The American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration released a report, titled Reforming the Immigration System, proposing the creation of an independent structure for hearing immigration cases that would replace courts operating within the Justice Department.
Under the current system, both immigration courts and the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) are based in the Justice Department. These courts decide matters involving noncitizens who want to stay in the United States. BIA decisions may be heard by the federal circuit courts of appeal.
According to the report, pressures on the system have grown in recent years due to an increased number of noncitizens seeking to stay in the United States, and political forces and heightened national security concerns leading some to try to stem the flow of undocumented noncitizens.
The Immigration Commission favored the creation of independent tribunals by Congress under its Article I powers in the Constitution because these tribunals would be the most likely to be viewed as independent and credible. The report also described an independent adjudicative agency in the executive branch as another viable alternative.
In addition to discussing a new independent court system, the report gives detailed recommendations for improving various elements of the existing system.
Information for this article was obtained from the American Bar Association Web site at www.abanet.org.
