EOIR Oversight Hearing Statement for the Record

Dear Chairman Labrador, Ranking Member Lofgren, and Members of the Committee,

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a statement for the record for the Hearing on Oversight of the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR). This hearing comes after the White House announced its Immigration Principles, and as EOIR and the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) negotiate new performance evaluation standards.

This statement addresses the concerns of the aforementioned signatories regarding: 1) efforts to impose quotas on immigration judges; 2) the immigration court backlog; 3) the detailing of immigration judges to border facilities; 4) the mission of EOIR; 5) access to counsel; 6) asylum- free zones; 7) stakeholder engagement and transparency issues; 8) immigration judge hiring practices; 9) EOIR’s recent memo regarding the definition of an unaccompanied alien child (UC); and 10) due process violations for asylum-seeking individuals and families.