What you need to know about the lasalle immigration court

The Lasalle immigration court is one of three immigration courts in Louisiana run by the Executive Office for Immigration Review. It is located in Jena, Louisiana, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana and has a population of just under 4,000. It is located approximately three hours north of Baton Rouge and an hour and a half south of Monroe, almost literally in the middle of nowhere.
Unfortunately, given its remote location, immigrants detained at the facility adjoining the Lasalle immigration court and who make their court appearances at the Lasalle Immigation Court do not have a plethora of immigration attorneys to choose from. In fact, out of all the attorneys who practice law in Jena, Louisiana, not one of them to date practices immigration law. Therefore, people who are detained at the Lasalle ICE Processing Center must look outside of Jena for representation. The closest nearby city which has attorneys who practice immigration law is Alexandria, Louisiana. It is this city where Liberty Law Group, LLC has its office. Alexandria, Louisiana is located just an hour south of Jena, Louisiana.
The Lasalle Immigration Court is relatively new. It was completely empty and used prior to the most recent elections. After the Trump administration received notice that there was an empty courtroom available to conduct removal operations, it quickly went into action. Initially, the first judges who were appointed to oversee the hearings at the Lasalle Immigration Court were based out of Miami, Florida. The hearings would be conducted via video conference where both the judge and the government prosecuting attorney would be in Miami and the immigrants would sit in the once previously courtroom with a large screen tv sitting in front of them which displayed the courtroom located in Miami, Florida.
In late 2018, EOIR appointed permanent judges to sit on the bench at the Lasalle immigration court. There are now five immigration judges overseeing cases at the Lasalle immigration court. Judges at the Lasalle immigration court not only oversee immigrants housed at the Lasalle ICE processing center, but they also adjudicated cases for immigrants who are detained at River Correctional Facility in Ferriday, Louisiana and Bossier Medium Security Facility located near Shreveport, Louisiana.
Immigration attorneys at Liberty Law Group have many clients who attend hearings at the Lasalle immigration court and regularly attend hearings at that location.
If you have any family or loved ones in immigration proceedings at the Lasalle immigration court, and decide to travel to Jena, Louisiana to visit them, you are strongly encouraged to stay in the Alexandria area as there are no hotels that are remotely worth staying in. Your dining options are also highly limited although if you want some good southern cooking, you can’t go wrong with Burger Barn.


Keywords: Lasalle immigration court immigration attorney
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