12/10/2025, written by Morgan E. Granoff, Esq., Law firm owner of Legal American Dream P.A. in Florida, USA
As an immigration attorney practicing before the U.S. Department of Justice Immigration Courts, before the Board of Immigration Appeals, and in Federal Courts in South Florida, this Supreme Court case is about to be huge. In Urias-Orellana v. Bondi, Att’y Gen., Docket Number 24-777 The justices are poised to change how the Federal Courts can review asylum denials.
Right now, an immigrant who comes into the United States and applies to USCIS before the 1-year deadline generally can apply for asylum. (Granted, USCIS is adjudicating those asylum cases, though as of now USCIS asylum adjudications or “decisions” are being paused.) However, to get that asylum, the intending immigrant must apply to the U.S. government within the 1-year filing deadline. Then, generally, USCIS either keeps the case or places the immigrant into Deportation or Removal Court. Once in that court, they will have an opportunity to appear before an Immigration Judge (IJ) and have a trial on their case.
In their trial, they can present evidence, submit a sworn declaration or statement, and also present witnesses who can testify on their behalf. All of this must be done in advance of the trial, with notice to the Department of Homeland Security.
For their immigration trial, they can have an attorney help them prepare evidence and appear at hearings with them. I have experience in many immigration trials, detained and non-detained, and they are very difficult for immigrants who do not have proper representation, because there is always a highly skilled attorney from the Department of Homeland Security who is trained to try asylum cases. It is beneficial to have an attorney on your side who can help you prepare and who can help you understand what types of questions you will likely receive from the DHS attorney. Our office can help prepare you and your family for your most important day of trial before the U.S. government in your asylum case.
As it stands now, immigrants who are placed into Asylum Court can appeal their asylum denial within 30 days to the Board of Immigration Appeals. So if they lose at the lower court level, they can challenge that negative finding and denial at the higher court level. It is difficult to win an appeal, but an attorney can guide you through the process by arguing the law and the facts, and sending the appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Our law office handles appeals to the Board of immigration appeals, if you are interested you can schedule a consultation with us.
In the appellate level, there are countless ways an immigration case can be overturned, some ways are related to the judge’s legal reasoning and other ways involve factual mistakes. However, once another negative determination comes from the Board of Immigration Appeals, or a denial of your asylum at the appeals court, immigrants turn to the Federal Court in their jurisdiction to fight it again. They essentially appeal their two denials. This needs to be done within 30 days of the last determination, and does not give the person status in the U.S. to remain here afterwards, unless there is an emergency Stay-of Deportation injunction granted by the Federal court judge. Which is a whole other part. However, this is where the Supreme Court is now stepping in to set the record straight.
Oral argument in this case: Urias-Orellana v. Bondi, Att’y Gen., Docket Number 24-777 (Argued 12/01/25) just went before the Supreme Court for the United States. The topic was the federal review of asylum cases, and whether, and how, denials of asylum should be reviewable by the Federal Courts after denials by the Immigration Court and the Board of Immigration Appeals have been issued.
Most would be surprised that the Courts that decide asylum are not the judical branch like regular judicial branches operate. The Department of Justice is a federal executive administrative agency, and so that means the immigration courts are not regular judicial courts. They are part of the executive branch which is the office of the executive department–meaning the president of the United States is essentially the chief of that court. Meaning, these courts are at times influenced by the current immigration policies of the executive branch. Although, the Immigration Judges apply case law from the Board of Immigration Appeals, and statutory law from the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), if the executive branch is handling immigration more stringently, immigration cases are often denied more frequently, making the standard slightly stricter. And if cases are denied at a high level in the general courts, they are denied at an even higher level in the detained-docket courts. I know from experience, that these cases are generally harder to fight. Usually the client has a criminal history, or they are only eligible for forms of relief such as “withholding of removal, or cancelation of removal.” To win these types of cases it is a much higher level than a typical asylum standard, and has it’s own standards and rules. However, it is possible to win these types of cases, and has been done by attorneys countless times before. If you or a loved one you know has these types of cases, set up an appointment with us to review your case.
Thus, after denials at the lower DOJ court and the Board of Immigration Appeals appellate court is when an immigrant turns to the judicial branch at the Federal Court in their area.
Once an immigrant reaches Federal Court in their area, they hope that the Federal Court judges, who apply federal law, appellate law, Supreme Court precedent, and statutory law, will tilt the scales slightly more in their favor. That has recently been the case with bond hearings. Many immigrants are turning to Habeas Corpus (Latin for “you have the body”) Federal lawsuits. This is what immigrants are filing since their loved ones who entered into the U.S. are not able to seek a bond hearing. These lawsuits are being granted at a higher rate in the Federal Courts than in the Immigration Courts. Because, similar bond requests in Immigration Court are being denied without hearing because immigration judges (IJs) are now stating they do not have the authority or “jurisdiction” to hear a bond motion or to grant a bond at this time. So if you need help filing a Habeas Corpus, our office does this work and you can schedule a consultation with us.
Federal lawsuits are also going forward for a Writ of Mandamus, in which the plaintiff immigrant sues the Federal U.S. government to require the government to perform a specific, non-discretionary legal duty it is failing to perform, or to correct an abuse of discretion. An example of this is when your USCIS case is pending longer than the average amount of time a case should be pending. Let’s say you have a family petition, or any other type of petition with USCIS which it has been pending for years without an interview and no news on it. You can sue the Federal government to have them adjudicate or make a decision in your case. This also applies to asylum cases, or oath ceremonies that were set to take place that have gone over the 120 day time period.
How do you know if your case is pending longer than normal? You use USCIS’s system for Case Processing Times. That gives you the official estimate of the time in which 80 percent of cases are processed. When your case falls far outside that window, you can sue. It is that simple. Check your processing time at: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/
Regardless of these developments, this Supreme Court case will be extremely influential in the immigration field for future review of denials in asylum cases.
For the official Supreme Court oral argument, see: https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/audio/2025/24-777
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