NAIJ and AFGE Local 3525 Call on EOIR to Immediately Implement Workplace Safety Precautions and Provide Greater Transparency
In their latest statement, NAIJ/IFPTE Judicial Council 2 is joined by AFGE Local 3525, representing staff at the Board of Appeals, in calling for basic sanitation practices, administrative practices to increase physical distancing, procedures to identify and report possible COVID-19 exposure, and adherence and communication about applying established CDC guidelines to EOIR workplaces
Over the last six weeks of the pandemic, NAIJ/IFPTE Judicial Council 2 has advocated for the safe operation of critical Immigration Court functions and safe hearing procedures for priority cases, sought to communicate and work with DOJ and the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR, the DOJ office in charge of the Immigration Court), and worked in coalition with other unions and groups representing immigration lawyers and legal aid providers.
While the NAIJ, AFGE Local 511 (representing ICE trial attorneys), the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and countless legal aid organizations have called for immigration proceedings to be conducted remotely and in-person hearings suspended during the pandemic, EOIR and DOJ have been non-responsive and limited in their communications regarding the agency's workplace health and safety protocols and temporary closings of courts for decontamination.
Read the statement from NAIJ and AFGE Local 3525 here.
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