Backlogs at the BIA May Lead to Unlawful Removal for Detainees

In the past months, the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has been experiencing backlogs in processing and issuing receipt notices for appeals. Such delays could lead to a detained client’s unlawful removal. Appeals that are filed with fee waiver requests may take even longer to process. CLINIC urges practitioners to send filing receipts for BIA appeals to their detained client’s Deportation Officer (DO) as soon as they receive them and remind the DO that the client cannot be removed from the United States during the pendency of the BIA appeal.