Posts in Immigration
IFPTE Alerts Biden Administration About EOIR’s Muzzle Order on NAIJ Union Members

IFPTE’s executive officers sent a letter this week to Vice President Harris and Labor Secretary Su urging them to step in to help reverse the Executive Office of Immigration Review’s (EOIR) gag order placed on IFPTE members represented by the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ/IFPTE Judicial Council 2). 

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IFPTE Requests Congressional Passage of Six FY24 Appropriations Bills

Ahead of a vote in the House of Representatives to pass a package of six appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2024, IFPTE urged Members of the House of Representatives to pass a package of six fiscal year 2024 (FY24) government funding bills Consolidated Approrpations Act, 2024, H. Res. 1061. The House passed the appropriations package with bipartisan support by a vote of 339 to 85.

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Judges Who Lead NAIJ Given Gag Order by DoJ

Immigration and border issues are leading the news, the overburdened immigration courts have a backlog of 3.3 million cases, but don’t expect to see quotes from the union representing federal immigration judges in upcoming stories. In an attempt to silence the judges’ union, the two immigration judges who currently serve as president and executive vice president of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) have been sent an unprecedented gag order by top management in the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.

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TEAM Letter to Manitoba Minister of Labour

As part of TEAM/IFPTE Local 161’s ongoing campaign to keep telecommunications jobs in Manitoba and in their workplace, and in light of Bell Canada’s recent announcement to cut 4,800 jobs, or 9% of its workforce, TEAM President, Dave Eyjolfson, sent a letter last week to the Honourable Malaya Marcelino, Minister of Labour and Immigration for Manitoba.

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Judge Mimi Tsankov Testifies in the Senate on the Problems Facing the U.S. Immigration Court

Judge Mimi Tsankov testified this week before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Security on the myriad problems “in the current Immigration Court system, which has led us to today’s untenable court system, with 2.6 million cases now waiting to be heard.” 

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IFPTE Applauds Sen. Durbin and Sen. Grassley for Introducing the Bipartisan H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act

IFPTE applauded the introduction of the H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senate Judiciary Committee Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), and cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

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Rep. Sanchez Leads Congressional Labor Caucus Letter Asking DOJ to Acknowledge Union Rights of Immigration Judges in Letter Supporting NAIJ-IFPTE Judicial Council 2

This week, Rep. Linda Sánchez led a Congressional Labor Caucus letter to the Department of Justice asking the agency to acknowledge that immigration judges should be covered by the federal labor statute. NAIJ-IFPTE Judicial Council 2 recently filed for a union representation election to restore immigration judges statutory union rights.

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National Association of Immigration Judges File Union Election Petition Seeking to Restore Collective Bargaining Rights

Earlier this year, a Trump-appointed majority on the FLRA, bucking precedent, stripped immigration judges of their collective bargaining rights and union protections. Now, the judges are back filing a petition seeking the restoration of their rights with an FLRA board that includes a new member.

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Secretary-Treasurer Henson Participates in Labor Briefing for Senate Staff on the Abuses of the H-1B Work Visa Program

At a labor briefing for Senate staff, Secretary-Treasurer Gay Henson shared the experiences of the TVA Engineering Association-Local 1937 members who successfully blocked their employer’s efforts to privatize their work to offshore-outsourcing firms replying on the H-1B work visa program.

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FWA Tells Senators That FLRA's Anti-Union Decision Against NAIJ Also Attacks Due Process in Immigration Court -- Urges Confirmation of FLRA Nominees ASAP

In response to the latest decision and order from the FLRA against the National Association of Immigration Judges-IFPTE Judicial Council 2, the Federal Workers Alliance sent letter to remind Senate Democrats that the Trump appointed majority on the FLRA is carrying out the previous administration’s anti-federal union agenda and other policy priorities as it attacks federal employees’ union rights.

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FLRA Decision Busts Immigration Judges Union, Carrying Out Anti-Union Trump Administration Attack on Federal Employees and Immigration Court

IFPTE responded to the Federal Labor Relations Authority’s revocation of NAIJ-IFPTE Judicial Council 2’s union certification, denying over 530 immigration judges employed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) their statutory union rights. NAIJ was recognized and certified as the exclusive union representative for immigration judges in 1979.

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