BIA (Board of Immigration Appeals)

What It Means

The Board of Immigration Appeals is the 21-member appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review that hears appeals from decisions of immigration judges in removal, exclusion, and deportation proceedings; appeals from certain DHS benefit decisions (notably I-130 family petitions and bond redeterminations); and motions to reopen or reconsider. The BIA is based in Falls Church, Virginia, and its members are career DOJ attorneys appointed by the Attorney General under 8 CFR 1003.1. The Board issues two types of decisions: non-precedent decisions, which bind only the parties to that case, and precedent decisions published in the I&N Decisions reporter, which are binding on DHS and on all immigration judges nationwide. Precedent decisions are the primary source of administrative immigration case law and cover both substantive standards (asylum nexus in Matter of M-E-V-G-, particular serious crime in Matter of N-A-M-, Chevron deference in Matter of Silva-Trevino) and procedural rules. The Attorney General retains referral authority under 8 CFR 1003.1(h)(1) to direct the BIA to refer a case for AG review and issue a binding AG decision; notable recent examples include Matter of A-B- (Sessions), Matter of L-E-A- (Barr), and Matter of Castro-Tum (Sessions). Appeals from the BIA go to the federal courts of appeals under INA section 242, which applies deferential substantial evidence review to factual findings and de novo review to legal conclusions, subject to Chevron and more recently Loper Bright. BIA case completion averages 6 to 12 months, with a backlog that has exceeded 90,000 pending appeals in recent years.

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