UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA _________________________________________ ) CATHOLIC LEGAL IMMIGRATION ) NETWORK, INC. et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) Case No. 20-cv-03812 (APM) ) EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR IMMIGRATION ) REVIEW et al., ) ) Defendants. ) _________________________________________ ) MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER I. INTRODUCTION The Executive Office for Immigration Review (“EOIR”) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Justice that oversees and conducts immigration court proceedings, administrative hearings, and appellate reviews before the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) as part of the country’s system of immigration adjudications. EOIR charges fees for various types of motions, applications, and appeals filed in these adjudications. Since 1986, the maximum fee for any such filing has been $110. EOIR now intends to raise those fees. On December 18, 2020, EOIR promulgated a final rule that increases filing fees by between 32 and 886 percent (“Final Rule”). Most dramatically, the filing fee for a notice of appeal of an immigration judge’s decision to the BIA will increase from $110 to $975. These fee increases are set to go into effect on January 19, 2021. Plaintiffs are non-profit organizations that provide legal and other assistance for immigrants. They seek to stay the effective date of the Final Rule or, alternatively, to enjoin it from going into effect. They raise a host of challenges to the Final Rule under the Administrative Procedure Act. For the reasons that follow, the court grants in part and denies in part Plaintiffs’ motion to stay the effective date of the Final Rule or, in the alternative, for a preliminary injunction. The court holds that EOIR acted arbitrarily and capriciously by disregarding the Final Rule’s impact on legal service providers and their capacity to provide legal services to persons subject to removal proceedings. EOIR was obligated to address these concerns as part of the notice-and-comment process but it failed to do so. In short, EOIR “entirely failed to consider an important aspect of the problem.” Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n of U.S., Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. (State Farm), 463 U.S. 29, 43 (1983). The court also finds that, absent equitable relief, Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm, and that the balance of the equities and the public interest favor staying the effective date of a portion of the Final Rule. Accordingly, the court will stay the effective date of the Final Rule, and enjoin its implementation, insofar as it imposes increased fees for (1) Form EOIR-26 for filing an appeal from a decision of an immigration judge; (2) Form EOIR-29 for filing an appeal from a decision of an officer of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”); (3) filing a motion to reopen or to reconsider before the BIA; (4) Form EOIR-40 for an application for suspension of deportation; (5) Form EOIR-42A for an application for cancellation of removal for certain permanent residents; and (6) Form EOIR-42B for an application for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status for certain nonpermanent residents. The ...
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals