On July 15, 2021, Attorney General Garland brought back “administrative closure” to immigration courts by overruling a previous decision made during the Trump era, which “concluded that the immigration courts’ use of the tool of administrative closure was not authorized.” This is great news, as now administrative closure is again authorized, and there could be hope for people in deportation proceedings to have their case temporarily closed, rather than proceeding to trial. What is administrative closure? With administrative closure, courts can “close” certain low-priority cases and put them back on the shelves, which also clears up the court’s calendar, allowing courts to handle the more serious cases. Administrative closure has been used to pause cases while USCIS adjudicates a pending petition. In such a situation, administrative closure would be a great benefit, rather than having the judge proceed with the removal proceedings and order the person to be removed.

Source: Philippine Star July 15, 2021 21:56 UTC