Kaine And Durbin: Senate to Vote Today on Resolution Blocking Dangerous Trump-Vance Rule Obliterating Immigration Appeals Process

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a former civil rights attorney, and Dick Durbin (D-IL), the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that the Senate will vote this afternoon on their Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn an interim final rule by the Trump-Vance Administration's Department of Justice (DOJ) that would summarily dismiss most appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA). This proposed rule would weaken due process, eliminate meaningful review of life-and-death decisions by immigration judges, and overload already-saturated Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals with a deluge of immigration cases with undeveloped records. Asylum-seekers fleeing persecution, families fighting separation, our Afghan allies, and individuals with limited or no access to legal representation would be particularly affected by the rule.

Kaine and Durbin introduced this privileged resolution on May 1, 2026, and are calling it for a vote within the 60-day timeframe for privileged CRAs. The legislation requires a simple majority to pass the Senate.

"The Trump-Vance Administration, as one of the latest pieces of its inhumane and cruel immigration agenda, is now trying to obliterate the immigration appeal process that exists to rectify legal or factual errors by immigration judges that could result in permanent separations from loved ones, or even persecution or torture when asylum or other humanitarian relief is wrongly denied," said Kaine. "Due process is a pillar of our Constitution and our country's democratic tradition, and that's why we are forcing a vote on a resolution to stop the DOJ's effort to erode it. We encourage all of our colleagues to put the Constitution before politics."

"Although framed as an efficiency measure, this rule makes dramatic changes to the Board of Immigration Appeals within the Department of Justice, severely limiting access to appellate review and making summary dismissal the default outcome in most cases, instead of the exception," said Durbin. "I urge my colleagues to support our resolution to overturn this rule, which calls into serious question the integrity of our immigration court system and guts due process rights for immigrants."

Specifically, the rule would slash time to file an appeal from 30 days to 10; vastly expand the BIA's authority to summarily dismiss appeals without reviewing the cases' merits; prevent most cases from even being briefed, thereby limiting meaningful review; and leave individuals with only one remaining option for recourse - a federal court review - which will overwhelm the federal courts of appeals with unreviewed immigration cases.

Full text of the senators' resolution is available here.

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