IMPORTANT UPDATE for Our Community
In the past few days, we’ve seen multiple cases in Atlanta where individuals showing up to court as required had their cases dismissed or their notices to appear waived — only to be detained immediately, sometimes even with family members.
The National Immigration Law Center has created a helpful template for what to say if this happens to you or someone you love in court. Please share:
Oral Opposition to Dismissal Template
Your Honor, before you dismiss my case, the law requires you to consider my arguments against dismissing my case. Only the Court has the power and the duty to decide which cases are dismissed and the Court should decide my case on the merits.
If you dismiss my case, I will be prejudiced because I will not have the opportunity to present my application(s) for relief and the evidence that I have in support of my application, which is my right under the law. Also, if you dismiss my case, DHS may put me in expedited removal and deport me very quickly, which makes the potential harm in my case even greater than usual.
[If applying for asylum, withholding of removal, or CAT, or if you fear return] I face persecution, torture, and death in my country of citizenship and I must have an opportunity to seek protection here in the United States.
[If applying for cancellation of removal] My [United States Citizen/Lawful Permanent Resident] [spouse/parent/child] would suffer exceptional and extremely unusual hardship if I were deported, and I would lose my ability to stay with and care for my family. I will not have the opportunity to apply for cancellation of removal if this case is dismissed and I am in an expedited removal process.
[If applying for other form of relief, describe harm in denying opportunity to apply] It was the Department of Homeland Security’s choice to put me into these removal proceedings before Your Honor, and they do not have a legal basis for putting me into expedited removal instead. It is also unlawful for DHS to apply their January 24, 2025 expedited removal expansion memo to me retroactively.
[If you have lived in the U.S. for more than 2 years] I have lived in the United States since [X date], more than 2 years, and I do not think that expedited removal should apply to me.
Additionally, because DHS has not proven what the regulations that control dismissing a case require, the Court should not dismiss my case. DHS has to prove that circumstances in my case have changed since DHS chose to place me in removal proceedings. DHS also has to prove that the changed circumstances now mean that it is in DHS’s best interest to ask Your Honor to dismiss my case. Circumstances have not changed in my case and DHS cannot prove that it is now in the Department’s interest to dismiss my case, especially since putting me in expedited removal would mean starting an entirely new process.
DHS’s request to dismiss my case is unlawful and would prejudice my case and harm me. I respectfully request that you deny DHS’s motion and instead consider my case on its merits.
[If IJ grants dismissal]: I reserve my right to appeal the Court’s decision. Your Honor, please note on the record that I reserved appeal and that the dismissal order cannot be executed while my appeal is pending.
