EOIR Dumps Case Quotas for IJs

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Oct. 20, 2021

"The Justice Department is ending the use of case quotas for immigration judges that became a point of contention during the Trump administration for undercutting judges' authority and discretion, according to an email obtained by CNN. ... In 2018, DOJ released new performance metrics for immigration judges that included completing 700 cases per year to be considered "satisfactory." It also included other numeric benchmarks that had not been used on prior administrations.  The memo, sent to judges Tuesday, is part of a concerted effort by the Biden administration to distance itself from Trump-era immigration policies that drew criticism from immigration judges.  "The Agency is in the process of developing new performance measures, drawing from past successful measures and appropriate input, that will accurately reflect the workload of an immigration judge. These new performance measures will focus on balance and equity for the various types of docket assignments, and we look forward to sharing them with you shortly," the Tuesday memo reads. ... "Suspension of the metrics is an excellent first step," said Mimi Tsankov, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, the immigration judges' union. "We now await the opportunity for management to recognize NAIJ and work with us to establish appropriate measures for the agency to assess its productivity and ensure due process for the parties before us and judges themselves."