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Original Date Announced
January 31, 2025On January 31, 2025, the EOIR Acting Director issued PM 25-15 regarding the agency's Office of Legal Access Programs (OLAP). (OLAP is the long-established office in EOIR that operates the agency's legal orientation programs and facilitates pro bono representation of persons in immigration proceedings.) The memo is intended to address "multiple questions about the status and function" of that office.
During Trump's first term, OLAP was moved out of the Office of the Director (OOD) and placed under the newly created "Office of Policy" (OP). The memo contends that the Biden era decision to elevate OLAP back to Director's Office was invalid and cryptically adds that EOIR "may not be able to recommend defending any action taken by OLAP while it resided in OOD between July 2021 and February 2024." The memo claims that OLAP's programs have repeatedly been found to be "wasteful" because they increase the length of proceedings and detention times, thus increasing the cost to the Federal government. The memo cites in support an agency study from the Trump era and claims there is an agency study during the Biden administration that drew the same conclusions, but was hidden "from the relevant stakeholders."
(Note: The cited Trump study was conducted at the direction of the Acting AG when he was the Director of the EOIR.)
Trump 2.0 [ID # 1489]
2025.01.31 EOIR PM 25-15: Office of Legal Access ProgramsEffective Date
January 31, 2025Current Status
NoneOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: Final/ActualTrump Administration Action: Change in PracticeSubject Matter: Hearings and AdjudicationsAgencies Affected: EOIRAssociated or Derivative Policies
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
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New Policy
Original Source:
EOIR PM 25-15: Office of Legal Access Programs
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