation or termination, and none gave rise to other disciplinary actions like reprimand or suspension. In March 1987, the court decided in favor of granting Cardoza-Fonseca asylum, and Judge Marks, just 32 years old, cemented her standing as a legend. She was always there for me, emotionally and intellectually.. She showed us all how to be fierce advocates for justicefor what is true and right and justwithout crossing over lines, says Judge King. Do you know the people? She first interviewed Judge Marks, then-president of NAIJ, forUnderstanding the Crisis in Our Immigration Courts(Spring 2015). In the 1980s, AILA (, ) was very stodgy, a reactive organization, Judge Webber says. (Previously, appointments were considered promotions for prosecuting attorneys from INS.) This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. John W. Richardson, Immigration Judge, Phoenix, 1990-2018. . Judge Marks says she was never bored. Former immigration judge Rebecca Jamil in Fremont, California, on Dec. 28, 2018. Her boys are in school. See how your salary compares to other Immigration Judges with Comparably. Freedom for Immigrants is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in California. But it wont really change anything in my clients case. The number of immigration judges Biden appoints will also affect the immigration court backlog, currently at 1.3 million cases. Persecutors dont give affidavits, said Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge who now works at the Center for Immigration Studies, a nonprofit organization that supports lower levels of immigration. But at the point where judges are using racially charged terms or demeaning people, then that seems to me that it goes beyond what they should be allowed to do.. The administration of President Donald Trump is continuing the effort. Gutierrez can live and work legally in the United States and will ultimately be able to apply for citizenship. She is now awaiting a court date after new lawyers got her case reopened. It has also been politically charged, as immigration courts fall under the jurisdiction of the, US Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), . The lawyers also argued that she was part of another particular social group as the family member of someone under threat, since the gangs had terrorized her son in trying to recruit him. The rules of evidence are [only] a guide, theres no pretrial discovery, she says. In 2018, after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions announced new restrictions on asylum cases, there was a mass exodus of immigration judges. They landed near Hidalgo, Texas. When she started, she was one of few women. Judge Marks says her biggest success was seeing, H.R. The longer a judge has been serving, the more likely that judge is to grant asylum. The judge denied her petition and ordered her deported. Ana testified in her asylum hearing that she knew they were gang members because they were dressed in baggy clothing and they also had ugly tattoos all over their bodies and faces., Ana and her daughter ran home and then, fearing the gang would come after them, fled out the back door. Further, Knox said, asylum seekers arent thinking about the finer points of U.S. asylum law when they are fleeing persecution. *Today Judge Marks is known as NanaDana, a title that celebrates her role as caretaker for her granddaughter and helps people correctly pronounce her name (dan-uh, not day-nuh). People show up in our office (and) they have no idea why someone wants to kill them. The courts in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Atlanta also received the designation. Reviews Deals Treats immigrants, witnesses, and practitioners in an unprofessional and hostile manner. Hon. From 2020 to 2022, she served as a staff attorney in In 2012, ICE agents arrested Juan at his home and put him in deportation proceedings. Juans case was initially assigned to Judge Thomas Janas, an immigration judge in Cleveland who has since retired. At the end of her asylum hearing in September 2016, she received a one-page form, with an X in the box next to granted. She was free to settle into life with her family in the United States. The courts facedand continue to grapple witha crisis of backlogged cases. In Mexico, she hired a coyote a smuggler to help them cross into the United States and then turned herself in to Border Patrol agents near Hidalgo. 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. Because there is no TurboTax for immigration law., The firm made a wise choice. After her, all these really amazing women came to the bench, says Shugall, women Judge Marks mentored and encouraged to apply for the bench. How do I know this? ICE has not released their estimate of how many cases would be cleared under this plan. The year before, according to police records in Honduras, gang members killed a school security guard. Were all humans. From there, cases can be appealed to federal appeals court. Ill have to weigh my options and consider how bad it is before I stick my neck out there.. Couch and Holyoak and their courts are not rare outliers, the analysis found. Senators Announce GAO Investigation of the Politicization and Mismanagement of Immigration Courts - September 14, 2020; Take Action. 0% San Francisco; 0% Denver; 0% Dallas, TX; 0% Boston; 0% Los Angeles; 0% Atlanta; Salary Ranges for Immigration Judges. Throughout, Jamil says, Judge Marks articulated to the press and to the public the stress of doing the job of immigration judge. 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