Immigration Judge: Human Rights at Risk: The Immigration Courts Are in Need of an Overhaul

Mimi Tsankov, eastern region vice president with the National Association of Immigration Judges and an immigration judge since 2006, contends in this Human Rights article that the immigration court system is in serious need for reforms.  She concludes as follows: 

“From unrealistic performance measures imposed on immigration judges, the unprecedented certification of cases to the attorney general for decision, to allegations of partisanship in the appointment of judges to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the unparalleled regulatory schema now imposed whereby the director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, itself a political appointment, will now serve as an appellate judge in addition to his prior responsibilities enabling political influence over individual cases, concern is mounting about the administration’s apparent efforts to undermine the independence of immigration courts.”

KJ