The Board of Immigration Appeals, the court which handles appeals from the nation’s immigration judges, has for the first time heard arguments outside of its headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. Between April 21st and April 23rd, 1998, BIA Chairman Paul Schmidt and BIA members Lauren Mathon and John Guendelsberger heard arguments at the Los Angeles Immigration Court.
The BIA heard 12 cases in three days including matters dealing with deportation, exclusion and asylum.
Hearing oral arguments on the road is part of an initiative by the BIA to make the immigration appeals process more accessible to aliens and their attorneys in other parts of the country. The BIA will evaluate the effectiveness of hearing arguments away from headquarters after it makes decisions on the cases. At that time, it will decide on where else it will schedule hearings.
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