AG Sessions expands IHP

Original Date Announced
March 30, 2017
In response to Executive Order 13768 (Interior Enforcement), Attorney General Sessions announces the expansion of the Institutional Hearing Program (IHP). The IHP will expand to a total of 14 Bureau of Prisons facilities and 6 contract facilities. There will also be a new intake process and increased video teleconferencing capabilities in the facilities.
[ID #138]
Expansion and Modernization of IHP
Effective Date
March 30, 2017

Fully in Effect

Status: Final/Actual

Trump Administration Action: Change in Practice

Subject Matter: Interior

Agencies Affected: EOIR CBP ICE

Pre Trump-Era Policies

July 17, 2019 The Institutional Hearing Program (a.k.a. Institutional Removal Program) was created in 1988 to identify deportable noncitizens who have been convicted of criminal offenses and then initiate their removal proceedings before they get released from criminal custody. The program was created by IRCA: “In the case of an alien who is convicted of an offense which makes the alien subject to deportation, the Attorney General shall begin any deportation proceeding as expeditiously as possible after the date of the conviction.” The number of removals conducted through the IHP grew dramatically after its inception, ranging from 1,409 in FY88 to 18,018 at its apex in FY97. However, after IIRIRA and AEDPA were enacted in 1996, IHP removals promptly plummeted because of the expanded list of deportable offenses that made it easier to carry out deportations without an immigration court hearing. AIC - The Institutional Hearing Program: An Overview