In 2018, Attorney General Jeff Sessions concluded that the administrative closure (which is a tool used by the immigration judges to manage their busy dockets by temporarily pausing removal proceedings.
The US Department of Justice issued a final rule in December that codifies Castro-Tum by expressly prohibiting administrative closure and aimed at resolving the conflict between the court of appeals.
Respondent, a Mexican citizen, sought before the immigration court to have his case administratively closed while he filed an application with USCIS for a Provisional Unlawful Presence Waiver.
In this case, Attorney General Merrick Garland has overruled Attorney General Jeff Session’s opinion in Castro-Tum.