COLLEGE PARK, Md.–Federal officials have reversed a decision of the Hyattsville Immigration Court and welcomed reporters back inside — without need for permission from a public information officer to be there.
On Friday morning, a Department of Justice office sent an email stating that immigration court hearings are “generally open to the public, including the news media.”
Contrary to what local court officials said earlier this week, the email says that members of the media are not required to get permission from the Executive Office of Immigration Review before observing a hearing.
Furthermore, in open court hearings where space is limited, media should have priority seating, the email said.
It was not immediately clear whether that clarification had gone out to all of the local courts around the country, but advocates for press freedom said they hope so.
“Federal regulation is pretty clear on [media access] but it seems like the message might be getting lost in translation,” said Renee Griffin, a staff attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The decision comes less than a day after Capital News Service editors and publishers asked the Chief Immigration Judge to re-admit them to proceedings in the Hyattsville Immigration Court. On Tuesday, a judge removed two CNS reporters from an immigration courtroom. Court personnel, including the court administrator, told them they could not return to the courthouse without permission from the public information officer at the EOIR.
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That PIO, Kathryn Mattingly, is on furlough due to the government shutdown. Nevertheless, Court Administrator Niel Andrade said the CNS reporters could not return to the courthouse without her explicit permission.
Rafael Lorente, dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, wrote a letter to Chief Immigration Judge Teresa Riley on Thursday, citing the court’s own policy manual where it says that representatives of the news media may attend hearings that are open to the public. Merrill College runs CNS. The chief immigration judge runs the administrative courts for the DOJ and the EOIR.
He was appealing on behalf of the reporters and their editor, Christi Parsons, who have been covering the Hyattsville Immigration Court for the past two months. Reporters had previously identified themselves as press whenever judges asked, but none had ever tried to remove them before.
First thing on Friday, Lorente received an unsigned email from the EOIR.
“Although members of the media are not required to obtain EOIR’s permission before observing a hearing, members of the media are strongly encouraged to coordinate with the Office of Policy in advance of visiting, and to identify themselves to court staff at the front window upon arrival,” the email read. “Local court staff can help ensure access if space is limited.”
“Your reporters are welcome to return to the Hyattsville Immigration Court to observe hearings,” the email concluded.