U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has ruled that immigration judges have no inherent authority to dismiss cases, provoking an outcry from immigration-law-focused groups. Reuters and CNN have stories.
In a ruling dated Sept. 18, Sessions forbade immigration judges from dismissing cases as an act of judicial discretion. Rather, he ruled, immigration judges may dismiss cases only when the Department of Homeland Security—whose attorneys act as a kind of prosecutor in immigration cases—requests it, or when immigrants prove their cases or achieve a legal immigration status.
