Trump Immigration Team Revives Deportation Cases
Revived Immigration Cases Spark Due Process Concerns adn Deportation Fears
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The Trump administration’s push to increase deportations is breathing new life into decades-old immigration cases, leaving immigrants and their attorneys scrambling and raising serious concerns about due process. What were once dormant files – some “sleeping for 10 years” – are now being aggressively recalendared, perhaps leading to deportation for individuals who may have built lives in the United States.
A Sudden Resurgence of Old Cases
immigration attorneys across California are reporting a surge in reactivated cases, many dating back to the 2010s. The government is filing motions to remove administrative closures – a practice used to temporarily pause cases,often while applicants pursue legal pathways to residency – and demanding final resolutions.
“People aren’t getting due process,” says attorney Carravetta.”It’s very unfair to the client because these cases have been sleeping for 10 years.” She has successfully argued against government motions in some instances, highlighting clients’ efforts to legally remain in the country, but admits difficulty reaching all her clients.
A key point of contention is the government’s failure to adhere to established protocol. According to federal regulations (https://www.justice.gov/eoir/reference-materials/ic/chapter-5/2), the government is required to reach out to attorneys to discuss these cases. “That would save a lot of time for everybody,” Carravetta argues. Many clients potentially qualify for U-visas, reserved for victims of crime who cooperate with law enforcement, but the government’s motions dismiss these possibilities, demanding swift closure.
A Return to strict Enforcement
Proponents of the policy defend the move as a necessary return to enforcing the Immigration and Nationality Act as Congress intended.Matt O’Brien, a former federal immigration judge and deputy executive director of FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), which advocates for stricter immigration laws, compares the recalendaring to reopening a case in any other court.Though, the stakes are significantly higher for those affected. Immigration judges retain the discretion to deny motions to reopen, and even when the government’s request is approved due to a lack of opposition from the immigrant or their attorney, the consequences can be severe.
If an immigrant fails to appear in court after a case is reactivated, they risk being ordered deported “in absentia,” potentially barring them from legally re-entering the U.S. for years.
A System Under Strain
The revival of these cases aligns with the Trump administration’s stated goal of increasing deportation numbers. “They are getting the largest pool possible of people that they can remove, and removing them from the country,” explains Jason Hauser, former chief of staff of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “And what stands in the way from that is a working due process of an immigration system.”
The administration’s actions also represent a reversal of more lenient policies implemented during the Biden administration. Sirce E. Owen, acting director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, issued a memo in April criticizing administrative closures, labeling them a “de facto amnesty program.” Owen rescinded previous guidance that encouraged a more proactive approach to these closures, citing the approximately 379,000 administratively closed cases as a major contributor to the immigration court system’s massive backlog of 4 million cases.
Fear and Uncertainty Grip communities
In Los Angeles and San Diego, attorneys are witnessing firsthand the distress caused by these reactivated cases. Clients are “shocked and despairing” at being pulled back into the legal system.
Sherman Oaks attorney Edgardo Quintanilla has seen around 40 such cases recently.Beyond the legal challenges, his clients are increasingly fearful of simply attending court hearings. “There is always the fear that they may be arrested when they go to the court,” he says. “With everything going on, it is indeed a reasonable fear.”
the sudden resurgence of these dormant cases underscores a growing tension between immigration enforcement and the basic principles of due process, leaving vulnerable communities in a state of heightened anxiety and uncertainty.