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Perplexity ChatGPT Claude Gemini

No Room to Be Kind": Deportation Before Green Card in America's Immigration Courts?

Perplexity ChatGPT Claude Gemini
No Room to Be Kind": Deportation Before Green Card in America's Immigration Courts?

The legal tool known as a "continuance" has functioned as a safety valve inside America's overwhelmed immigration courts. Previously, this feature has provided extra time to find a lawyer, gather documents, or wait for a federal agency to finish processing an already-approved visa. According to a Guardian investigation published September 4, 2026, that safety valve is now being deliberately narrowed through a mandatory nationwide training that instructed judges, in the words of one presentation, that there is "no room to be kind; there is only urgency to make them leave, one way or the other."

Our EB-1A consultants have presented here a full insider's view of this important piece of news. Let's dive right into it.

The training at the center of the story

The Guardian reported that hundreds of immigration judges across the country recently attended a mandatory virtual presentation titled "Motions to Continue: Efficiently Advancing Cases to Completion." The session was led by Keith Hunsucker, a veteran immigration judge now sitting on the Board of Immigration Appeals who, according to the report, denied more than 80% of asylum cases during much of his time on the bench before moving into other roles.

The training's central message concerned continuances, the tool judges use to postpone hearings or decisions. One slide instructed attendees plainly: "Continuance requests solely for dilatory purposes should not be countenanced by Immigration Judges." Judges were taught to treat many delay requests with suspicion, on the theory that people without legal status who wish to remain in the country "have a substantial incentive to prolong litigation so they may avoid deportation as long as possible."

The Justice Department, asked for comment by The Guardian, defended the approach, telling the paper that reducing the immigration courts' enormous case backlog remains one of the administration's core priorities.

The gap between an approved petition and an available visa

Perhaps the training's most consequential message concerns a distinction many immigrants and their families may not fully appreciate: having an immigration petition approved is not the same as having a visa actually available. Because of annual numerical limits and waiting lists built into the U.S. immigration system, a person can be fully qualified for a green card or visa, and still wait years before one is actually issued.

Judges were instructed that an approved visa petition should not, by itself, justify postponing deportation proceedings if the visa is not yet available due to annual quotas, even though it will eventually be issued at some unspecified future date. That guidance builds directly on a Board of Immigration Appeals precedent decided earlier this year. In Matter of Pinzon Rozo, decided March 11, 2026, the Board revoked a lower judge's decision to let a respondent wait for a visa under the Special Immigrant Juvenile classification (a status for certain minors who suffered abuse, abandonment, or neglect) ruling that the wait for that visa's priority date to become current was "uncertain and prolonged."

Two groups appear especially exposed under this framework: young people who qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile status, and crime victims waiting on U visas. The Board reinforced this stance in a separate 2026 ruling holding that when a U visa is not immediately available and is not expected to become available in the reasonably near future, judges should not keep a case indefinitely paused solely to wait for it.

Finding a lawyer isn't grounds for delay, either

The training also targeted a second common justification for continuances: the time it takes to secure legal representation. According to The Guardian's reporting, judges were presented with a highly restrictive interpretation under which extensions should not be granted simply so a respondent can obtain an attorney.

That position is reinforced by a recent Board decision, Matter of A-K-R-, decided August 14, 2026, in which the Board upheld a judge's refusal to grant additional time to an immigrant who had not yet secured legal counsel. The Board pointed to the statutory minimum that a first hearing cannot be scheduled less than 10 days after a notice to appear is served. This is a benchmark the Board cited to support judges' authority to deny further extensions when they find insufficient cause.

The training went further still, warning judges about attorneys who take on heavy caseloads. One slide read: "Where a practitioner takes on more cases than he or she can responsibly and professionally handle, it may be appropriate for an Immigration Judge to consider referral to EOIR disciplinary counsel for further action and possible sanction for a violation": a provision immigration lawyers may read as a warning shot against representing too many clients at once, even amid a historic court backlog.

What this means for people caught in the middle

Immigration attorneys and advocates warn the practical stakes are significant: someone could, in theory, be deported before ever receiving an immigration benefit they have already legally qualified for. The government, for its part, frames the approach as an effort to eliminate unnecessary delay rather than to punish legitimate claims.

Legal observers note the shift did not arrive out of nowhere. Throughout 2026, the Board of Immigration Appeals has issued a string of decisions narrowing judges' ability to keep proceedings open or administratively paused for years while an immigrant awaits a separate federal benefit. What is new is that this legal philosophy is now being delivered directly to the judiciary through compulsory, nationwide training. And, this is happening at a moment when the administration is pushing hard to resolve millions of backlogged cases.

If the applicants are simultaneously tackling both an immigration court case and a pending or approved petition with USCIS, the message from this shift is unambiguous: an approved petition offers no guarantee against deportation while its underlying benefit remains unavailable, and the burden now falls more heavily than ever on individuals to move quickly.

At GCEB1, our EB-1A experts are staying eagle-eyed on all the changes in the US immigration landscapes. Stay tuned to us to read more analysis and insights. We wish you a safe and stress free immigration journey ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a "continuance" in immigration court?

It's a legal tool allowing an immigration judge to postpone a hearing or decision, historically used to give people time to find an attorney, prepare their case, or wait for a separate immigration application to be resolved.

2. What did the new training actually instruct judges to do?

It instructed judges to apply a much stricter standard when granting continuances, discouraging delays sought "solely for dilatory purposes" and taking a narrow view of when waiting for a visa, benefit, or legal representation justifies pausing a case.

3. Who led the training, and is that significant?

The training was led by Board of Immigration Appeals member Keith Hunsucker, who reportedly denied more than 80% of asylum cases during much of his time as an immigration judge before moving into his current role.

4. Does having an approved immigration petition protect someone from deportation?

Not necessarily. An approved petition is a step toward a visa or green card, but if the actual visa isn't yet available due to annual quotas, judges are now instructed that this shouldn't automatically justify pausing deportation proceedings.

5. Which groups are described as most affected by this shift?

Young people who qualify for Special Immigrant Juvenile status and crime victims awaiting U visas are specifically named as particularly exposed under the new guidance.

6. Can someone get more time in court simply because they haven't found a lawyer yet?

Under the new interpretation presented in the training, judges were told that seeking a continuance solely to obtain legal representation should generally not be granted, a position reinforced by the Board's decision in Matter of A-K-R-.

7. What is the matter of Pinzon Rozo, and why does it matter?

It's a March 2026 Board of Immigration Appeals decision that revoked a judge's decision to let a Special Immigrant Juvenile petitioner wait for a visa, ruling the wait for the visa to become available was too uncertain and prolonged to justify pausing the case.

8. Are immigration attorneys at risk under this new guidance?

The training warned that attorneys who take on more cases than they can responsibly handle may be referred to the Executive Office for Immigration Review's disciplinary counsel for possible sanctions.

9. How has the Justice Department responded to criticism of this approach?

The Justice Department told The Guardian that reducing the substantial backlog in immigration courts remains a top priority for the administration, framing the new guidance as an effort to eliminate unnecessary delay.

Sources & further readings

 

 

 

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