Emergency Motion Seeks Court Order to Stay Implementation of Interim Final Rule Eliminating Safeguards in the Board of Immigration Appeals
WASHINGTON, DC, February 26, 2026 — The American Immigration Council and a coalition of other legal organizations, including Amica Immigrant Rights Center, Brooklyn Defender Services, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, HIAS, and the National Immigrant Justice Center, today filed a lawsuit and emergency motion to block a new interim final rule issued by the Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) that effectively eliminates meaningful immigration. Appeal review before the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the Interim Final Rule (IFR) dated February 6, 2026, entitled Appellate Procedures for the Board of Immigration Appeals, scheduled to become effective March 9, 2026.
As detailed in the complaint, the IFR imposes sweeping changes that gut the rights of noncitizens to appeal decisions in immigration cases. It includes:
Reduces filing time for most appeals from 30 days to 10 days. Requires immediate dismissal of the appeal unless a majority of the BIA’s permanent members vote to accept the case for review within 10 days. Allowing termination decisions to be made before records are created or records are transmitted. It imposes a 20-day concurrent briefing schedule, with extensions only granted in limited “exceptional circumstances.” We will delete the reply summary unless specifically requested. Imposing strict case completion deadlines and centralizing decision-making power in agency leaders.
“The BIA Interim Final Rule makes a mockery of due process. Not only will it strip away virtually every benefit the BIA can provide immigrants, it will also wreak havoc on those litigating cases in immigration courts and federal appeals courts,” said Emily Lover, senior attorney at the Amica Immigrant Rights Center. “Litigants who are children, are incarcerated, have no legal counsel, have a disability, or speak an uncommon language will be disproportionately harmed by this interim final rule.”
“The interim final rule creates a barrier to appellate review in expungement proceedings and strikes at the heart of due process,” said Lucas Marquez, director of civil rights and law reform at Brooklyn Defender Services. “This rule would result in the deportation of people eligible for immigration relief who have valid legal claims that immigration judges got it wrong, simply because the Board of Immigration Appeals would no longer have a fair way to review their cases.”
“This interim final rule completely nullifies the appeals process before the BIA,” said Laura St. John, legal director of the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project. “This would deny the vast majority of immigrants the ability to appeal, which would be particularly harmful to those who need the appeals process the most, such as Proseli activists, vulnerable children, indigenous language speakers, and people in immigration detention. It is nearly impossible for most Prosely individuals in custody to file a notice of appeal within just 10 days, and without the ability to appeal, many will be deported to unreasonably dangerous or life-threatening situations.”
Stephen Brown, Director of Immigration Law at HIAS, said: “Without access to a meaningful appeals process, people fleeing persecution and violence can face dangerous consequences, including the risk of being sent back to unsafe locations. We are proud to join this legal challenge and stand against policy changes that will significantly impact the ability of legal service providers like HIAS to help immigrants navigate a complex and ever-changing legal system.
“It is difficult to overstate the potential human harm of the changes proposed in this rule,” said Lisa Koop, legal director of the National Immigration Justice Center, co-counsel and one of the organized plaintiffs in the case. “Reducing due process in this way prevents legal service providers like ours from helping protect clients from unjust deportation and ensures that many people who would otherwise be eligible for asylum or other legal status in the United States will never be able to do so.” You have the opportunity to seek protection under our laws. ”
According to the filing, the IFR was issued without the required notice-and-comment rulemaking period and fundamentally restructured appellate review in removal proceedings. Plaintiffs argue that requiring immediate removal unless the full board acts within 10 days before minutes are written makes meaningful review functionally impossible in most cases.
Plaintiffs claim the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Immigration Control Act, and the Fifth Amendment, which protects people from deprivation of liberty without due process of law. They are asking the court to block the rule’s effective date and prevent it from taking effect while the lawsuit progresses.
These organizations are seeking preliminary relief to prevent this rule from taking effect on March 9, 2026, and to continue blocking it while litigation proceeds.
The case is Amica Immigrant Rights Center v. EOIR.
See complaint here.
Please see the stay motion here.
