Legal Services NYC sues immigration courts for not postponing deadlines during deadly pandemic
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a stay-at-home order on March 20, 13 days after he declared a state of disaster emergency for the entire state, the court system came grinding to a halt. Only the criminal and family courts stayed open for arraignments and other emergencies.
Those orders didn’t extend to the immigration courts located within New York City, which are run by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) and offered courts no nationwide guidance about closing or re-opening after a reported COVID-19 case. The courts are currently closed for cases involving non-detained immigrants, but filing deadlines often remain in effect.
On Wednesday, Legal Services NYC filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the EOIR for “recklessly endangering the lives of immigrants, attorneys and the public by continuing to require them to meet strict filing deadlines in non-detained immigration cases.”
The suit is seeking a court order that prohibits EOIR from enforcing filing deadlines, specifically in cases involving non-detained New York City Immigrant Court cases, for at least 45 days until after New York’s stay-at-home order is lifted.