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Closing of Cincinnati Immigration Court
     
  Updated 05.01.09 On March 20, 2009 the U.S. Department of Justice announced the closing of the Cincinnati Immigration Court. As of April 6, all immigration court matters in Ohio will be handled at the Cleveland Immigration Court. Read the Department of Justice press release.

A Cincinnati area activist arranged a meeting for immigration lawyers with Rep. Steve Driehaus and representatives from Sen. Brown and Sen. Voinovich's offices.  The meeting concluded with a pledge from Driehaus, Brown and Voinovich to send a letter to the Department of Justice explaining their opposition to the court closing and asking for additional details. Rep. Driehaus and Sen. Brown signed the letter, however Sen. Voinovich did not.

While ACLU activists contacted the Department of Justice and key decision-makers, it appears that the Cincinnati court will remain closed, with all matters referred to the Cleveland court.
 
The practical problems with this move are many:
 
  • Everyone - immigrants, their attorneys, their families, their witnesses - will now have to travel 8 hours, from Cincinnati to Cleveland and back.
  • This will result in higher costs for immigration attorneys who will be forced to pass those costs on to their clients.
  • Some well-qualified Cincinnati-area attorneys and law firms will undoubtedly stop representing immigrants because of the increased costs and travel time.
  • Witnesses, family members and friends will be unable to attend hearings in Cleveland because of the time and expense involved. Many times, witness participation in these hearings makes a difference to the court and the affected immigrants.
The Cincinnati Immigration Court could easily accommodate hearings by video with the Cleveland court as the equipment is already in place. This is done in other areas of the country, including between Butler County (Ohio) and Cleveland.

Finally, this decision was made with no input from the various stakeholders - immigrants, their attorneys and advocacy groups.


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