U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals
agency
The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals is the highest administrative body for interpreting and applying U.S. immigration laws, operating within the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the Department of Justice. Its precedent decisions are binding on all immigration judges nationwide and on DHS, making it the primary appellate body for removal and asylum cases. In 2025-26 its rulings became flashpoints in legal disputes over the administration's immigration enforcement policies.
Entries involving this actor (3)
2026
BIA fast-tracked Mahmoud Khalil's deportation case in 9-day 'unprecedented' turnaround
Internal Department of Justice case-tracking documents obtained by The New York Times and reported publicly on May 11, 2026 reveal that the Board of Immigration Appeals — an appellate body housed within the DOJ — fast-tracked the deportation case of Palestinian Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil along a procedural track that a former BIA member called "unprecedented." Per the internal documents, the case was flagged high-priority before the board officially received it; a staff note instructed handling Khalil's case as if he were still in detention even though he had been released several days earlier; the BIA's April 9, 2026 decision authorizing Khalil's deportation came just nine days after paperwork was submitted; and at least three judges recused themselves from the proceedings.
BIA reinstates deportation proceedings against Columbia activist Mohsen Mahdawi
The Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated removal proceedings against Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian lawful permanent resident and Columbia University student activist, overturning an immigration judge's February dismissal of the case. The government had pursued Mahdawi's deportation under a rarely used foreign-policy provision invoked by the Secretary of State, after he was detained in 2025 over his pro-Palestinian advocacy and released by a federal court without being charged with any crime.
2025
BIA stripped immigration judges of bond authority, mandating detention without hearings in Matter of Yajure Hurtado
On September 5, 2025, the Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedential decision, Matter of Yajure Hurtado, holding that noncitizens who entered the United States without inspection are "applicants for admission" subject to mandatory detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act, with no authority for an immigration judge to grant a bond hearing. The ruling reversed decades of practice under which longtime residents placed in removal proceedings could seek release on bond, and DHS and ICE began applying it to hold thousands of people without any individualized custody review.