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2.0

EOIR expands dedicated docket

  1. Original Date Announced

    August 19, 2025

    EOIR Acting Director Sirce Owen issued policy memorandum (PM) 25-41, superseding and replacing PM 21-23, which first created the Dedicated Docket. Under PM 21-23, the Dedicated Docket focuses on the adjudication of cases involving families that were placed on Alternatives to Detention (ATD) after crossing the southern border. It operated in ten identified nondetained courts located in cities with established pro bono networks, established a goal of completing cases within 300 days of the initial master calendar hearing, and involved the provision of certain services to enrolled families (e.g., "access to information services and possible referral services to facilitate legal representation.").

    PM 25-41 expands the Dedicated Docket "to all immigration courts nationwide that do not adjudicate cases exclusively for detained aliens." It further states that (1) DHS may schedule any ATD cases onto the Dedicated Docket, (2) immigration judges "will endeavor" to issue a decision in each Dedicated Docket case within 180 days of the initial master calendar hearing, and (3) Appellate Immigration Judges "will endeavor" to issue a decision in each Dedicated Docket case within 90 days of the filing of any Notice of Appeal.

    Whereas PM 21-23 directed Immigration Judges to consider the statutory right to counsel and considerations of due process and fundamental fairness in deciding continuance requests, the new guidance states only that IJs must be mindful that continuance requests be evaluated in accordance with the law.

    Trump 2.0 [ID #1930]

    2025.08.19 EOIR - PM 25-41: Updates to the Dedicated Docket
  2. Effective Date

    August 19, 2025

Current Status

None

Original Trump Policy Status

Status: Final/Actual
Trump Administration Actions: Agency Directive Change in Practice
Subject Matter: Hearings and Adjudications
Agencies Affected: EOIR

Pre Trump-Era Policies

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To provide information, corrections, or feedback, please email IPTP.feedback@gmail.com