Are Chicago Immigration Courts Open Again?

Yes, the Immigration Court is open. The Chicago Immigration Court had delayed or rescheduled many hearings. Starting July 6, 2021, they went back to a regular schedule for most hearings. If your hearing was canceled because of the pandemic, you will get a new hearing date. According to the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) as of July 6, 2021, all immigration courts are holding limited hearings and applying relevant Federal best practices related to communicable disease.

According to the EOIR website:

• On July 6, EOIR resumed non-detained hearings at the following immigration courts which do NOT include Chicago: Dallas, El Paso, Ft. Snelling, Harlingen, Houston, Houston – S. Gessner Road, Houston – Greenspoint Park Drive, Kansas City, Memphis, New York – Broadway, New York – Federal Plaza, New York – Varick, Portland, San Antonio, and San Juan.

• Noncitizens with scheduled hearings from July 6 through July 30 (or representatives who have entered an appearance with the court for a case on those days) who have not received a notice of reset hearing by June 22 should expect scheduled hearings to proceed as scheduled.

COVID closures and quarantines resulted in already backlogged immigration courts being closed to the public, and judges anticipate the Chicago immigration court backlog to be as long as 5 years.