BIA Training & Development Program Training Sessions
| Tracking # |
2019-14500 |
| Submitted | Dec. 21, 2018 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Matthew Hoppock
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
The BIA's webpage has a section devoted to "Training Sessions". The reading reads "BIA Training & Development Program," and it is located at "https://eoirnet/sites/eoir/BIA/BIA Web/Pages/Training-Sessions.aspx"
We are requesting each of these "training session" videos along with the records and documents included in each training session.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Matthew Hoppock
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 21, 2018. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew,
Attached is the list of trainings. Many go back to 2011 and are obsolete. For instance, "Standard of Review Update" is from 4/13/2011 and is likely no longer "good law".
Many of the trainings will have to be coordinated with internal and external agencies. For instance, the 2017 training on "Vulnerable Populations" will have to be coordinated with ORR, KIND, and USCIS.
Can you identify a few specific trainings so we can focus our efforts?
Wr/
Joseph R. Schaaf
Chief Counsel, Administrative Law
Executive Office for Immigration Review
-
~WRD373
From: Matthew Hoppock
Joseph,
Thanks for this request for clarification. I think you're right that there are definitely trainings that might be a bit stale or are covered in multiple years' trainings. For what it's worth the standard of review training from 2011 looks pretty interesting (and the law on the Board's review standard hasn't changed much since 2011).
To scope this request, the specific trainings I'm requesting are the following:
1/17/2018 Short Training Sessions
1/10/2018 Asylum Issues Spotlight: Pattern or Practice and Disfavored Group Analyses
11/8/2017 Developments in International Religious Freedom
10/19/2017 Advanced Issues in Asylum, Withholding, & CAT II
6/14/2017 Advanced Issues in Asylum, Withholding, and CAT
4/20/2017 Cancellation of Removal and Voluntary Departure: Issues in Appellate Adjudication
12/8/2016 Immigration Law Series: Appellate Adjudication Part IV - Criminal Law Developments
12/8/2016 Immigration Law Series: Appellate Adjudication Part IV - Waiver, Abandonment, and Exhaustion
11/16/2016 Immigration Law Series: Appellate Adjudication Part III - Acquiescence and Torture under the Convention Against Torture
9/21/2016 Immigration Law Series: Appellate Adjudication Part I - Who Are You? Identity Issues in Immigration
7/27/2016 Fraud and Abuse Prevention
4/21/2016 Analyzing Adjustment of Status Claims
2/18/2016 Attorney Discipline
8/12/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Mental Competency in Immigration Court Proceedings: Identifying & Analyzing Competency Issues
8/12/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Home & Away: Consular Waivers & Processing
8/12/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Conducting Efficient Custody & Bond Proceedings
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Unaccompanied Children: The Journey, Custody, & Reunification
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Life, Death, & Fear of Gangs: Overview of Gang-Based Asylum Claims
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Strategies to Address Problematic Counsel: Practitioner Discipline Law & Procedure
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Waivers of Inadmissibility & the INA
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Analyzing Evidence: Authentication of Documents, Assessing Evidentiary Weight, & Other Issues
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Tying the Knot Post-Windsor: Immigration Issues for Same-Sex Couples
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Child Development & Eliciting Accurate Information from Child Witnesses
8/11/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - All in the Family: Advanced Visa Petition Topics
8/10/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Terrorism-Related Inadmissibility Grounds (TRIG) & Exemptions
8/10/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Symposium: Legalization of Marijuana & Immigration Law
8/10/2015 2015 EOIR Legal Training Program - Emerging Issues in the Categorical Approach: Divisibility & Probability
5/21/2015 The Triple "A"s of Evidence: Administrative Notice, Authentication of Documents, and Assessing the Weight of Evidence
2/11/2015 Corruption & Whistleblowing
3/20/2014 Adjudicating Citizenship Claims
9/19/2013 Constitutional Challenges in Immigration Proceedings
7/19/2012 Vartelas v. Holder - Admission of Lawful Permanent Residents Who Make Brief, Casual, and Innocent Departures
6/13/2012 Special Topics in Asylum Law: Firm Resettlement & Internal Relocation
3/15/2012 Personal Circumstances & Asylum Eligibility: When does an alien's changed personal circumstances constitute a new claim for asylum?
10/12/2011 LPR Cancellation of Removal Overview
6/15/2011 "Other Serious Harm" and Humanitarian Asylum
4/13/2011 Standard of Review Update
1/26/2011 Emergency Stays and the Departure Bar
Let me know if you have any questions. Thank you.
Matthew Hoppock
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew, I was thinking 5 or 6 :) ... for this initial request, can you give us your top 10? We will have to watch all these videos. You can always ask for more.
Right now I'm finishing up 2019-10636. Wr/JRS
-
~WRD000
From: Matthew Hoppock
I am requesting the complete list of videos. If they will take longer than the statutory deadline, I would ask that they be released on a rolling basis - the agency does not need to wait until all of these materials have been reviewed and then release them all at once.
I don't think it would be administratively efficient to break up this request into numerous additional requests. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. Thank you.
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew, the videos are on their way to you via USPS on 2 DVDs.
This is also a partial response to 2019-14500.
Wr/JRS
-
WRD387
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
A cover letter granting the request and outlining any exempted materials, if any.
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
A first set of responsive documents from the agency, with more to be sent at a specified date.
-
Video - Understanding Expedited and Administrative Removal.wmv
-
Video - The Board's Emergency Stay Process.mpg
-
Video - Terrorism-Related Grounds of Removability.mp4
-
Video - Public Charge Grounds of Removability.mpg
-
Video - Part 2, Advanced Issues in Asylum, Withholding, & CAT II.mp4
-
Video - Part 1, Advanced Issues in Asylum, Withholding, & CAT II.mp4
-
Video - Alien Smuggling Grounds of Removability.mpg
-
Video - (Immigration Law Series Appellate Adjudication Part IV - Waiver, Abandonment, and Exhuastion).wmv
There are too many files to display on this communication. See all files
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
A copy of documents responsive to the request.
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
A first set of responsive documents from the agency, with more to be sent at a specified date.
There are too many files to display on this communication. See all files
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew, enclosures will arrive via a box of CDs.
Wr/
Joseph R. Schaaf
Chief Counsel, Administrative Law
Executive Office for Immigration Review
From: Matthew Hoppock
Joseph, I've reviewed the files on the DVDs for 2019-1450, but the two videos that have been provided ("Applying the Categorical Approach" and "Immigration Law Series Appellate Adjudication") are not playable. They appear as .WMV files but they did not burn to the CDs correctly. They're 0KB, which means there is no information in either file. I've tried to open them with Windows Media Player, VLC, and several other third party solutions, but none of them will play these files.
I also noticed that most of the training videos I asked for have not been provided. Is there an additional set that will be provided at some later date? The May 8, 2019 adjudication letter does not say additional documents will be provided. Please confirm.
Thank you.
Matthew L. Hoppock
-
Two20Videos.JPG
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew, you should have 19 videos. Not all the training sessions had video. For instance, none of the 2015 conference sessions had video.
I will be glad to recopy and re-send the two videos that did not burn correctly.
From: Matthew Hoppock
We've only received two videos, and they're the ones that contain no data. All of the files that have been received so far are here: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/bia-training-development-program-training-sessions-66372/files/
In total there were 14 files, of which two were video files (.wmv) and 12 were .pdf files. If there are more records that should have been sent, please send them. Thank you.
Matthew L. Hoppock
From: Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review
Matthew, I went to the site and there are more videos now. It looks like Muckrock is still uploading them.
Also, the unredacted document 04012019[Untitled]_2019040115155000.pdf we asked you to replace with the attached redacted version is posted. Please remove the unredacted version, thank you.
Wr/JRS
-
~WRD000
From: Matthew Hoppock
It has been removed. Thank you.
Matthew Hoppock
Files
pages
