Take Action: Protect Paths to Safety for Immigrant Survivors 

December 2020 - On November 27, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) announced two proposed rules that would threaten the safety of survivors – including immigrant survivors – of domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking, and other gender-based abuses by drastically limiting their ability to seek continuances in Immigration Court, and to reopen prior removal orders. 

The changes in the proposed continuance rule would, among other things:

  • Significantly limit continuances to find representation

  • Strip important due process rights from non-citizens before the immigration court

  • Curtail immigration judges’ (IJ) discretion to make case-by-case, individualized determinations that ensure due process

  • Result in survivors who have pending applications with USCIS for survivor-based relief (i.e., VAWA, U-visas, T-visas) being deported before their applications can be processed

  • Limit the timeframe that survivors and others seeking asylum have to gather evidence and present their claims  

The changes in the proposed motion to reopen rule would, among other things:

  • Disallow reopening a deportation order and reconsideration based on a pending USCIS application, including survivors who’ve shown they’re eligible for a VAWA, T-visa, U-visa, or other immigration application

  • Limit the authority of immigration judges to consider all relevant issues that might impact a litigant’s immigration claims, rather than solely those brought forth in the motion to reopen

  • Limit the ability of individuals to have their orders of removal stayed while their motions are being adjudicated

As with other recent proposed rules, this administration is giving inadequate time for the public to consider these dramatic revisions to existing law by allowing only 30 days for public comments rather than the usual 60-day comment period.

VOICE YOUR OPPOSITION TODAY! These EOIR rules are currently proposals and not yet in effect, and the public has until 11:59 pm EDT on December 28, 2020 to submit comments. Join with AIS to lift your voice and reveal the harmful impact this proposed rule will have on survivors of gender-based violence. You can use the following resources below to help draft your comment:

  1. AIS Templates on (drafted by Tahirih Justice Center)

    1. Continuances

    2. Motions to Reopen

  2. CLINIC Template Comments on

    1. Continuances 

    2. Motions to Reopen

  3. American Immigration Lawyers Association Templates on

    1. Continuances

    2. Motions to Reopen

Thank you for supporting immigrant survivors!