BREAKING: DOJ Empowers Board of Immigration Appeals to Strip Due Process From Migrants

Citing a 200,000-case backlog, the DOJ will now require an en banc vote just to hear an appeal—effectively making the original Immigration Judge the final word on deportation.

WASHINGTON — In a move advocates are calling a catastrophic blow to due process, the Department of Justice is set to publish a sweeping “Interim Final Rule” tomorrow that effectively dismantles the right to administrative appellate review for millions of people in the immigration system.

The new policy, scheduled for official publication in the Federal Register on February 6, 2026, transforms the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) from a mandatory review body into a discretionary one. Under the rule, the default outcome for all appeals will now be summary dismissal unless a majority of permanent Board members specifically vote en banc to accept the case for adjudication on the merits.