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Original Date Announced
July 3, 2025EOIR Acting Director Owen issued Policy Memorandum (PM) 25-34, "Conflicting Precedents of the Board of Immigration Appeals." The PM notes that unlike most circuit courts, the BIA has never formally adopted a "prior-panel-precedent" rule or explained in a published decision how it would resolve a conflict between BIA precedents. Although only the BIA itself or the AG can determine how conflicts should be addressed, the PM "provide[s] guidance as to how Immigration Judges may approach common scenarios involving conflicting Board precedent, at least until the issue is resolved more definitively."
The PM specifically highlights the areas of administrative closure and protection claims based on allegations of domestic violence, repeating this leadership's rejection of BIA precedents that expanded both areas and objecting to those precedents digressing from earlier, more restrictive BIA rulings. Rather than directing IJs how to interpret these and other BIA precedents, the memo explains that "Immigration Judges will have to apply their best judgment and traditional legal tools or methods of analysis to adjudicate cases before them where Board precedent is in conflict." Further, the PM states that Immigration Judges "should clearly articulate in the decision why one line of precedent was chosen over the other."
Trump 2.0 [ID #1839]
2025.07.03 EOIR - PM 25-34Effective Date
July 3, 2025Current Status
NoneOriginal Trump Policy Status
Status: Final/ActualTrump Administration Action: Agency DirectiveSubject Matter: Hearings and AdjudicationsAgencies Affected: EOIR
Documents
Trump-Era Policy Documents
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New Policy
Original Source:
2025.07.03 EOIR - PM 25-34
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To provide information, corrections, or feedback, please email IPTP.feedback@gmail.com