Newark Immigration Court and Elizabeth Immigration Court Probably Closed Monday, December 27, 2010

Please call the Newark Immigration Court and the Elizabeth Immigration Court to confirm that they are closed on Monday, December 27, 2010, due to the snowstorm.

Some accounts say that the courts are closed on December 27. However, if you have a case that depends on appearing in court, call the courts to confirm this. It would be better for you to rely on an official explanation from the court rather than this blog posting.

The Newark Immigration Court's web site and the Elizabeth Immigration Court's web site do not say anything about being closed. However, it is possible that EOIR does not announce court closures on the particular court's web site.

I did not see anything on the Executive Office for Immigration Review's site to say that either court will be closed. However, is it possible that EOIR does not post closings on its web site, that EOIR has not yet posted the closure, or that EOIR posted it somewhere on its web site but I could not figure out where.

If you find out additional information about whether the courts are closed on December 27, please post a comment to this blog posting.

Update: at some point in the morning, EOIR put on its web site an announcement that the Newark and Elizabeth Immigration Courts are closed December 27 due to the snow. I am very glad that EOIR put an announcement that everyone could see. Maybe in the future they might try to set up a system to put the announcement up earlier, such as the night before or in the early-morning. Still, thank you EOIR for how well you are doing so far!

Additional information: at some point on December 27 morning, USCIS posted information about closings. Here is an excerpt: "East Coast Snow Storm Closes Multiple Offices. The following offices are closed on Monday, Dec. 27 due to the East Coast Snow Storm: Northeast Regional Field Office and Application Support Center (VT); All New York City Field Offices, Application Support Centers and the New York Asylum Office; All Newark, NJ Field Offices and Application Support Centers; Philadelphia, PA Field Office and Application Support Center." (This is an excerpt of what they put up, not the entire announcement.)

Immigration Judge Amiena Khan in Newark Immigration Court

On December 5, 2010, Immigration Judge Amiena Khan started in Newark Immigration Court. Around three weeks afterward, EOIR issued an announcement that included the following description about Judge Khan (the following information comes from EOIR):

Amiena Khan, Immigration Judge, Newark Immigration Court: Attorney General Eric Holder appointed Judge Khan in December 2010. Judge Khan received a bachelor of arts degree in 1983 from New York University Washington Square College of Arts and Science and a juris doctorate in 1987 from the New York Law School. From 1992 to December 2010, she was in private practice in New York, specializing in immigration law. From 1987 to 1992, she was in private practice in New York, practicing general litigation. Judge Khan is a member of the New York State Bar.