U.S. Department of Justice

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Office of the Director

5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2400

Falls Church, Virginia 22041

NEWS RELEASE Contact: Public Affairs, (703) 305-0289 Fax: (703) 305-0443

January 20, 1998

New Rule Proposed Concerning

Professional Conduct for Immigration Practitioners

The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) have proposed new regulations for investigating complaints and initiating disciplinary proceedings against attorneys and other representatives who practice before the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Immigration Courts, and INS.

The proposed rule would make several changes to the current regulation in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (8 CFR), Part 292, to enable EOIR to regulate its own tribunals and the representatives who appear before them and to provide a more efficient and effective disciplinary process. It also adds new rules in 8 CFR Part 3 to highlight EOIR as an independent agency with adjudicatory responsibilities, in contrast to INS, which is primarily an enforcement agency.

Among its major revisions, the proposed rule would separate and distinguish the investigation process from the disciplinary process. EOIR would investigate complaints about practitioners who appear before the Board and the Immigration Courts; INS would investigate complaints about practitioners who appear before the INS. Each agency's Office of General Counsel would accept complaints, conduct investigations, and determine whether complaints have merit. Practitioners who receive a Notice of Intent to Discipline would have an opportunity to respond and request a hearing.

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Proposed Rule--Page 2

Second, the proposed rule would establish a revised disciplinary process within EOIR for adjudicating all complaints. EOIR and INS would provide agency counsel to bring their respective cases and the defendant practitioner could be represented by counsel of his or her choice at no expense to the Government. An adjudicating official would be appointed by the Director of EOIR to conduct the disciplinary proceedings, take testimony, examine witnesses, and report findings and recommendations to the Disciplinary Committee. The Disciplinary Committee, a three-member panel appointed by the Deputy Attorney General with at least one member from EOIR, would issue the final administrative order.

Third, the proposed rule would include a procedure by which an expelled or suspended practitioner could petition for reinstatement.

Fourth, it would revise and restate the grounds for disciplinary sanctions by consolidating some existing grounds, eliminating others, and adding two new grounds which will apply only to practitioners appearing before the Board and the Immigration Courts. In making these revisions, EOIR tried to adopt language similar to that found in the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct (1995) to provide standards that are widely known and accepted within the legal profession.

Fifth, the proposed rule would provide for the immediate suspension of any practitioner who has been convicted of a serious crime, or any attorney who has been disbarred or suspended by a State bar or who has resigned from a State bar under an admission of misconduct. This provision would allow EOIR and INS to take prompt action to provide some degree of protection for individuals most affected by a practitioner's misconduct.

Sixth, the proposed rule would provide for limited confidentiality of complaints, preliminary inquiries, settlement agreements, and disciplinary proceedings. Notices of Intent to discipline and actions taken after they are issued, including settlement agreements, could be disclosed to the public. Disciplinary hearings would also be open to the public.

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These proposed revisions will enable EOIR and INS to investigate complaints and conduct disciplinary proceedings more effectively and efficiently while ensuring the due process rights of practitioners. They provide for quicker resolution of complaints, in keeping with the best interests of the Government and the individuals involved. Both EOIR and INS recognize that the primary purpose of disciplinary proceedings, and any resulting sanctions imposed on practitioners, is to protect the public and to preserve the integrity and high professional standards of the practice of law before this Nation's immigration tribunals.

Misconduct and misrepresentation by immigration practitioners has been a matter of growing concern to local and State bars and to the Attorney General, who last year created a special working group in the Department of Justice to examine ways to combat fraud and misconduct by practitioners and to educate the public about the problem. This proposed rule will provide an effective process for investigating complaints and imposing sanctions upon unscrupulous immigration practitioners. It also follows recommendations from the Department's Office of Inspector General for changes in rules and procedures to improve the timeliness and effectiveness of immigration case hearings.

The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, January 20, and will provide for a 60-day public comment period ending March 23, 1998. Comments may be submitted to the Office of the General Counsel in either EOIR or INS.

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