In January of 1987, she was appointed to the bench of the Immigration Court, US Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigrationone of the first women and one of the first attorneys appointed from private practice. 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; . Click here for the news release. She is known for her fierce advocacy for the court. In October 2020, when he received a notice from the Cleveland Immigration Court that the asylum case of one ofhis clientswas denied, he was disturbed by the language that Judge Jonathan Owens used in the decision. The schools principal, who asked that he and the school not be identified out of fear of retaliation, worked with the board. 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. Scott Bratton, president of AILA-Ohio, did not wish to comment on the complaint. In 2018, after then-attorney general Jeff Sessions announced new restrictions on asylum cases, there was a mass exodus of immigration judges. They had early success, he said, when they persuaded police to provide officers to guard the school. Throughout, Jamil says, Judge Marks articulated to the press and to the public the stress of doing the job of immigration judge. Kathleen Guthrie Woods is a long-time contributor toSan Francisco Attorneymagazine. The word Reviews; Business Tech; Finance; Markets; . Robert S. Hough had the highest denial rate (92.2%), according to TRAC. Immigration judges in New York and San Francisco stayed home from work Tuesday, and their union announced a judge in Denver had COVID-19 symptoms and an Atlanta attorney tested positive. Two officials in uniforms picked them up. She joined another woman and, with their children, they set out to cross Mexico. The analysis excluded immigrants who were in detention when their cases were heard because such cases are handleddifferently. Four judges in Atlanta turned down 98 out of 100 asylum claims presented to them; nine judges in Houston said no 95% of the time. 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. 12/31/2020 4:34:37 PM . She has a law degree from Tulane Law School. She remains active today as president emerita. Judge Marks says she was never bored. The older one, once threatened by gangs in Honduras, likes studying history and math and is learning to play the cello. They were allowed to stay in the United States in just 16 percent of cases, the Reuters analysis found. Judge Dalin Holyoak, who heard Gutierrezs case in San Francisco, orders deportation in 43 percent of cases. This years 71.6% denial rate excludes those who didnt win asylum but were granted a stay of removal, otherwise itd be even higher. Their stories illustrate what a Reuters analysis of thousands of court decisions found: The difference between residency and deportation depends largely on who hears the case, and where. The agency does not identify judges who were the subjects of complaints. STEP 1: Arrive in the U.S. Filed December 16, 2020 . 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. It was a magic zone, says Ugarte, in part because when she made a decision, she bridged the gap in a politically charged environment. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ). Alumni Relations. Even so, the Reuters analysis determined that after controlling for such factors, who hears a case and where it is heard remain reliable predictors of how a case will be decided. She remains active today as president emerita. 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. Judge Mabry is a member of the State Bar of Arizona and State Bar of New Mexico. The appointments included former immigration judges who themselves ordered high rates of deportation on the bench, according to the Reuters analysis. You felt you had a fair shot, says Milli Atkinson, Director of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program at JDC and Legal Director of the SFIL Defense Collaborative, who appeared before her as an attorney. In the 1980s, AILA (, ) was very stodgy, a reactive organization, Judge Webber says. Mattingly, the EOIR spokeswoman, said the agency takes seriously any claims of unjustified and significant anomalies in immigration judge decision-making and takes steps to evaluate disparities in immigration adjudications.. But theyre not holding their breath. As has been true in earlier years, having representation greatly increases the odds of winning asylum or other relief, TRACs Oct. 28 report says. 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. People show up in our office (and) they have no idea why someone wants to kill them. These are people were dealing with, says Judge Stockton, people who are nervous, if not terrified, and Judge Marks has a gift for helping them feel more at ease in the courtroom. Posted November 10th, 2015. In Cleveland, there have been seven complaints filed against the judges in the past five years, according to records obtained from the Department of Justice through a public records request. Judge. The courts facedand continue to grapple witha crisis of backlogged cases. The courts handle cases to determine whether an individual should be deported. 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. From 2013-2018, she worked as an immigration attorney. We had to jump over a wall, and I hurt my foot doing so, she said in an affidavit. They had confidence in her that she was doing everything she could for them. She demonstrated this on a national level in October of 1986 when Judge Marks (along with Bill O. Hing, Susan Lydon, and Kip Steinberg) argued on behalf of Luz Marina Cardoza-Fonseca before the US Supreme Court (INS v. Cardoza-Fonesca). And according to the Department of Homeland Security, most of those coming across the border without authorization since are from Mexico. 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. EOIR spokeswoman Kathryn Mattingly said the agency does not comment on external analyses of its data. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) It did not take U.S. Immigration Judge Nicholas Ford long to stir up controversy in San Francisco. To give spirit to the letter of this budget . 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. The kidnappers released her and her two sons near the U.S. border. In an attempt to establish that the abusedid not happen due to the client's identity, Owen stated that it is likely that officers raped the teenage girl not because she was a member of the English-speaking minoritybut because they wanted to do so and thought that the respondent was a pretty virgin, according to court documents shared with The Dispatch. 415-705-4415. Immigration Judges Across The US Are Staying Home After The Coronavirus Hit Courtrooms. Decisions can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, an administrative body within the Department of Justice. The rules of evidence are [only] a guide, theres no pretrial discovery, she says. With Riley, it felt like she just wanted me out. Legal Aid at Work. Were all humans. Because there were no police here, (the gangs) did what they wanted," he said. 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. She is known for her compassion and fairmindedness. The previous president was a man, so we thought, We are women, they wont do anything to us. . Oh, my goodness, says Donald Ungar, now retired, as he thinks back to his first impressions. Both were taken into custody near Hidalgo, Texas, and ended up finding each other in the same U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Artesia, New Mexico. Hon. Jamil adds Judge Markss tireless work for the union and giving a professional, female voice to immigration judges to her list of accomplishments. It is painfully apparent how much the clients we serve have overcome throughout their lives, says Roxana Moussavian, immigration attorney at Pangea Legal Services. She was our fearless leader in the union, says Judge King, who was Union site representative in San Francisco while Judge Marks was president. Are they also Mexicans? Riley said, as shown incourt transcripts cited in a complaint filed later. Those who presented their petitions in Texas, Georgia and southern California had high denial rates, as well. The courts in Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas and Atlanta also received the designation. 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. Of the 102 complaints that had been resolved when the data were published, only three resulted in discipline, defined as reprimand or suspension of the judge. The Government Accountability Office studied some proposals for reform in 2017, without endorsing any particular model. El Paso federal immigration judges denied 85.4% of asylum claims in fiscal year 2020. I want to stay because of my kids, said Juan, who recently bought a new house for his family. 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. This time, her lawyer included arguments about her membership in a particular social group. Whether you win or whether you lose shouldnt depend on the roll of the dice of which judge gets your case.. There, they applied for asylum. Immigration attorneys dont file these complaints often enough because they still have to practice in front of these judges, said Kocher, whose research focuses on immigration policies. Argued and Submitted November 20, 2020 . Of course, other factors influence outcomes in immigration court. Treats immigrants, witnesses, and practitioners in an unprofessional and hostile manner. The court used to have only three judges, all of whom have since left their posts. They said they knew I was involved in the parents association, Gutierrez said. Juans application for cancellation of removal was denied in November 2020. Sixty-one percent of all complaints closed in the fiscal year 2020 ended up being dismissed. When she started, she was one of few women. I was the first to do the Families with Children Docket, which became known as rocket docket, Judge King recalls. The odds of being successful if unrepresented was much lower (17.7%) than for represented asylum seekers (31.1%) in fiscal year 2020.. Judge Monique Harris in Houston allows immigrants to stay in just four percent of cases. Volunteer lawyers helped the women prepare and submit their applications for asylum. Add Photos. In Charlotte, immigrants are ordered deported in 84 percent of cases, more than twice the rate in San Francisco, where 36 percent of cases end in deportation. They landed near Hidalgo, Texas. The administration of President Donald Trump is continuing the effort. "EOIR takes all complaints seriously, investigates all colorable complaints, and takes corrective action when appropriate, Montenegro said in an email statement. Knowing that providing legal advice to asylum seekers can make a difference, one El Paso nonprofit applied for and got two private grants to provide these services. She quickly packed some backpacks for her and her children and called the only friend she knew who had a car. (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. She helped start that trajectory, says Shugall. Because there is no TurboTax for immigration law.. But it wont really change anything in my clients case. The Honorable Merrick B. Garland The Honorable Lisa O. Monaco. There is a fine line between judges taking a harshstance on immigration and their exhibiting unprofessional behaviors, saidPaul Schmidt, aformer immigration judge based in Arlington, Virginia, who retired in 2016. We were the brave ones. Anas response to Couchs extensive questioning played a part in the decision. The mass exodus from Central America was under way when Gutierrez and Ana were elected to the board of the parent-teacher association at their childrens school in spring 2013. Close to half the complaints were dismissed. SAS Output. They speak of a woman who broke through barriers, applied the law fairly and compassionately, fought hard fights, and inspired others to join her. During his time as an Immigration Judge, Ford has consistently terrorized community members through his hostile and unprofessional treatment of those in his courtroom. Country of origin is a big factor in determining who gets to stay in the United States because immigrants from some countries are afforded special protections. But complainants like Juan and their attorneys said they have beendisappointed that their efforts did not lead to any lasting changes and that there was little transparency in the investigation process. That roster includes Judges Jamil, King, Miriam Hayward, Stockton, Webber, and Laura Ramirez. Having come from a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world may have helped establish credible fear. But the two women were already at a disadvantage precisely because they came from Honduras. Instead of submitting a complaint against Owen, however, the immigration attorney opted to voice his concerns in an appeal, which is currently pending. The mission of BorderReport.com is to provide real-time delivery of the untold local stories about people living, working and migrating along the U.S. border with Mexico. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? She is known for her compassion and fairmindedness. Charles R. Davis. On Thursday, a coalition of 17 legal services and immigration. 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. The San Francisco immigration court doesn't have the kind of COVID-19 supplies that he saw in a Wisconsin courthouse in October 2020. Gail Montenegro, EOIRs Midwest regional public information officer, declined to comment on the allegations against Riley but said the agency has a well-established process for handling complaints against immigration judges. We bought a bus pass to go to Guatemala and from Guatemala to Mexico and to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to her court testimony. She arrived at the Artesia detention center just weeks after Gutierrez. Washington, DC 20530-0001 Washington, DC 20530-0001. In 2012, ICE agents arrested Juan at his home and put him in deportation proceedings. The womens lawyers framed their respective cases with some important differences. Theres a wide spectrum of when judges are notified, how much information they are provided, and whether they are allowed to give their side of the story before decisions are made.". Through her lawyers, she asked that her full name not be used because of her uncertain status and her fear that Honduran gangs could find her. The majority come from government. The case is currently in the appeal process. The definition of a particular social group has been subject to conflicting interpretations in the courts, but in general, such a group comprises people who share basic beliefs or traits that cant or shouldnt have to be changed. The year before, according to police records in Honduras, gang members killed a school security guard. She was the first person I knew from our side, says Bette Stockton, who later joined Judge Marks on the bench and retired after 21.5 years as an immigration judge. There are complaints that were made because someone is not happy that they lost a case, and those claims need to be taken with a grain of salt, Schmidt said. Within each court, cases are assigned to judges on a random, rotational basis. Judge Marks faced daunting challenges during her tenure. She showed us all how to be fierce advocates for justicefor what is true and right and justwithout crossing over lines, says Judge King. 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), . He is especially unsuited to hear cases involving survivors of torture applying for asylum and other forms of immigration relief. According to TRAC, denial rates were at 54.6% in fiscal year 2016 (the last full year of Barack Obamas presidency). Early in 2020, the immigration case backlog eclipsed 1 million, and the San Francisco court handles the second largest load in the country, roughly 70,000 cases. These are life or death matters. 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. Well-established law recognizes family as a protected social group, according to the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. The Reuters analysis also found that an immigration judges particular characteristics and situation can affect outcomes. The next year, researchers at Temple University and Georgetown Law School concluded in a study titled Refugee Roulettethat in many cases, the most important moment in an asylum case is the instant in which a clerk randomly assigns an application to a particular asylum officer or immigration judge. In 2008, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found similar disparitiesin its own study. Ugarte says he felt elated when he learned he would appear before her, not because all cases were granted, but because you felt heard., Judge Markss generosity extended to her colleagues on the bench. No one isanillegal in this country. 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. Attorney General of the United States Deputy Attorney General of the United States. The courts facedand continue to grapple witha crisis of backlogged cases. 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