immigration judge san francisco rating 2020
I love the Wild West aspect of it., National Association of Immigration Judges. She is known for her fierce advocacy for the court. In 2012, ICE agents arrested Juan at his home and put him in deportation proceedings. About the Immigration Judge. Some of those asylum seekers told Border Report recently they hope their chances will improve once Joe Biden takes over the White House. In immigration court, the asylum seeker is typically the only witness. Its not that she is lying. From 2015 to 2022, she was the Associate Judge Dalin Holyoak, who heard Gutierrezs case in San Francisco, orders deportation in 43 percent of cases. I really enjoyed working with journalists and legislators. She also describes her stint as NAIJs president as an incredible blessing because it allowed her to become friendly with immigration judges across the country. Within each court, cases are assigned to judges on a random, rotational basis. A collaborative court watch program run by NLG-SFBA, Freedom for Immigrants, Kehilla Community Synagogue, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, and other coalition organizations trains community members to attend and observe immigration hearings and to document what happens, including any failures of due process. Now, they were extorting teachers, selling drugs openly and assaulting or killing anyone who confronted them. Updated 10:55 AM EDT, Wed July 1, 2020 Link Copied! She was so good to him. This was something Judge Marks had learned from her experience with her own clients. Riley and Owens havedenied 89% and 96% asylum cases they were in charge of, respectively, since their appointment a few years ago. I am not going to risk my childs life. . Appearing in IJ Fords courtroom was a reminder that immigration courts are arenas ripe for traumatization and dehumanization, especially in the context of xenophobic administrations. Corrective actions such as counseling or training were taken in 39 cases. Two of them grabbed Ana and her daughter, pinned their wrists behind their backs, and pointed a gun at the childs head. Instead of submitting a complaint against Owen, however, the immigration attorney opted to voice his concerns in an appeal, which is currently pending. But we have to address these bad judges.. The court used to have only three judges, all of whom have since left their posts. She was our fearless leader in the union, says Judge King, who was Union site representative in San Francisco while Judge Marks was president. He is especially unsuited to hear cases involving survivors of torture applying for asylum and other forms of immigration relief. But at the point where judges are using racially charged terms or demeaning people, then that seems to me that it goes beyond what they should be allowed to do.. 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), . In the Charlotte court, Anas lawyer focused more narrowly on her political opinion, arguing that she was at risk of persecution for her opposition to gangs in her position on the parent-teacher association board. EOIR spokeswoman Kathryn Mattingly said the agency does not comment on external analyses of its data. Nationally, EOIR receives about 100 complaints against immigration judges every year, but most of them do not carry serious consequences, EOIR statistics show. There they piled with another group of migrants into an inflatable raft and crossed the Rio Grande, the border between Mexico and the United States. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters, Before, no one wanted to say anything about the gangs, Gutierrez said. Unlike federal court judges, whose authority stems from the U.S. Constitutions establishment of an independent judicial branch, immigration judges fall under the executive branch and thus are hired, and can be fired, by the attorney general. Immigration Judges Across The US Are Staying Home After The Coronavirus Hit Courtrooms. Robert S. Hough had the highest denial rate (92.2%), according to TRAC. . Its an emotionally trying job. Video: High-stakes game of chance in U.S. immigration courts, Graphic: Deportation order rates, by judge, Graphic: Deportationorder rates, by country of origin, U.S. Attorney General Sessions urges crackdown on asylum policies. The count of deportations included cases in which judges allowed immigrants to leave the country voluntarily. His demonstrated bias undermines due process for asylum seekers and immigrants of color. It is imperative that President-elect Biden swiftly direct the Department of Justice to reign in or remove hostile adjudicators like IJ Ford from the courts and ensure due process for immigrants. Now they had come to deliver a message to Gutierrez. People show up in our office (and) they have no idea why someone wants to kill them. Another 35% ended with additional counseling or training of the judge involved. One was closed because the judge in question had since retired. Lt. Jonathan Scott Simpson '95 has been appointed Immigration Judge, San Francisco Immigration Court, by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Well-established law recognizes family as a protected social group, according to the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies. Judge Olivia Cassin in New York City allows immigrants to remain in the country in 93 percent of cases she hears. I got in that moment what that was going to be. Judge. 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.. The coalition argues that Judge Fords appointment is part of the Trump administrations deliberate policy to discourage and curtail immigration from every angle, particularly against black and brown immigrants. Additionally, the coalition is calling on the community to help hold San Francisco Immigration Court accountable. Devin OMalley, a Department of Justice spokesman, challenged the Reuters analysis, citing "numerous conflicting statements, miscalculations, and other data errors," but declined to elaborate further. The appointments included former immigration judges who themselves ordered high rates of deportation on the bench, according to the Reuters analysis. The coalition has urged EOIR to thoroughly investigate IJ Fords conduct and take appropriate action to ensure that individuals who appear in the San Francisco Immigration Court are treated with due process, dignity, and respect. They just know someone wants to kill them., Anas lawyer appealed her case to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the first step in the appellate process. In Mexico, she hired a coyote a smuggler to help them cross into the United States and then turned herself in to Border Patrol agents near Hidalgo. Are they also Mexicans? Riley said, as shown incourt transcripts cited in a complaint filed later. The judge denied her petition and ordered her deported. Sixty-one percent of all complaints closed in the fiscal year 2020 ended up being dismissed. And whether the individual fleeing gang violence in San Pedro Sula or official oppression in Venezuela had legal representation also made a big difference in the outcome of his or her case, according to research from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. She works as an office janitor and is taking English classes. Pasadena, California . I opened the first file, and there was a picture of the first respondent, probably less than a year old. Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services officials say the money will be used to try to win cases for migrants in an El Paso facility with 26 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of October. These are life or death matters. Disregards basic legal rules, causing undue prejudice and wasting public resources. 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. Who is Judge Marks, and how did she positively influence and impact so many lives? Two officials in uniforms picked them up. She was always there for me, emotionally and intellectually.. They speak of a woman who broke through barriers, applied the law fairly and compassionately, fought hard fights, and inspired others to join her. Having legal representation increases the chances of winning an asylum case five-fold, said Melissa M. Lopez, executive director of the El Paso-based nonprofit. They said they knew I was involved in the parents association, Gutierrez said. . Judge Marks faced daunting challenges during her tenure. Theres also an imbalance of power in the courtroom and the fear of retaliation. In July, the BIA granted Ana the right to a rehearing in immigration court, sending her case back to Charlotte, where it could be heard again by Couch. They drove all night to her friends mothers house in another town. Michael Short / Special to The Chronicle 2019. I began to panic and shake, she said. She remains active today as president emerita. Litigating before the US Supreme Courtand winningmight be the pinnacle of many legal careers, but Judge Marks was not one to sit on her laurels. . The information is gathered by experienced and trusted Nexstar Media Group journalists hired specifically to cover the border. From 1994 to 1995, he served as a staff attorney with the New Mexico Court of Appeals. Were all humans. Riley stopped hearing cases for a few weeks in July and August, but returned shortly after, according to hearing schedules shared with the Dispatch. When he turned 16, he left his hometown and crossed the border by himself in search for a better life, settling in Columbus. I was desperate and knew that I had to leave my daughters life and mine were in danger., The school principal said he understands why Gutierrez and Ana left Honduras. Judges are not always made aware of the existence of a complaint in a timely fashion, and there is no transparency or consistency when it comes to sanctions imposed in a particular case, according to Dana Marks, president emerita at the National Association of Immigration Judges who spent 35 years on the bench in San Francisco, California, before retiring in December. (Neither Holyoak nor Couch worked as an ICE prosecutor, according to their EOIR biographies. She was young, intelligent, interested in law, committed to immigration and immigrants, committed to people. In what has become a treasured memory for both of them, her job interview took place in a unique setting. The bill, if approved by the Senate, will transition the nations immigration court system into an independent judiciary consistent with Article I of the U.S. Constitution. Says Judge Marks, Thisquickly became my long-term goal outside of judging., When that does happen, it certainly will be part of her legacy, but just one part of a stellar career. 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 third pointed a gun at Anas head. Gutierrez also said her friend is very forgetful. She made it more proactive, trying to affect the law. Click here for the news release. One evening in April 2014, Gutierrez was watching television at home with her two sons, ages 5 and 11, when she heard banging at the front door. 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. Gutierrez said that was when she first learned that her fellow parent-teacher association board member had been threatened and had fled from home. Were more productive if theyre comfortable, she says. I thought, I have to go now. In the asylum application, Olawales client, a 22-year-old asylum seeker from Cameroon, said armed officers from that country sexually assaulted her when she was a minor while they were searching for English-speaking dissidents like her family. Judge Marks led the union for a total of 18 years, serving seven two-year terms as president (not sequential) and four as executive vice president. Couch and Holyoak and their courts. You can't file a complaint one day against a judge and the next day come in with your client and expect the judge to treat them well. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to sign on to a public letter (bit.ly/removeford or bit.ly/fueraford) making the same request of EOIR and the DOJ. A 1996 law expanded the definition of political refugees to include people who are forced to abort a child or undergo sterilization, allowing Chinese women to claim persecution under Beijings coercive birth-control policies. The rules of evidence are [only] a guide, theres no pretrial discovery, she says. I saw the denial coming after seeing everything that Judge Riley was doing. But it wont really change anything in my clients case. You really get those Perry Mason moments in immigration court. We had to jump over a wall, and I hurt my foot doing so, she said in an affidavit. 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. The October announcement explained that " [s]ince Jan. 20, 2017, the [Department of Justice] has increased EOIR's immigration judge corps from 306 to 520 adjudicators an increase of nearly 70 percent." Because there is no TurboTax for immigration law., The firm made a wise choice. Many immigrants released on bond before their cases are heard have no idea that where they settle could make the difference between obtaining legal status and deportation. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in April that the Justice Department planned to hire more than 50 judges this year and 75 in 2018, which would put the total number of sitting judges above 400. The top ten percent of employees in the Executive Office for . It is unclear why the judge was absent. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- On November 12, 2020 a coalition of legal service providers, community members, the San Francisco Public Defender, and the National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area filed a complaint today with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) against San Francisco-based Immigration Judge Nicholas Ford for his racist, ableist and hostile treatment of immigrants, attorneys and witnesses. Its not consistent because a complaint usually starts out with the persons immediate supervisor being told, Marks said. The Immigration Justice Program periodically runs legal education events (CLEs) and know-your-rights trainings for lawyers, legal workers, immigrant community members, and other allies and advocates. On the journey, they were kidnapped common for Central American migrants and held for a $3,500 ransom. Most of themare former government attorneys, and five used to prosecute immigration cases on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security. Judge Chen earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2006 from the University of Oklahoma and a Juris Doctor in 2009 from Harvard Law School. Groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center allege the Attorney Generals Office has weaponized the nations asylum courts against immigrants of color. El Paso federal immigration judges denied 85.4% of asylum claims in fiscal year 2020. Knight Institute Calls on DOJ's Exe cutive Office for Immigration Review to Suspend Policy Silencing Immigration Judges, (Jan. 6, 2020), https: . Judge Lerner earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1999 from Columbia University and a Juris Doctorate in 2002 from Columbia University School of Law. 0% San Francisco; 0% Denver; 0% Dallas, TX; 0% Boston; 0% Los Angeles; 0% Atlanta; Salary Ranges for Immigration Judges. To give spirit to the letter of this budget . Constanza Hevia H. / Special to The Chronicle 2020 Sometimes after a court date, I would be so down that I would just say, Forget it, I should just leave.". From there, cases can be appealed to federal appeals court. Central Americans are among the least successful at gaining asylum from U.S. immigration court judges, a Reuters analysis found. While judges should not be punished for making a good-faith legal decision, using terms like illegals seems to be a clearviolation of professionalism, he said. She was very vocal as head of NAIJ, says Atkinson, especially [on issues] related to fairness and due process. Judge Webber appreciated Judge Markss talents as a spokesperson for the union, remarking on her great voice and quick thinking. The union kept me intellectually stimulated, she says. This is the phone number you can use to contact the court's clerks or the judges' legal assistants. 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. Couch wrote in his opinion that Anas difficulty recounting the names of the women on the association board weighed against her credibility. The Chief Immigration Judge shall ensure that each temporary immigration judge has received a suitable level of training to enable the temporary immigration judge to carry out the duties assigned. In March 1987, the court decided in favor of granting Cardoza-Fonseca asylum, and Judge Marks, just 32 years old, cemented her standing as a legend. (Previously, appointments were considered promotions for prosecuting attorneys from INS.) As the sole breadwinner in his family, he said his wife and kids would suffer emotionally and financially if he were deported. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. 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. Legal Aid at Work. Combined, the nine judges in Boston decided 3,196 cases over the time period. San Francisco, CA. The Federal Bar Association and the National Association of Immigration Judges have endorsed the idea of creating an immigration court system independent of the executive branch. They landed near Hidalgo, Texas. McFarland residents vow to keep organizing after court lets GEO expand immigration detention, look to incoming administration for support, After about 5 minutes of struggle, they forced my index finger on the paper: ICE Forcing More Asylum Seekers to Sign Deportation Paperwork as Another Deportation Flight to Cameroon Looms. Cases are assigned to an immigration court based on where the immigrant lives. Immigrant rights organizations, attorneys file complaint against local Immigration Judge. The previous president was a man, so we thought, We are women, they wont do anything to us. . In a three-page ruling, one board member said Anas lawyer could not introduce a new argument on appeal and agreed with Couch that Ana hadnt proved a political motive behind the gang members attack. Fairness and due process for asylum seekers told Border Report recently they hope their chances will improve Joe... Was very vocal as head of NAIJ, says Atkinson, especially [ on issues ] related to fairness due... A Reuters analysis found judge in question had since retired five used to have three! Talents as a spokesperson for the union kept me intellectually stimulated, she said for asylum and! Judges who themselves ordered high rates of deportation on the bench, according the. A staff attorney with the persons immediate supervisor being told, Marks said we are,. 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