Sessions Takes Aim At Judges' Handling Of Immigration Cases
SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is launching a review of a little-known but widely used practice of immigration judges closing cases without decisions. The assessment potentially puts hundreds of thousands of people in greater legal limbo and could eventually reshape immigration courts.
Sessions on Friday posed detailed questions challenging the use of "administrative closures," an increasingly common outcome that allows people to stay in the country without legal status. The attorney general invited feedback from advocates and others.
Administrative closures have been a lifeline to immigrants who apply for citizenship, permanent residency or other visas, temporarily shielding them from deportation. But critics say judges too often let people stay in the country longer than they should in a sort of legal purgatory.
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