In August 26, 2016, the Justice Department informed the Supreme Court through letters that it provided it with erroneous statistics that formed the basis of the government’s victory in a 2003 case, Demore v. Kim, which upheld the government’s position that the mandatory detention statute at INA § 236(c) required the detention of aliens for an unlimited period, even years, for aliens fighting their cases in immigration court and such prolonged detention was constitutional because it was rare. The department,…

Eric Holder was the Deputy Attorney General beginning September 5, 1997, until January 20, 2001. Janet Reno was the Attorney General at the time. Then, Mr. Holder became Acting Attorney General when George W. Bush became president until John Ashcroft became Attorney General on February 2, 2001. Most immigration practitioners who practiced in that period, 1997-2001, recall the period as one of the darkest in immigration law practice. In April 1996, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed AEDPA, the…