Immigrants Moved to Undisclosed ‘Hidden Tribunal’ Court Locations With Little or No Notice

NPR found that immigrants scheduled for hearings at the Hyattsville and Baltimore immigration courts in Maryland and the Sterling court in Virginia have been rescheduled to two buildings not set up for in-person immigration hearings — a Justice Department building in Falls Church, Virginia, and Federal Center Plaza in Washington, D.C., where hearings are slated to begin as soon as September 9. Five immigration attorneys said notices arrived days before the new hearings or not at all, and appeared to target immigrants without lawyers, who can be ordered deported in absentia if they miss a hearing. At a September 2 hearing in Falls Church, the immigration judge and DHS attorney appeared remotely and the judge ordered several people deported for failing to appear, according to Kel White of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s D.C. chapter. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said it will continue “opening new hearing locations as needed” as it adds immigration judges.