{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-merkley-bonamici-salinas-hoyle-dexter-bynum-oppose-trumps-undermining-of-due-process-and-politicizing-immigration-courts", "Wyden, Merkley, Bonamici, Salinas, Hoyle, Dexter, Bynum Oppose Trump\u2019s Undermining of Due Process and Politicizing Immigration Courts", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "OR", "Ron Wyden", "W000779", "www.wyden.senate.gov", "wyden", "https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Oregon lawmakers demand an end to expedited \u201cmega master\u201d hearings in Portland, Tacoma, and other immigration centers.\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Val Hoyle, Maxine Dexter and Janelle Bynum, today demanded the Trump administration end the practice of \u201cmega master\u201d immigration hearings that expedite the review of hundreds of immigrants\u2019 cases in a day, resulting in a fast-track to removing immigrants without due process.\n\n\u201cThis unwarranted blitzkrieg of assaults on justice and fair treatment raises serious constitutional concerns and is unworthy of the oaths you swore to uphold,\u201d the Oregon lawmakers wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Sirce E. Owen, Acting Director of the Executive Office for Immigration Review and David Venturella, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.\n\n\u201cOver the past year, your agencies have increased the number of immigrants who must appear on little-to-no notice for so-called \u2018mega master\u2019 hearings on overcrowded dockets in front of Trump\u2019s handpicked judges at courts across the country, all while stripping immigrants of their legal status, ramping up arrests and detention, and limiting their access to legal counsel for representation in court and fast-tracked asylum interviews,\u201d they wrote.\n\n\u201cThese policy changes confuse and terrify law-abiding immigrants in our communities and prevent them from having a fair day in court.\u201d\n\nThe lawmakers wrote that the Portland Immigration Court in Oregon is now holding about two \u201cmega master\u201d hearings every week, in addition to maintaining its previously-scheduled docket hearings and individual merit hearings. That has forced immigrants anticipating court dates in 2027 or 2028 to suddenly show up on extremely short notice and scrambling both to figure out how to get to the court on time, and to find an attorney to represent them.\n\n\u201cAs if the changes at the Portland Immigration Court weren\u2019t bad enough, the neighboring Tacoma Immigration Court has now had judges deciding in mid-August to stop allowing immigration attorneys across Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska from appearing remotely on behalf of their clients detained at the regional detention center,\u201d the lawmakers continued. \u201cPreviously, the Tacoma Immigration Court allowed out-of-state attorneys to represent their clients by making court appearances through video conferencing technology. Now attorneys\u2014and when applicable, expert witnesses\u2014 have to attend these hearings in person.\u201d\n\nThe new requirement for immigration attorneys to represent their clients in person comes as immigration judges allow Department of Homeland Security prosecutors to participate in hearings remotely. In other cases even the presiding judge is attending remotely as well, with attorneys sharing that remote appearances by judges happen in about half the cases that they must attend in-person at the Tacoma Immigration Court.\n\nThese new in-person requirements also come as attorneys share that the court is sending \u201cnotices to appear\u201d and setting hearings for that same morning giving the attorneys little time to prepare or make travel arrangements from out of state. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also been routinely denying immigration attorneys access to their clients at detention centers, and transferring clients thousands of miles away to detention centers across the country.\n\n\u201cImmigration court proceedings must uphold fairness and rule of law and not be politicized to satisfy Donald Trump\u2019s arbitrary detention quotas. We call on the Trump administration to discontinue policies and tactics that undermine constitutional due process. Our legal system relies on accountability; therefore, we demand that you establish fair and meaningful hearings that provide a genuine day in court and uphold the integrity of our nation\u2019s immigration system,\u201d the lawmakers concluded.\n\nThe lawmakers ended their letter demanding a written response by October 15th, 2026 detailing the steps that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security will take to achieve the following:\n\nTerminate \u201cmega master\u201d hearings.\n\nProvide immigrants with sufficient notice of their proceedings.\n\nReduce hardships on immigration attorneys.\n\nEnsure that immigration judges hear cases individually, free from political influence.", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-merkley-bonamici-salinas-hoyle-dexter-bynum-oppose-trumps-undermining-of-due-process-and-politicizing-immigration-courts"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.9447333179414272, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}