I used to be impressed to touch upon the latest article, “Unhealthy conduct, leering ‘jokes’ — immigration judges keep on bench,” put out by the San Francisco Chronicle. In it, they supply detailed accounts of significant misconduct within the immigration court docket. I’ve witnessed it, and an Atlanta choose was even mentioned by title. In interviews with dozens of attorneys, together with our agency’s companion Carolina Antonini, they uncovered sexual harassment within the type of crude jokes, inappropriate and sexual questions, and feedback in regards to the bodily look of feminine candidates for elimination. In lots of situations, these judges both stayed on the bench or had been promoted.
Badly Behaved Judges Face Few Penalties.
The issue with the immigration court docket is that when the judges exhibit unhealthy conduct, complaints about it go nowhere. Regardless of quite a few accusations made towards judges named within the article, few reprimands had been handed out. Typically the one consequence was attending a coaching on how judges ought to conduct themselves.
Immigration Courts Ought to Function Independently of the Government Department.
The rationale for the inaction is as a result of they’re Division of Justice (DOJ) staff, and the DOJ is a part of the chief department. This makes the immigration court docket system politicized. I’m hopeful that the Biden administration will get away the judges and allow them to be impartial, away from the chief department of the federal authorities. That is already the case with chapter judges
Eradicating Unhealthy Judges Helps Safe Justice.
I feel this could permit for lots extra oversight within the system and lead to getting unhealthy immigration judges off the bench. They make life-and-death selections, and there’s no motive that somebody combating for his or her life ought to really feel like they’re not getting a good likelihood in immigration court docket.
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Marshall Cohen
Marshall Cohen is among the founding principals of Antonini & Cohen. Admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1989, he has practiced immigration regulation completely for over 30 years. Mr. Cohen practices all areas of immigration regulation together with household and employment circumstances, momentary and everlasting visas, naturalization, deportation protection, and federal litigation.