Reflections on a 40-Year Career as an Immigration Lawyer and Judge - The Hon. Dana Leigh Marks "...We must do better for ourselves and the public we serve. Our American ideal of justice demands no less. When we canaries in the immigration courtrooms... Read More
Hon. Dana Leigh Marks, Apr. 9, 2018 - "Immigration judges are the trial-level judges who make the life-changing decisions of whether or not non-citizens are allowed to remain in the United States. They are facing a virtual mountain of cases: almost... Read More
Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 2, 2018 - "The Justice Department has notified immigration judges [ here and here ] that it will begin evaluating their job performance based on how quickly they close cases, aiming to speed deportation decisions... Read More
NBC Bay Area, Aug. 19, 2016 - "Nationwide EOIR had more than a half million (500,051) pending cases. What makes things different this year is that after March 1, 2016, EOIR began prioritizing cases the Department of Homeland Security considered “Priority... Read More
"This summer’s influx of Central American children across the U.S. Southwest border has not only created a record backlog in immigration courts, it has thrown into relief a need to sever those courts from supervision by the Justice and Homeland... Read More
"Newly released government data show an immigration court system under stress as judges face pressure to expedite deportation cases even as thousands of child migrants – many under 14 and with no grasp of English — are still without attorneys... Read More
PBS Newshour, Sept. 18, 2017 - "[Here is] an inside look at the country’s overwhelmed immigration court system. Our John Yang is here, and he has that story. JOHN YANG: William, for all the headlines and all the debates about what to... Read More
""We are reaching a point of implosion, if we have not already reached it," said Judge Dana Leigh Marks of San Francisco, who has been deciding immigration cases since 1987 and is president of the National Association of Immigration Judges... Read More
Why immigration courts are backlogged - Judge Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, joins to discuss the legal aspect of the current immigration crisis at the border. - MSNBC, July 20, 2014 . Read More
Caitlin Dickerson, New York Times, Oct. 5, 2016 - "One of the immigrants appearing before Judge Dana Marks in a crowded court here was a boat worker from the former Soviet Union who stared in silence as a prosecutor asked about his criminal history... Read More
"Two federal immigration court judges criticized the fast-track deportation hearings for unaccompanied minors today and called for the courts to be made independent from the Justice Department. The judges, leaders in the National Association of... Read More
"Immigration courts must be restructured as real courts under Article I of the Constitution, similar to Tax and Bankruptcy Courts, so we can maintain administrative independence and ensure total transparency in our proceedings. This would free them... Read More
"What many Americans are just beginning to realize is that a high-stakes drama is being played out in a courtroom near them right now. Not only is this storyline nonfiction, but it often involves life and death consequences. The courtrooms are located... Read More
"In this appeal, we review consolidated petitions filed by Richard Jesus Amos, a citizen of the Philippines, challenging decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (the BIA, or the Board), which dismissed Amos’s appeal from an immigration... Read More
"During my legal career, immigration law has transformed from an arcane, maligned, and ofttimes extraneous-seeming legal specialty into an area of law that routinely crops up in the everyday work of tens of thousands of attorneys who practice in... Read More