Coronavirus: Trump administration orders immigration judges to remove CDC posters aimed at slowing outbreak

Order to take down displays comes hours after advice issued

The body representing US immigration judges has recommended that coronavirus advice posters from the Centres for Disease Control be posted in court buildings – only to be ordered by a government office to take them down.

The incident comes just a week after an immigration judge retired while claiming the Trump administration was turning the Immigration Courts into a “politburo rubber stamp”, and the government’s immigration policies have been accused of potentially hastening the spread of coronavirus by scaring immigrants into dropping their health insurance.

The National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ) recommended to judges that they hang warning posters – in both English and Spanish – in public areas of their courts as part of a list of measures to combat the spread of the virus.

However, only hours after it tweeted out its official advice, it said the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), which oversees the immigration courts, had ordered the posters to be taken down.

“EOIR has ordered immigration court staff to remove CDC posters designed to slow spread of coronavirus,” the NAIJ tweeted. “No, this is not a parody account. NAIJ had recommended to immigration judges that they post in courthouses the English and Spanish language versions of the CDC’s ‘Stop the Spread of Germs’ and ‘Symptoms of Coronavirus Disease 2019’ posters. EOIR ordered that they be removed.”

It then provided links to English-language versions of the posters in question.

In an email obtained by legal news website Law & Crime, an EOIR judge wrote: “This is just a reminder that immigration judges do not have the authority to post, or ask you to post, signage for their individual courtrooms or the waiting areas.

“Per our leadership, the CDC flyer is not authorised for posting in the immigration courts. If you see one (attached), please remove it.”

Asked for comment, an EOIR spokesperson said: “The signs should not have been removed. The matter is being rectified.”

The Immigration Court system is responsible for hearing the cases of immigrants threatened with deportation. It is not part of the judiciary, instead governed by the EOIR, which in turn is under the oversight of the Department of Justice.

This means that unlike other courts, the Immigration Courts can be subject to direct political instruction from the executive branch, and are meant to implement the attorney general’s interpretation of the law.

The Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies have put the courts under heavy pressure. There is currently a backlog of one million cases waiting to be heard.