II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 663 

To clarify the status and enhance the effectiveness of immigration courts, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2019 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. SMITH, and Mr. BOOKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To clarify the status and enhance the effectiveness of 

immigration courts, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Immigration Court Im5 provement Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDING; SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the United States 

8 tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants 

9 is best served by effective, fair, and impartial immigration 


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1 judges who have decisional independence and are free 

2 from political influence. 

3 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) immigration judges— 

6 (A) should be fair and impartial; and 

7 (B) should have decisional independence 

8 that is free from political pressure or influence; 

9 and 

10 (2) in order to promote even-handed, non-bi11 ased, decision-making that is representative of the 

12 public at large, immigration judges should be se13 lected from a broad pool of candidates with a variety 

14 of legal experience, such as law professors, private 

15 practitioners, representatives of pro bono service and 

16 other nongovernmental organizations, military offi17 cers, and government employees. 

18 SEC. 3. PROFESSIONAL TREATMENT OF IMMIGRATION 

19 JUDGES. 

20 (a) DEFINED TERM.—Section 101(b)(4) of the Im21 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(4)) is 

22 amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(4)(A) The term ‘immigration judge’ means an at24 torney who— 


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1 ‘‘(i) has been appointed by the Attorney Gen2 eral to serve as a United States immigration judge; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) is qualified to conduct proceedings under 

5 this Act, including removal proceedings under sec6 tion 240. 

7 ‘‘(B) An immigration judge shall be subject to such 

8 supervision and shall perform such duties as the Attorney 

9 General shall prescribe as long as such supervision does 

10 not interfere with the immigration judge’s exercise of inde11 pendent decision-making authority over cases in which he 

12 or she presides. 

13 ‘‘(C) An immigration judge shall be an attorney at 

14 the time of his or her appointment by the Attorney Gen15 eral and shall maintain good standing or appropriate judi16 cial status (as defined solely by the licensing jurisdiction) 

17 with the bar of the highest court of any State. 

18 ‘‘(D) The service of an immigration judge is deemed 

19 to be judicial in nature. Actions taken by an immigration 

20 judge while serving in a judicial capacity shall be reviewed 

21 under the applicable Code of Judicial Conduct. Immigra22 tion judges shall not be subject to any code of attorney 

23 behavior for conduct or actions taken while performing du24 ties as an immigration judge. 


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1 ‘‘(E) An immigration judge may not be disciplined 

2 for any good faith legal decisions made in the course of 

3 hearing and deciding cases. Criticism of an immigration 

4 judge, in a decision of any appellate court may not be con5 sidered or construed as a finding of misconduct.’’. 

6 (b) PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS.—Any system of 

7 completion goals or other efficiency standards imposed on 

8 immigration judges (as defined in section 101(b)(4) of the 

9 Immigration and Nationality Act)— 

10 (1) may be used solely as management tools for 

11 obtaining or allocating resources; and 

12 (2) may not be used— 

13 (A) to limit the independent authority of 

14 immigration judges to fulfill their duties; or 

15 (B) as a reflection of individual judicial 

16 performance. 

17 (c) JUDICIAL COMPLAINT PROCESS.—Not later than 

18 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

19 Attorney General shall establish a transparent judicial 

20 complaint process that is consistent with— 

21 (1) the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Judi22 cial Performance developed by the American Bar As23 sociation; and 


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1 (2) the judicial performance evaluation prin2 ciples developed by the Institute for the Advance3 ment of the American Legal System. 

4 (d) ANNUAL LEAVE.—Every immigration judge shall 

5 be presumed to have 15 years of Federal civilian service 

6 for the purpose of the accrual of annual leave. 

7 (e) CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the training 

9 required under section 603(c) of the International 

10 Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (22 U.S.C. 6473(c)), 

11 the Attorney General shall provide immigration 

12 judges with— 

13 (A) meaningful, ongoing training, includ14 ing annual, in-person training, to maintain cur15 rent knowledge of immigration cases, changes 

16 in the law and effective docketing practices; and 

17 (B) time away from the bench to assimi18 late the knowledge gained through such train19 ing. 

20 (2) SERVICE TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION.—Be21 cause of the ethical duty owed by immigration 

22 judges to participate in continuing legal education, 

23 including teaching of law at institutions of higher 

24 learning and other activities to educate the public 

25 and to improve the legal profession, the Attorney 


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1 General may not prevent or interfere with the par2 ticipation of an immigration judge in any such bona 

3 fide activities if— 

4 (A) undertaken in conjunction with an es5 tablished university, law school, bar association, 

6 or legal organization; and 

7 (B) the immigration judge clearly indicates 

8 that such participation is in his or her personal 

9 capacity and does not reflect any official posi10 tions or policies. 

11 (f) CONTEMPT AUTHORITY.— 

12 (1) RULEMAKING.— 

13 (A) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Not later 

14 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate 

16 interim regulations governing the exercise of 

17 the authority given to immigration judges under 

18 section 240(b)(1) of the Immigration and Na19 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1229a(b)(1)) to sanction 

20 contempt of an immigration judge’s exercise of 

21 authority under such Act. 

22 (B) FINAL REGULATIONS.—Not later than 

23 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, the Attorney General shall promulgate 


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1 final regulations governing the authority de2 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

3 (2) EFFECT OF FAILURE TO PROMULGATE REG4 ULATIONS.—If the Attorney General fails to comply 

5 with subparagraph (1)(B), immigration judges 

6 shall— 

7 (A) make appropriate findings of con8 tempt; and 

9 (B) submit such findings to the United 

10 States District Court for the judicial district in 

11 which the immigration judge is physically lo12 cated. 

Æ 


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