By: Ruby L. Powers
Great News! The Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) opened an additional immigration court in Houston on March 15. You can see the notice for Houston Greenspoint Park Immigration Court posted by EOIR. There will now be a total of four EOIR courts in Houston.
The new Greenspoint Park office falls under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Chief Immigration Judge, which is a component of the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the Department of Justice.
The new court will have 16 immigration judges, 12 of them new to the bench and four who will transfer from the existing courts to this new one. This new court is separate from the downtown and Gessner courts. The new court will be a hybrid court having detained hearings via Video Teleconference (VTC) and non-detained in person.
Individuals currently in immigration or removal proceedings will be routed to the new court based on their zip code and about 20,000 cases from downtown and Gessner will be transferred to this new court. Hearing notices for the new court have started to go out, and at Powers Law Group, we have received several in the last couple of weeks.
This new court should start hearing cases in May if the non-detained docket is reopened by then. Once non-detained hearings resume, they will do so in phases by rotating Immigration judges every week.
The court address is listed below:
Houston – Greenspoint Park
16800 Greenspoint Park Drive, 2nd Floor
Houston, TX 77060
7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday
281-765-5900
Also, for security purposes, all visitors to the immigration court must undergo a security screening through a metal detector machine as well as a handbag screening each time they visit the immigration court. When the courts reopen, there will also likely be rules consistent with public health officials to protect people working in and visiting EOIR spaces.
For more information, go to: https://www.justice.gov/eoir/houston-greenspoint-park-immigration-court
At the Powers Law Group, we have extensive experience representing individuals in immmigratoin court all over the United States. We are excited for this new court opening. If you are looking for an immigration attorney to represent you in your court case or would like to know if you are eligible for an immigration benefit, call our office to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced attorneys at (713) 589-2085.
