Expanding the Size of the Board of Immigration Appeals

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents.

Rules and Regulations

Federal Register

18105

Vol. 85, No. 63

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Executive Office for Immigration

Review

8 CFR Part 1003

[Docket No. EOIR 20–0010; AG Order No.

4663–2020]

RIN 1125–AB00

Expanding the Size of the Board of

Immigration Appeals

AGENCY

: Executive Office for

Immigration Review, Department of

Justice.

ACTION

: Interim rule with request for

comments.

SUMMARY

: This rule amends the

Department of Justice regulations

relating to the organization of the Board

of Immigration Appeals (‘‘Board’’) by

adding two Board member positions,

thereby expanding the Board to 23

members.

DATES

Effective date: April 1, 2020.

Comment date: Written comments

must be submitted on or before May 1,

2020. Comments postmarked on or

before that date will be considered

timely. The electronic Federal Docket

Management System will accept

comments until midnight Eastern Time

on that date.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Lauren Alder Reid, Assistant Director,

Executive Office for Immigration

Review, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Suite 2616,

Falls Church, Virginia 22041, telephone

(703) 305–0289.

I. Public Participation

Interested persons are invited to

participate in this rulemaking by

submitting written data, views, or

arguments on all aspects of this rule.

The Department also invites comments

that relate to the economic,

environmental, or federalism effects that

might result from this rule. Comments

that will provide the most assistance to

the Department in developing these

procedures will reference a specific

portion of the rule, explain the reason

for any recommended change, and

include data, information, or authority

that supports such recommended

change.

Each submitted comment should

include the agency name and reference

RIN 1125–AB00 or EOIR Docket No. 20–

0010 for this rulemaking. Please note

that all properly received comments are

considered part of the public record and

made available for public inspection at

www.regulations.gov. Such information

includes personally identifying

information (such as name, address,

etc.) voluntarily submitted by the

commenter. The Department may

withhold from public viewing

information provided in comments that

they determine may impact the privacy

of an individual or is offensive. For

additional information, please read the

Privacy Act notice that is available via

the link in the footer of http://

www.regulations.gov.

If you want to submit personally

identifying information (such as your

name, address, etc.) as part of your

comment but do not want it to be posted

online, you must include the phrase

‘‘PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph

of your comment and identify what

information you want redacted. The

redacted personally identifying

information will be placed in the

agency’s public docket file but not

posted online.

If you want to submit confidential

business information as part of your

comment but do not want it to be posted

online, you must include the phrase

‘‘CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS

INFORMATION’’ in the first paragraph

of your comment. You also must

prominently identify confidential

business information to be redacted

within the comment. If a comment has

so much confidential business

information that it cannot be effectively

redacted, all or part of that comment

may not be posted on

www.regulations.gov. The redacted

confidential business information will

not be placed in the public docket file.

To inspect the agency’s public docket

file in person, you must make an

appointment with agency counsel.

Please see the

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT

section above for the agency

counsel’s contact information by topic

in Section III, infra.

II. Background

The Executive Office for Immigration

Review (‘‘EOIR’’) administers the

Nation’s immigration court system.

Generally, cases commence before an

immigration judge when the Department

of Homeland Security (‘‘DHS’’) files a

charging document against an alien with

the immigration court. See 8 CFR

1003.14(a). EOIR primarily decides

whether foreign-born individuals who

are charged by DHS with violating

immigration law pursuant to the

Immigration and Nationality Act

(‘‘INA’’) should be ordered removed

from the United States, or should be

granted relief or protection from

removal and be permitted to remain in

the United States. EOIR’s Office of the

Chief Immigration Judge administers

these adjudications in immigration

courts nationwide.

Decisions of the immigration judges

are subject to review by EOIR’s

appellate body, the Board of

Immigration Appeals, which currently

comprises 21 permanent Board

members. The Board is the highest

administrative tribunal for interpreting

and applying U.S. immigration law. The

Board’s decisions can be reviewed by

the Attorney General, as provided in 8

CFR 1003.1(g) and (h). Decisions of the

Board and the Attorney General are

subject to judicial review.

III. Expansion of Number of Board

Members

EOIR’s mission is to adjudicate

immigration cases by fairly,

expeditiously, and uniformly

interpreting and administering the

Nation’s immigration laws. This

includes the initial adjudication of

aliens’ cases in immigration courts

nationwide, as well as appellate review

by the Board when appeals are timely

filed. In order to more efficiently

accomplish EOIR’s commitment to

promptly decide a large volume of

cases, as well as review a large quantity

of appeals of those cases, this rule

amends the Department’s regulations

relating to the organization of the Board

by adding two Board member positions,

thereby expanding the Board from 21 to

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 63 / Wednesday, April 1, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

The Department expanded the number of Board

members from 15 to 17 on June 3, 2015, when it

published in the Federal Register an interim rule

amending 8 CFR 1003.1. See 80 FR 31461 (June 3,

2015). On February 27, 2018, the Department

published a final rule further expanding the Board

from 17 to 21 members. See 83 FR 8321 (Feb. 27,

2018).

23 members.

This rule revises the third

sentence of 8 CFR 1003.1(a)(1), leaving

the remainder of paragraph (a)(1)

unchanged.

Expanding the number of Board

members is necessary at this time for

two primary reasons. First, EOIR is

currently managing the largest caseload

both the immigration court system and

the Board have ever seen. At the end of

FY 2019, there were 1,047,803 cases

pending at the immigration courts,

marking an increase of 251,725 cases

pending above those at the end of FY

2018. See Pending Cases, available at

https://www.justice.gov/eoir/file/

1242166/download. Similarly, the

pending caseload at the Board

essentially doubled between FY 2018

and FY 2019, from 35,503 to 70,183. See

All Appeals Filed, Completed, and

Pending, available at https://

www.justice.gov/eoir/page/file/1199201/

download. Furthermore, DHS filed

504,848 new cases with EOIR in FY

2019, an increase of nearly 200,000 new

cases filed over FY 2018. See New Cases

and Total Completions-Historical,

available at https://www.justice.gov/

eoir/page/file/1238746/download. Each

of the three previous fiscal years has set

a new record for new case filings by

DHS, see id., leading to an increase in

the backlog of pending cases and an

increased need for EOIR adjudicators to

handle the new influx of cases,

including at the Board. The efficient and

timely adjudication of cases is the

highest priority for EOIR, and EOIR

requires additional resources to handle

the increased caseload. Moreover, as the

caseload in the immigration courts

increases, the Department anticipates

that the corresponding caseload at the

Board will also expand, as it did

significantly in FY 2019.

Second, the Department has made

concerted efforts in recent years to hire

more immigration judges, resulting in a

net increase of its immigration judge

corps of 153 between the end of FY

2016 and the end of FY 2019. See

Immigration Judge Hiring, available at

https://www.justice.gov/eoir/file/

1242156/download. Moreover, the

Department continues to advertise for

and select a new class of immigration

judges almost every quarter of the fiscal

year. The Department expects that, as

these new immigration judges enter on

duty, the number of decisions rendered

nationwide by immigration judges will

increase and, in turn, the number of

appeals filed with the Board will also

increase.

The current caseload at the Board is

burdensome and may become

overwhelming in the future for a Board

of 21 members. At the same time, if the

Board becomes too large, it may have

difficulty fulfilling its responsibility of

providing coherent direction with

respect to the immigration laws. In

particular, because the Board currently

issues precedent decisions only with the

approval of a majority of permanent

Board members, a substantial increase

in the number of Board members may

make the process of issuing such

decisions more difficult.

Keeping in mind the goal of

maintaining cohesion and the ability to

reach consensus, but recognizing the

challenges the Board faces in light of its

current and anticipated increased

caseload, the Department has

determined that two positions should be

added to the Board at this time. These

changes are necessary to maintain an

efficient system of appellate

adjudication in light of the increasing

caseload.

IV. Public Comments

This rule is exempt from the usual

requirements of prior notice and

comment and a 30-day delay in effective

date because, as an internal delegation

of authority, it relates to a matter of

agency organization, procedure, or

practice. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b). The

Department nonetheless has chosen to

promulgate this rule as an interim rule,

providing the public with opportunity

for post-promulgation comment before

the Department issues a final rule on

these matters.

V. Regulatory Requirements

A. Administrative Procedure Act

Prior notice and comment is

unnecessary because this is a rule of

management or personnel as well as a

rule of agency organization, procedure,

or practice. See 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2),

(b)(A). For the same reasons, this rule is

not subject to a 30-day delay in effective

date. See 5 U.S.C. 553(a)(2), (d).

B. Regulatory Flexibility Act

Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act

(RFA), ‘‘[w]henever an agency is

required by section 553 of [the

Administrative Procedure Act], or any

other law, to publish general notice of

proposed rulemaking for any proposed

rule . . . the agency shall prepare and

make available for public comment an

initial regulatory flexibility analysis.’’ 5

U.S.C. 603(a); see 5 U.S.C. 604(a). Such

analysis is not required when a rule is

exempt from notice-and-comment

rulemaking under 5 U.S.C. 553(b) or

other law. Because this is a rule of

internal agency organization and

therefore is exempt from notice-and-

comment rulemaking, no RFA analysis

under 5 U.S.C. 603 or 604 is required.

C. Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

1995

This rule will not result in the

expenditure by State, local, and tribal

governments, in the aggregate, or by the

private sector, of $100 million or more

in any one year, and it will not

significantly or uniquely affect small

governments. Therefore, no actions were

deemed necessary under the provisions

of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

of 1995.

D. Executive Orders 12866 (Regulatory

Planning and Review), 13563

(Improving Regulation and Regulatory

Review), and 13771 (Reducing

Regulation and Controlling Regulatory

Costs)

This rule is limited to agency

organization, management, or personnel

matters and is therefore not subject to

review by the Office of Management and

Budget pursuant to section 3(d)(3) of

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory

Planning and Review. Nevertheless, the

Department certifies that this regulation

has been drafted in accordance with the

principles of Executive Order 12866,

section 1(b), and Executive Order 13563.

Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

direct agencies to assess all costs and

benefits of available regulatory

alternatives and, if regulation is

necessary, to select regulatory

approaches that maximize net benefits,

including consideration of potential

economic, environmental, public health,

and safety effects; distributive impacts;

and equity. The benefits of this rule

include providing the Department with

an appropriate means of responding to

the increased number of appeals to the

Board. The public will benefit from the

expansion of the number of Board

members because such expansion will

help EOIR better accomplish its mission

of adjudicating cases in an efficient and

timely manner. Overall, the benefits

provided by the Board’s expansion

outweigh the costs of employing

additional federal employees. Finally,

because this rule is one of internal

organization, management, or

personnel, it is not subject to the

requirements of Executive Order 13771.

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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 63 / Wednesday, April 1, 2020 / Rules and Regulations

E. Executive Order 13132—Federalism

This rule will not have substantial

direct effects on the States, on the

relationship between the National

Government and the States, or on the

distribution of power and

responsibilities among the various

levels of government. Therefore, in

accordance with section 6 of Executive

Order 13132, this rule does not have

sufficient federalism implications to

warrant the preparation of a federalism

summary impact statement.

F. Executive Order 12988—Civil Justice

Reform

This rule meets the applicable

standards set forth in sections 3(a) and

3(b)(2) of Executive Order 12988.

G. Paperwork Reduction Act

The provisions of the Paperwork

Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104–

13, 44 U.S.C. chapter 35, and its

implementing regulations, 5 CFR part

1320, do not apply to this final rule

because there are no new or revised

recordkeeping or reporting

requirements.

H. Congressional Review Act

This is not a major rule as defined by

5 U.S.C. 804(2). This action pertains to

agency organization, management, and

personnel and, accordingly, is not a

‘‘rule’’ as that term is used in 5 U.S.C.

804(3). Therefore, the reports to

Congress and the Government

Accountability Office specified by 5

U.S.C. 801 are not required.

List of Subjects in 8 CFR Part 1003

Administrative practice and

procedure, Aliens, Immigration, Legal

services, Organization and functions

(Government agencies).

Accordingly, for the reasons stated in

the preamble, part 1003 of title 8 of the

Code of Federal Regulations is amended

as follows:

PART 1003—EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR

IMMIGRATION REVIEW

■ 1. The authority citation for part 1003

continues to read as follows:

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 6 U.S.C. 521; 8

U.S.C. 1101, 1103, 1154, 1155, 1158, 1182,

1226, 1229, 1229a, 1229b, 1229c, 1231,

1254a, 1255, 1324d, 1330, 1361, 1362; 28

U.S.C. 509, 510, 1746; sec. 2 Reorg. Plan No.

2 of 1950; 3 CFR, 1949–1953 Comp., p. 1002;

section 203 of Pub. L. 105–100, 111 Stat.

2196–200; sections 1506 and 1510 of Pub. L.

106–386, 114 Stat. 1527–29, 1531–32; section

1505 of Pub. L. 106–554, 114 Stat. 2763A–

326 to –328.

■ 2. In § 1003.1, revise the third

sentence of paragraph (a)(1) to read as

follows:

§ 1003.1 Organization, jurisdiction, and

powers of the Board of Immigration

Appeals.

(a)(1) * * * The Board shall consist of

23 members. * * *

* * * * *

Dated: March 25, 2020.

William P. Barr,

Attorney General.

[FR Doc. 2020–06846 Filed 3–31–20; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410–30–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

13 CFR Part 120

Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program;

Modification of Eligibility and Loan

Approval Deadline and Extension of

Pilot Program

AGENCY

: U.S. Small Business

Administration.

ACTION

: Notification of change to

Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program and

extension of pilot program.

SUMMARY

: On October 16, 2017, the U.S.

Small Business Administration (SBA)

published a document announcing the

Express Bridge Loan Pilot Program

(Express Bridge Pilot). In that document,

SBA provided an overview of the

Express Bridge Pilot and modified an

Agency regulation relating to loan

underwriting for loans made under the

Express Bridge Pilot. On May 7, 2018,

SBA published a document to revise

certain program requirements. SBA

continues to refine and improve the

design of the Express Bridge Pilot and

is issuing this document to expand

program eligibility to include small

businesses nationwide adversely

impacted under the Coronavirus Disease

(COVID–19) Emergency Declaration

(COVID–19 Emergency Declaration)

issued by President Trump on March

13, 2020. Further, SBA is revising

program requirements to allow Express

Bridge Pilot loans made under the

COVID–19 Emergency Declaration to be

approved through March 13, 2021. The

modification of eligibility criteria and

program requirements will allow small

businesses adversely impacted by the

COVID–19 emergency to qualify for

loans through the Express Bridge Pilot.

Finally, SBA is extending the term of

the Express Bridge Pilot from September

30, 2020 to March 13, 2021, to assist

small businesses that may experience

delayed effects resulting from the

COVID–19 emergency to benefit from

the Express Bridge Pilot and to allow

SBA to continue its evaluation of the

program.

DATES

: The revised program

requirements described in this

document apply to all Express Bridge

Pilot loans approved on or after April 1,

2020, and the Express Bridge Pilot will

remain available through March 13,

2021.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

Dianna Seaborn, Director, Office of

Financial Assistance, U.S. Small

Business Administration, 409 Third

Street SW, Washington, DC 20416;

Telephone (202) 205–3645; email

address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

: On

October 16, 2017, SBA published a

document announcing the Express

Bridge Pilot. (82 FR 47958) The Express

Bridge Pilot is designed to supplement

the Agency’s disaster response

capabilities and authorizes the Agency’s

7(a) Lenders with SBA Express lending

authority to deliver expedited SBA-

guaranteed financing on an emergency

basis for disaster-related purposes to

small businesses located in

communities impacted by a

Presidentially-declared disaster, while

the businesses apply for and await long-

term financing (including through

SBA’s direct disaster loan program, if

eligible). On May 7, 2018, SBA

published a document to revise certain

Express Bridge Pilot requirements. (83

FR 19921) The Express Bridge Pilot

applies the policies and procedures in

place for the Agency’s SBA Express

program, except as outlined in the

Federal Register documents published

on October 16, 2017, and May 7, 2018.

SBA continues to refine and improve

the design of the Express Bridge Pilot

and, therefore, is issuing this document

to expand program eligibility to include

small businesses nationwide adversely

impacted under the Coronavirus Disease

(COVID–19) Emergency Declaration

issued by President Trump on March

13, 2020. Because the COVID–19

Emergency Declaration covers all states,

territories, and the District of Columbia,

eligible small businesses under the

Express Bridge Pilot will now include

small businesses located in any state,

territory and the District of Columbia

that have been adversely impacted by

the COVID–19 emergency. (Previously,

those small businesses would not be

eligible for Express Bridge Pilot loans

because the program has been limited to

eligible small businesses located in

Primary Counties that have been

Presidentially-declared as major disaster

areas, plus any Contiguous Counties.)

Further, SBA is revising program

requirements to allow Express Bridge

Pilot loans made under the COVID–19

Emergency Declaration to be approved

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