The Marshall Project

The DOJ Decision That Could Mean Thousands More Deportations

Sessions considers tying the hands of immigration judges.

Imagine you’re an immigration judge and someone is standing before you, facing deportation. You need to make a decision, but there are complications. Maybe the person is still waiting to hear about a visa application, or she seems too mentally incompetent to understand what is happening. One tool at your disposal is to “administratively close” the case. You haven’t granted the person legal status, but you’ve stopped deportation proceedings — possibly indefinitely.

Administrative closure sounds

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