NAIJ/Judicial Council 2 Urges Congressional Appropriators to Include Telework Funding in Upcoming Relief Bill

This week, the National Association of Immigration Judges/IFPTE Judicial Council 2 (NAIJ) requested Congressional Appropriators include funding dedicated for the purchase of telework equipment and services. Currently, a significant number of NAIJ members are required to report to immigration courtrooms throughout the U.S., despite the fact that the necessary portions of their work can be performed remotely. 

While employers in all sectors of the economy have implemented telework for the shared public health goal of "flattening the curve" of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice's Executive Office of Immigration Review continues to keep immigration courts open for detained respondent's hearings. Along with NAIJ, the union representing government trial attorneys, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and numerous immigration legal aid and civil rights organizations have joined in a coalition to call for closing in-person hearings at immigration courts in the midst of a pandemic. 

The request follows IFPTE's recommendation to Congressional leaders that the next relief bill directs the federal government to "Mandate the maximum use of telework by assigning all federal employees, including essential employees, to perform their duties remotely whenever possible to minimize the spread of COVID-19."

Read the letter here.