HR7836-119

What This Bill Does

The Real Courts, Rule of Law Act creates independent Article I United States Immigration Courts outside the executive branch. The system has appellate, trial, and administrative divisions. The appellate division contains 21 judges appointed by the President with Senate consent for renewable 15-year terms. The appellate division appoints trial judges for renewable 15-year terms through a merit process, establishes trial-court locations, supervises administration, and issues rules.

Immigration judges must have at least ten years of qualifying bar membership and satisfy merit, ethics, and professional standards. Appeals judges receive district-judge pay and trial judges receive 92 percent of that amount. Judges cannot practice law while serving and may be removed only for specified incapacity, misconduct, neglect, or prohibited outside practice after notice and an opportunity to be heard. The Judicial Conference receives conduct complaints. Retirement and disability rules accompany the fixed terms.

The appellate division hears appeals from trial judges, specified family-petition decisions, and disciplinary matters. The trial division has original jurisdiction over removal, rescission, fear review, specified asylum and protection referrals, detention and bond, unreasonably delayed immigration applications arising during removal cases, and attorney discipline. Existing Board of Immigration Appeals and immigration-judge jurisdiction is preserved unless displaced.

Trial judges may receive evidence, issue subpoenas, decide relief, and make findings. Appellate panels generally contain three judges and defer to trial-court fact findings unless clearly erroneous. Decisions on relief should be written and reasoned. Judges receive civil contempt authority with notice protections, Federal marshals may provide security, and Federal recusal rules apply. The appellate division must issue practice rules, including a presumption against video proceedings when relief eligibility is being evaluated unless the person requests video.

People in Immigration Court retain counsel of their choice at no government expense. The courts must provide qualified interpreters and maintain a legal-orientation program through legal-service and nonprofit agreements. Precedent decisions must be published. Nonprecedent decisions and filed materials generally become public, subject to confidentiality for national security, asylum, Violence Against Women Act claims, and other protected information. Judges review legal and constitutional questions de novo and may compel unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed action. Circuit-court review remains available; when the Government appeals and an indigent noncitizen cannot obtain adequate representation, counsel is provided through the Federal appellate representation plan.

The Immigration Courts set their own budget without executive-branch revision, hire staff outside specified competitive-service and pay rules, and may procure experts. The chief judge must report annually on caseloads, outcomes, representation, wait times, and demographics. The Judicial Conference must review adjudication at least every four years.

The new courts begin on a fiscal-year-based application date only after at least three appeals judges are appointed. A four-year transition converts existing EOIR immigration judges into temporary interim trial judges, staggers the first appellate terms, and transfers relevant EOIR functions, personnel, records, contracts, assets, liabilities, and unspent funds. Existing precedents, consistent rules, pending cases, rights, and jurisdiction continue. The Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer remains at Justice, and conforming amendments transfer adjudicative and rulemaking references from the Attorney General to the new courts or to Homeland Security as appropriate.

Who Benefits and How

Immigration respondents gain adjudicators institutionally independent from prosecution and enforcement agencies, public decisions, interpreters, legal orientation, structured review, and clearer procedural rights. Immigration attorneys and legal-service organizations gain consistent court rules and access to records. Immigration judges gain fixed terms, judicial pay rules, merit appointments, and cause-based removal protections. Congress and the public gain recurring court-performance data.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The President and Senate must fill 21 appellate positions. The appellate division must appoint trial judges, write rules, manage courts, review temporary resources, and oversee administration. Existing EOIR staff and judges must transition into a new institution. The Justice Department must transfer functions and assets, while Homeland Security assumes specified executive responsibilities. Court employees, interpreters, legal-service providers, the Judicial Conference, and Federal taxpayers absorb new administrative and resource demands.

Key Provisions

• Establishes independent Article I United States Immigration Courts.
• Creates 21 presidentially appointed immigration appeals judges.
• Requires merit appointment and fixed terms for trial judges.
• Defines appellate and trial jurisdiction.
• Requires reasoned decisions and structured appellate review.
• Directs the appellate division to issue national practice rules.
• Provides interpreters and a legal-orientation program.
• Requires publication of decisions while protecting confidential information.
• Preserves circuit-court review and provides counsel in specified Government appeals.
• Gives the courts an independent budget and staffing authority.
• Requires annual workload reports and four-year Judicial Conference reviews.
• Transfers covered EOIR functions through a four-year transition.
• Preserves pending cases, rights, precedents, and consistent rules.