A recent decision by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) eliminated the usual practice of granting continuances for immigrants to hire legal representation before their hearings, and attorney Willy Allen III warns that the change particularly endangers Cubans appearing in court.
"I also want to add one more thing: when I was in Japan, a decision was made stating that judges no longer have to give people time to find a lawyer. It is no longer necessary," Allen III explained in an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba.
The ruling that supports this shift is Matter of A-K-R-, issued by the BIA on August 14, 2026. In that decision, the court determined that an immigration judge acted correctly in denying an additional continuance to seek counsel due to lack of "good cause." The only remaining protection is that the initial hearing cannot take place less than 10 days after the notice to appear.
Before this precedent, it was a common practice for judges to postpone the hearing for at least two months to allow the immigrant to secure representation. "It's no longer like before, when you would arrive without a lawyer and they would say: well, I'll postpone the court, come back in two months with a lawyer. That is not going to happen anymore," Allen emphasized.
The lawyer warned that the likelihood of a judge granting that margin voluntarily is minimal with the new magistrates appointed by the Trump Administration. "It can still happen, but it used to be common practice. Now, it's not. So if you have a new Trump-appointed judge, I doubt it will happen," he noted.
Change comes at a time of huge queues overwhelming the Miami Immigration Court, where judges must handle up to 70 cases of initial or preliminary hearings each day. For about a week now, virtual appearances via WebEx have been prohibited for most cases, and starting on September 8, 2026, physical presence will be mandatory for all non-detained cases.
In light of that saturation, Allen III recommends arriving at the court by 7:00 a.m. for hearings scheduled at eight in the morning. "If your court is at eight, go at least an hour earlier to get in," he warned, adding that those who get stuck in line should take timestamped photos to be able to appeal or reopen the case if the judge issues an order in absentia.
Lawyers, on the other hand, are not required to wait in line and can enter the courtroom directly to inform the judge that their client is waiting outside. This operational advantage reinforces Allen's main argument: "It's more important than ever to seek a lawyer to accompany you to court."
The risk for those appearing without representation is twofold: if they arrive late due to congestion, they may receive an order of deportation in absentia; and if they arrive without a lawyer, the judge is no longer obligated to give them time to secure one. Allen III warned in June 2026 that getting to a final merits court without legal representation could likely result in deportation.
The figures illustrate the magnitude of the problem: between October 2025 and June 2026, more than 4,000 Cubans in Florida received deportation orders, and just last June, that number reached 1,642 cases nationwide, according to data from the TRAC project.
Este cambio en las cortes de inmigración es solo uno de los muchos que afectan a cubanos en EE.UU. Sigue todos los detalles en nuestra sección de
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