Board of Immigration Appeals

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The Board of Immigration Appeals (or BIA or B-I-A) is an administrative appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice responsible for reviewing decisions of the U.S. immigration courts and certain actions of U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services, U.S Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The BIA was established in 1940 after the Immigration and Naturalization Service was transferred from the United States Department of Labor to the Department of Justice.

1983–present: Executive Office for Immigration Review created and other reforms

In 1983, the Attorney General established the Executive Office for Immigration Review to administer the immigration courts. Immigration judges and the BIA were moved to the EOIR. A new Office of the Chief Immigration Judge was established to supervise the work of immigration judges and immigration courts. The BIA retained its power to decide immigration appeals and establish precedents.

Congress passed significant immigration reforms over the next few years. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and related regulations gave EOIR authority to decide cases related to immigration-related employment issues. The Immigration Act of 1990 expanded EOIR's powers to review cases of "document abuse," or misuse of documentation to prove employment eligibility. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 replaced deportation proceedings and exclusion proceedings with "removal proceedings" and simplified procedures.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 further clarified EOIR's powers by formally separating it from the INS and codifying the Attorney General's supervisory authority. The Act also abolished the INS and transferred its functions to the newly-created Department of Homeland Security.

Jurisdiction

The B-I-A reviews the decisions of the U.S. immigration courts, some decisions of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and immigration violation arrests by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. BIA decisions are the final administrative action in a given case, and the next stage of appeal after a BIA decision is usually in the United States courts of appeals if an appeal is allowed by statute.

Most opinions of the B-I-A are unpublished and do not apply outside of the cases in which they were issued. However, a limited number of B-I-A decisions are selected for publication in the Administrative Decisions under the Immigration and Nationality Laws of the United States. There are currently 28 volumes of administrative precedent decisions under the Immigration and Nationality laws encompassing decisions dating back to 1940. B-I-A precedent decisions are legally binding on all components of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A precedent decision may be overruled by a published decision of the Attorney General, by a Federal court, by a subsequent B-I-A precedent decision, or by a change in the law.

The B-I-A is notable in that one need not be an attorney to appear before it representing a client. However, non-attorneys must be part of a B-I-A-recognized organization (generally a nonprofit), and also have obtained B-I-A accreditation as individuals. A practice manual for appearing before the B-I-A is available from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Composition

The BIA is located in Falls Church, Virginia, and, as of February 2021, has 23 board members, who are administrative judges appointed by the U.S. Attorney General, and six temporary members. The size of the full B-I-A varies from time to time, depending on resignations, retirements, and new appointments; it may have up to 23 board members under the current authorizing regulation. Decisions issued by the B-I-A are by three-member panels in limited circumstances. Otherwise, the vast majority of cases are decided by single panel members. In certain circumstances, a single panel member can use a process called summary affirmance to affirm the lower court without issuing a written decision.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, U., 2019. BOARD OF IMMIGRATION APPEALS PRACTICE MANUAL. [Place of publication not identified]: LULU COM.