San Francisco immigration court shuts down, striking at heart of historic advocacy - BERITAJA

Stay up to day pinch our Politics newsletter, sent weekly.

SAN FRANCISCO — The speedy shuttering of the main migration courthouse successful San Francisco affects complete 100,000 pending migration cases, slowing down their information and leaving much immigrants successful limbo and astatine risk of deportation.

But it besides deals a symbolic rustle to a region that has agelong stood astatine the vanguard of migration advocacy.

For decades, the San Francisco migration tribunal was wherever immigrants surviving betwixt California's Central Valley and cardinal Oregon could make the lawsuit for why they shouldn't beryllium deported. The wide jurisdiction made it 1 of the busiest migration courts successful the country, proceeding thousands of cases a year.

It was besides 1 of the courts about apt to assistance an immigrants' asylum exertion to enactment successful the U.S. Its closing comes arsenic the Trump management seeks to limit pathways for galore foreigners to participate aliases enactment successful the country.

"It's portion of the connection that the Trump management is sending, that they're not unfastened to asylum seekers. And 1 measurement of doing that is closing the tribunal that has been very generous to asylum seekers," said Bill Hing, a rule and migration studies professor astatine the University of San Francisco. "It's sending a connection that the progressive cases that person travel retired of San Francisco are going to end."

Earlier this year, the Justice Department, which oversees migration courts, announced it would not beryllium renewing the lease connected the building astatine 100 Montgomery St. — the main courthouse successful San Francisco, pinch 21 courtrooms. The move followed the termination and resignation of about each the judges who worked retired of that location. The closure, which was expected to hap astatine the extremity of the twelvemonth but has been accelerated, sends 100,000 cases to the Concord Immigration Court, about an hr distant crossed the San Francisco Bay.

About 17,000 cases will enactment astatine 630 Sansome St. successful San Francisco, another, smaller location pinch conscionable 2 operating courtrooms.

The DOJ cited costs redeeming arsenic the logic for the closure. It didn't respond to a petition for remark about concerns that the closure is related to the court's way grounds of asylum approvals.

"Reducing the migration tribunal backlog remains a privilege for the agency. Any migration judge could perceive immoderate lawsuit astatine immoderate clip passim the state to assistance pinch caseloads," Kathryn Mattingly, spokesperson for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, said successful a statement. That branch of the DOJ makes up migration courts.

"As EOIR continues to adhd caller migration judges, EOIR will proceed to make scheduling adjustments to guarantee each cases are handled successful a timely and lawful manner."

The San Francisco court, connected average, denied asylum about 30% of the clip successful fiscal twelvemonth 2025, which is half the nationalist average. Since 2004, much than half of respondents who sewage a determination were approved for asylum, according to information from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.

Immigration attorneys interest that the Trump administration's strategy is not to adhd much migration judges to the existing strategy to reasonably determine cases.

Rather, "it's to make the barriers to having your lawsuit heard truthful precocious that it becomes almost virtually impossible," Ghassan Shamieh, an migration lawyer pinch cases successful the closing court, said, speculating about the administration's reasons. "Changing locations of the beingness tribunal is simply a measurement to further that agenda."

San Francisco's progressive migration history whitethorn person made it a target

Hing, the rule professor, remembers practicing successful the San Francisco migration tribunal aft he graduated from rule schoolhouse successful the 1970s. He said the tribunal was important to the region owed to San Francisco's ain heavy history pinch immigration, from those entering astatine Angel Island to the Chinese Exclusion Act.

"Chinese removal group the groundwork for overmuch of the litigation [in San Francisco] erstwhile it came to challenging deportation," Hing said, adding that for decades downtown firms provided pro bono assistance to asylum seekers and different immigrants. That included firms that specialized successful migration rule during highest moments of migration, for illustration the rise successful Central American migrants successful the 1980s.

"Then you adhd to that the improvement of nonprofit organizations successful the city. And it's very, very collaborative," he said.

That beardown ineligible beingness resulted successful respective precedent-setting migration cases reaching the U.S. Supreme Court. Some of the lawsuit rule predates the modern-day migration tribunal system, specified arsenic migration decisions regarding protection from deportation for national leader Harry Bridges, admission of visitors to the U.S. who place arsenic gay, and battles that laid the groundwork for alleviation from deportation for Filipino World War II veterans.

More caller cases group immoderate of the legal standards for asylum.

Over time, arsenic the San Francisco migration tribunal was formally stood up, it gained a estimation for granting much alleviation from deportation than the nationalist average. Immigration attorneys property the precocious occurrence complaint to San Francisco having the second-highest practice rate successful the state — meaning much immigrants pinch cases successful the court, about 69%, had lawyers representing them, according to the American Immigration Council. Concord ranks third.

In consequence to questions about the effect connected asylum rates, EOIR spokesperson Kathryn Mattingly said the closure was owed to the expiration of the lease of the building and that relocating the court's activity would beryllium "more costs effective." She did not reside disapproval about the effect of the closure connected immigrants' entree to lawyers, aliases connected their asylum cases.

San Francisco and Concord look the brunt of layoffs, little resources

The Concord Immigration Court, which now must sorb the bulk of cases from the closure, has ne'er been afloat staffed.

At the commencement of the year, the migration tribunal strategy nationally had a 4th less migration judges compared to the commencement of 2025, moreover arsenic the backlog in cases is 3.5 million.

The shrinking ranks particularly affected the Bay Area successful California. San Francisco went from 21 judges to now conscionable two, astatine a 2nd location successful the city; Concord was meant to have 21 judges but now has 4, not counting the supervisor.

The cases are coming to Concord arsenic migration judges proceed to beryllium terminated successful that location, as precocious arsenic May. The Trump management has terminated complete 130 migration judges nationally; galore others person resigned aliases retired.

Although the Justice Department has boasted of hiring the about migration judges successful 1 year, including a record-setting people of much than 80 group successful May, only 1 of those caller judges is presently assigned to Concord.

Cases astatine Concord are presently being scheduled for nameless "visiting judges" — without clarity connected if it would beryllium a caller judge, 1 not yet hired, aliases a judge successful different portion of the state appearing via video conference.

The deficiency of an assigned judge intends that lawsuit could beryllium moved connected the schedule again, and attorneys said it could adhd challenges to afloat preparing a case.

In consequence to questions about staffing, Mattingly said immoderate migration judge could beryllium assigned to adjudicate cases successful immoderate tribunal successful the nation, arsenic needed.

"Cases will beryllium timely adjudicated either astatine the Concord Immigration Court aliases remotely," she said. "Reducing the migration tribunal backlog remains a privilege for the agency."

Jane Lee is an migration lawyer who volunteers arsenic an "attorney of the day," providing day-of ineligible assistance to immigrants who travel to their hearings without a lawyer.

"The area that this tribunal is going to screen is really ample and there's for illustration thousands of cases and we don't person the judges," she said of the tribunal successful Concord.

The cases presently scheduled for San Francisco are expected to beryllium heard astatine Concord starting successful December.

Delays mean immigrants successful some courts hold longer to cognize if they could stay

Across the Bay, Shamieh, the migration attorney, said he has hundreds of cases still pending successful the Montgomery San Francisco court, which presently has nary judges and nary hearings scheduled up of its December closure.

"This uncertainty is incredibly scary," Shamieh said. "Judges had cases going till 2027, 2028."

Elin, who entered the U.S. from Nicaragua successful 2020 and is seeking asylum, has been deed difficult by aggregate delays.

He has been waiting for his last proceeding for respective years retired of San Francisco. It's been rescheduled aggregate times; 1 hold came aft the judge who was expected to perceive his lawsuit was fired.

It's now slated for 2029, successful San Francisco astatine the closed Montgomery location and pinch a judge that nary longer useful there. His lawsuit is poised to beryllium among those moved to Concord — a commute of much than an hour; he does not person a car.

"There isn't a group day and this business is very stressful – sometimes I americium acrophobic to spell outside," he said successful an question and reply pinch BERITAJA. He provided only his first sanction to BERITAJA for fearfulness of reprisals for his pending case. "My brother's asylum was approved and he conscionable sewage his greenish card. So for me, I deliberation this hold clip is harmful because I americium still successful limbo."

Elin said he has been successful the U.S. since precocious 2020. He has a activity permit, pays taxes and believes he could person a bully lawsuit to stay.

"It is simply a equilibrium because I do want my lawsuit decided and vanished — and astatine the aforesaid time, I besides want to hold to spot if a alteration successful president [by 2029] could beryllium better," he said.

The volatile schedules are besides affecting attorneys. Jordan Weiner, interim executive head of La Raza Centro Legal, said her nonprofit patient has stopped taking caller cases because of the unpredictability of the existent paused caseload while the transportation to Concord moves forward.

"Even though it's benignant of for illustration a lull, that doesn't mean we could motion much clients because tomorrow we could get proceeding notices for each azygous customer for adjacent week," Weiner said. "And truthful we're not capable to return caller clients until we cognize what's going to beryllium happening pinch these cases."

Resources coalesce about Concord, again unifying ineligible efforts

There's besides signs that San Francisco's storied migration defense barroom is starting to set to the caller realities.

When the Concord Immigration Court opened successful 2024, advocates foresaw challenges. The building is not very adjacent to nationalist transportation. The courtrooms are located connected the apical floors of a building that has different offices, and there's minimal signage and waiting areas.

Nonprofit ineligible and organization organizations quickly jumped successful to support the caller tribunal — including creating packets pinch lawyers' interaction information, volunteers to shake hands group successful the lobby and a money to thief screen immigrants' asylum exertion fees. Now, location is simply a conjugation of about 100 volunteers who deterioration agleam bluish vests and manus retired the packets and coordinate pinch unpaid attorneys.

Legal organizations successful San Francisco are seeing the improvement of those resources successful Concord arsenic an opportunity to create a unified ineligible assistance strategy erstwhile more.

Milli Atkinson, head of the Immigrant Legal Defense Program astatine the Bar Association of San Francisco, manages her ain 100 unpaid "attorneys of the day" who supply ineligible assistance to those successful migration tribunal without a lawyer.

Her biggest interest is immigrants, peculiarly those without lawyers, not knowing they are now expected to spell to a different city. She said this was besides an rumor successful the 2024 transition.

Back then, "if you were confused about erstwhile your tribunal [hearing] was aliases wherever your tribunal was, location was a small spot of grace fixed to respondents. A judge would understand if you missed a proceeding because you conscionable sewage a caller announcement and you were going to each your aged hearings and you conscionable didn't show up to this one," Atkinson said. Now, she worries that grace won't beryllium extended this clip arsenic the management looks for ways to issue much orders of deportation for those who miss their hearing.

Mattingly, the EOIR spokesperson, said the agency is issuing caller proceeding notices to each parties whose cases are reassigned to a caller location.

The ineligible organizations successful some cities are opening to stock resources. The San Francisco attorneys of the time are already training successful the Concord tribunal and preparing to service the clients that are moved over, while juggling the 2 remaining courtrooms astatine the smaller location successful San Francisco.

Still, the closure of the city's larger courthouse is bittersweet for attorneys for illustration Atkinson who person practiced location for decades.

"Like Ellis Island, for illustration Angel Island, there's a history of tragic injustice," Atkinson said. "But location is besides a history of moments of people's lives being changed and group having, for the first clip possibly ever, the consciousness that they're they're going to beryllium safe and that there's a early and dream for them and their family."