Informal proceedings in which an individual appears before an immigration judge ("IJ") to determine various issues related to a person's status and ability to remain in the country. The primary case type for this scheme is removal, in which the IJ determines whether or not a person has committed immigration law violations and should be removed from the U.S. IJs also preside over related issues such as bond redeterminations, credible fear proceedings, reasonable fear proceedings, claimed status review, asylum-only proceedings, withholding-only proceedings, and removal rescission cases.
Respondents will typically first undergo a master calendar hearing before an IJ in order to deal with scheduling and other preliminary matters before presenting a case on the merits at the hearing described in this scheme.
Certain case types (e.g. removal cases, removal rescission cases, asylum-only proceedings, and withholding-only proceedings) are appealable to the Board of Immigration Appeals.